We saw the Intercontinental Bali advertised whilst staying at the Intercontinental Bali last year in Fiji and thought it looked amazing in the advertisement. We were not disappointed! Grounds It is a truly stunning resort. The grounds are meticulously maintained. My children and I thoroughly enjoyed feeding the koi fish in all the ponds every morning after breakfast and spotting the resident duck, peacock and monitor lizards. There is a kids playground and giant chessboard which was also a nice surprise. Although the resort was quite full, it never felt that way at all. There were always plenty of sunbeds free near the beach and pool, so we didn’t’ need to madly reserve seats before breakfast which was nice. There are buzzers near the sun beds too which was nice to get drinks and food without sitting at a restaurant, along with a swim up bar which was lovely too and a real treat for the kids. The main pool is a lovely temperature for this time of year and is quite large so it never feels too busy. My kids loved visiting all the various pools, such as the water fall pool and hidden pool. There is also an indoor games room which had chess, jenga, computer games and table tennis. Kids Club We didn’t use the kids club, however the staff were lovely that we met when we did a quick tour and we used the small kids pool out the back too which was a nice change from the others. Food The food was exceptional, my family and my parents who also visited the resort, did not have a bad meal. The variety of restaurants was fantastic and over 9 nights we ate at all of them. The Japanese restaurant was a real stand out and on the last night we did the teppanyaki night which was so much fun and great value. We also thoroughly enjoyed the cultural night on the Saturday, the food was all delicious and the mix of dancers over the 1.5 hours was so great and enjoyable for the kids. The Italian restaurant also had very high quality food and excellent service. Location The location is excellent for proximity to the airport, the beach is relatively clean for Bali and doesn’t get the busy crowds either. It was a 20-minute trip to the airport which made travelling to and from easy and straight forward. Room Our room was a Mezzanine Singaraja room, which was perfect for 2 adults and 2 kids. It had a king upstairs and a pull out sofa and roll away bed for the 2 kids, along with a beautiful view from our room and 2 bathrooms. It was probably the most liveable room I have ever stayed and even after 9 days we didn’t feel cramped and ready to leave like we have at other hotels. Spa I had 2 spa treatments and they were both to a high standard. I thought they were also reasonably priced too. Other activities My mother participated in a weaving workshop which was fun to watch and gave us some appreciation of how difficult the shawls and scarfs are to make. We also did a cooking class which was really enjoyable and excellent value. A local painting shop visited on the Monday in the activity hut and we bought some lovely paintings to take home as well. We hired boogie boards for an hour, which I felt were a little overpriced and feel for the price of the resort, should be for free. Service By far the biggest stand out was the service. The staff are truly exceptional. They are so genuine, caring and truly want the guest to have a good experience. They went above and beyond to help and ensure we were happy with everything at all times. I have lived in SE Asia for 7 years and experienced hospitability from many countries. Bali and in particular this hotel is definitely a stand out for me in terms of hospitality and the warmth of the staff. The entire stay was excellent value and I don’t feel like I say that much living in Australia. For the quality of the food, service and facilities, it was fantastic and I will never stay anywhere else in Bali in the future. My only suggestions for improvement would be very minor: -Better premium selection of cereals at breakfast -No charge for the additional activities in the kids club or hiring of boogie boards/bikes