Pondok Pitaya: Hotel, Surfing and Yoga — Hotel in Pulau Bali

Our stay at Pondok Pitaya Hotel for two weeks was unfortunately far from what we expected.

Major issues: Poorly insulated rooms: we could hear everything happening in neighboring rooms and outside, making nights difficult. Very few sun loungers, already insufficient for hotel guests and often taken by outsiders (who pay only 50K rupiah to use the pool). As a result, we had to wake up very early to "reserve" a lounger. Quite slow service: whether at the restaurant or by the pool, we had to wait 20 to 30 minutes to be served, while outsiders were prioritized. A very unpleasant feeling of discrimination when you pay for a two-week stay. Water problems: cold water and lack of pressure on several occasions. Dirty and poorly managed pool: no supervision, surfers or outsiders washing themselves there, and families turning the space into a daycare (toys everywhere, screaming, tables and loungers monopolized). We even filmed a scene where an Australian family occupied 4 loungers, 2 tables, and beach mats, turning the area into a real daycare. Mediocre included breakfast: incomplete (lack of granola, yogurt, fruit on some days), undrinkable coffee with grounds at the bottom. Strangely, the paid coffee was very good! The advertised hours (7 AM–11 AM) were not respected: we often had to wait until 8 AM, even with tours planned for the day and the driver waiting for us. Ineffective Wi-Fi: slow or out of service several times.

Conclusion: A hotel that prioritizes outsiders (for a few rupiah) over those who pay to stay there. The team is sometimes not very organized, even though everyone is pleasant. The pool area sometimes lacks cleanliness, and the included services are not always up to par. Too bad, because Balian Beach is a splendid place.

P.S.: I’ve attached a video to my review to illustrate the atmosphere at the pool (loud family, monopolized loungers, etc.). If you’re looking for a hotel to relax,...

Did a month yoga teacher training here. Overall would not recommend. Poor value for money. There’s better in Balian.

The good: Super friendly and responsive staff, they did everything to make our stay as comfortable as possible. Location right on the beach. Beautiful gardens surrounded by the sounds of nature and, with the exception of construction, silence. The banana pancakes and healthy deserts (we had buffet menus). The beach yoga shala.

The less good: Food, while they made great efforts to meet dietary needs (eg gluten free) the food wasn’t refined; poor quality ingredients and lots of garlic, onion, sugar, and salt in everything. People were sick throughout our entire stay. I even got sick and, having grown up in Africa and traveled to Bali since 2001 this never happens. Shower issues. We randomly didn’t have hot water at start of our stay due to electricity issues, then the water pump broke and we didn’t have water until 3pm, and finally pressure is on/off and can depend on who else is showering at the same time. Tap and shower water is never fully clean and after rains can be outright brown. Depending on room toilet can smell. Dark run down rooms that are clean on the surface but not in places like under the bed. No comfortable outdoor space to hang out, only wooden chairs on balcony and a somewhat clean (depending on day) pond pool. Unreliable internet. Spent most of my time on a 4G cellular connection. Ugly and poorly designed. Decoration is a mismatch of wood and various tiles. Back for bathrooms with plumbing are facing the sea while balconies are facing in the other direction. -Construction (room renovation, plumbing works, etc) during most of our stay. While it’s not loud there’s a constant “tick tick tick” of work being done from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week.

Talking to some of the other 30 retreat attendees seems I wasn’t the only one with the...

Let's start positive. The rooms were great, they were clean and cozy. Also the resort itself is quite big and looks very new and well maintained. (thats why the hotel received two starts instead of 1)

But, unfortunately, the staff makes the experience way less pleasant.. To start with our arrival where the staff should take us to our room, we had to ask them 3 times before someone decided to stand up from their chair and show us the way. Also when having our breakfast it had to take 55 minutes to get our drinks once the food already had been served (which also took 40min) with an excuse that making a single cappuccino and americano takes this time.... We canceled the order and went back to the room.

Also when asking something to the staff, like salt, it again had to take 3 reminders and at least 20 minutes to receive such a minor thing. The whole attitude from the staff in the restaurant was wrong and very frustrating as well as the teams organization (incredibly unstructured and messy as know one seemed to know what his or hers true task was)

It is very disappointing to see such a great place being destroyed by lacking professional attitude and structure. I sincerely hope Pondok Pitaya Hotel takes this in account and will make some...