Tropicola Beach Club Bali — Restaurant in Pulau Bali

If you don't mind paying western prices for what is essentially a nicely tiled public pool and bar, then this is the place for you.

We had heard of Tropicola through friends so thoight we'd give it a try as it sounded fun.

We arrived and were greeted by the somewhat overenthusiastic door staff who gave more of a vibe of "trying way too hard" than one of genuine welcoming.

We then were led through to the pool and told by the door girl that the minimum spend was 800k to sit on a lounger by the pool.

We weren't here for an all-day event and didn't plan on using the pool, so we diddn't see the value in dropping nearly a million IDR especially given the amount of people they pack into the area.

We asked if we could simply have a drink at a table and was told the only place we could sit without a minimum spend was at the bar (clearly setup to discourage people from chosing this option with the uncomfortable chairs facing away from the pool, right in the entranceway.

The bar staff are very skilled, but for the prices, this goes without saying.

We ordered a jug of Sangria to share, which although visually appealing, was watered down and served in a plastic jug with 75% ice. The draught beer was served in plastic cups also.

Overall, Tropicola struck us as a place that has overcapitalized on the decor and staff (there had to be at least 1 staff member for every guest which seemed excessive) and undercapitalised on their provision of a high quality experience,. It seems to represent a number of so-called high end establishment that seem to have forgotten that customers are not simply walking dollar signs, and begs the question as to why they bother with the hospitality industry at all.

If your business model is based on the "minimum spend" approach, and doesn't provide for guests who wish to pay as they go, you may as well just charge a cover at the door, rather than walking people through with a sales pitch, then acting like they aren't welcome simply because we diddn't want spend crazy money to share a...

I’m not sure they’ve achieved what they were hoping to with this establishment.

It felt like an oversized McDonald’s playground with a pool and the food wasn’t much better either (neither was the clientele).

There was a minimum 200k per head spend which I felt was an attempt at appearing premium while not being so.

One hamburger was delivered cold, 15 minutes ahead of the other burger, suggesting it was just a spare that had been sitting in the kitchen.

Really not on par with other beachside establishments, not only because it’s conpletely blocked off from the beach without really using it to their advantage.

The wait staff were lovely, so that’s a positive!

On leaving, my Mum’s sun hat fell out of the bottom of my pram. An older, bronzed white guy who had been swanning about as if he owned the place (so I’m assuming he did) told me I’d dropped my hat. When I went back to collect it, the older doubly bronzed woman who had been hanging off the side of him questioned me as to whether it was really my hat given I was also wearing a sun visor. The gentleman had to calm her down telling her he had seen it drop out of my pram. But, really? I’m trying to steal a straw sun hat? This encounter just rounded off what was already an abismal experience.

One star for the wait staff and one star for the guacamole and even that’s...

Best beach club I've been to in Bali/ever.

Not going to lie my boyfriend and I walked straight past this place - with a few comments regarding the 80s decor and thought nothing more of it. We then continued walking down the beach and stopped for a drink at Finns beach club. Honestly, terrible. (I will leave a review of there too for your perusal).

Anyway - on our stroll back, we were tired, thirsty, sandy and hungry and just thought at this point - anywhere will do. So we walked into Tropicola. Firstly, no minimum spend or entry fee which instantly made us buzz. We got a daybed and the staff couldn't do enough to make sure we were comfortable and looked after etc. (One lovely girl even folded my clothes for me after I carelessly threw them in the storage box they provide you with. Cute touches like that are just nice, arent they?) Then, the drink and food are all beaut and not overpriced like other places cough Finns cough. Nice vibe to the whole place, cool features (chairs in the pool, floaties etc) and brilliant staff. They even have phone chargers free of charge(see what I did there?).

Anyway - come and spend the day here and you wont be disappointed. Great views of the sunset...