W Retreat & Spa, Bali

[Keith009]

Seductive, glamourous, fantastical, and totally electric... welcome to the latest chapter in the Worldwide WOW sensation that is W Hotels, the all new W Retreat & Spa Bali. Central to all that is trendy, happening and SO now and surrounded by all that is 'it', the W is set to be rockin' Seminyak's premier playground to see and be seen at.
















Report coming soon...!

[zig]

Looking forward to the report Keith, you have certainly tantilised with the photos.

[Keith009]

Serious Wheels
As the W was rather new, we thought it’s best to organise an airport transfer to guarantee our arrival at the resort with minimal fuss. A VIP Arrival service to bypass the queues for Visa on Arrival and immigration was also offered for a nominal fee but we didn't feel that this was necessary as we arrived rather late into the evening, and thankfully we were right as we simply breezed through the arrival formalities. The W has a big fleet of cars, ranging from BMW X5s to the more humble Toyota Innovas. Wanting to start our trip in serious style, we booked the X5 for USD49 for a one way transfer.

We were met at the arrival hall by a W staff member holding up an iPad emblazoned with the W’s name, which I thought was a totally cute touch. He seemed to know who we were even prior to any introduction. We were soon whisked along to Wonderland in our X5, customised with little W touches like apples, W branded bottles of water, a selection of reading material, and wet wipes. The ride to the W in Seminyak took approximately 35 minutes, and driving in Indonesia is certainly inadvisable for the faint hearted!





Seminyak – Whimsical ‘it’ capital of Bali
A cool zone of style, trends and happenings, what better place to open a W than Seminyak? An eclectic selection of fine dining is within a short car ride from the W, as are a vast array of top drawer cocktail bars and designer nightclubs. Evening cocktails in the sunset at Ku de Ta is a must-do and a mere 5-10 minutes’ (depending on traffic) drive away (alternatively you can walk along the beach which can be faster but I’d rather cab it as the beach is rather dirty in parts), follow up with the sick foie gras menu along with an extensive wine list at Metis and more cocktail bar hopping, and you’re all set for a massive night at The Living Room (not to be confused with a W Living Room which must have been re-named W Lounge here for that very reason) well into dawn. Stay in Ubud if you’re a culture vulture, Nusa Dua if simply wanting to be comatose, or Kuta if completely lacking in taste or class or just want to observe bogans on their first overseas trip made possible by a Jetstar *Jetsaver fare – but if you want to have a damn good time Seminyak is ‘it.’

*OK I do own up to flying Jetstar but in StarClass at least. Suffice to say that if Qantas Platinum benefits weren’t in the picture, and StarClass wasn’t on sale – we’d have strongly considered Garuda in J

Warm Welcome
Upon our arrival, we were met by the Night Manager and his assistants, and greeted enthusiastically by our first names – the relaxed, familiar and down to earth style is what I love about Ws rather than the stifling deference and genteel affectations one often gets at too many luxury hotels. We were led to the W Lounge for a welcome drink. If you get the Rolls Royce, apparently their signature cocktail, be prepared for a liberal dash of alcomahol – it is STRONG! It was certainly a fab welcome! The W Lounge was completely dead on a Thursday evening, possibly because the resort had only opened 9 days before and hadn’t yet spread the word about its delish cocktails and wicked DJing. We felt so sorry for the DJ who was spinning his tunes to no one and would’ve stayed a while but all the booze on the flight conspired with the Rolls Royce to render us completely knackered. We’d hoped that the weekend would see more action at the bar. We were offered a tour of the hotel but declined as it was getting rather late.





A good thing that the bar was so empty I suppose, as we were looking rather bedraggled after putting up with Jetstar’s stuff-ups (that’ll be a whole thread in itself).

We booked the one bedroom Fantastic Villa Retreat at a fantastic promo rate of USD299. A smart marketing decision – we were told how they wanted to get people talking and spreading the buzz about their villas. Check-in formalities were completed in-villa. We were ferried to the villa in a buggy along with our luggage (or rather the OH’s luggage as mine were left in Melbourne by Jetstar!), and along the way we were wondering if we’d need a map to navigate our way out of the complex as it seemed like we went a long way. We later found out that we went down a rather convoluted path, presumably because there are designated routes for the buggy on safety grounds.

We arrived at our villa and found my Facebook profile picture in a nice little photo frame along with a personal note from one of the W Insiders! I thought this was totally trippy! I’d liked their Facebook page to keep tabs on the property and posted on its wall a few times, and they must have put 2 and 2 together. These Insiders really live up to their job title. Our welcome amenity was a mad DIY cocktail set which we thought was pretty cool.






More to come. Up next:
Wow Style
Let’s get WET
Who are the hotties?
Who wants grub?
Woo, wink and sip

[drron]

OK you've sold me.Just have to get Groovy!

[Keith009]

OK you've sold me.Just have to get Groovy!

But I've not even gotten to the actual room yet. :P

You're only as young as you feel - embrace your inner youth!

[drron]

But I've not even gotten to the actual room yet. :P

You're only as young as you feel - embrace your inner youth!

The pool picture was enough!
looks like a great place to recuperate from surgery.

[Febs]

Saw your photos on FB the other day mate, looked very impressive, especially that room! Did you book that, or was it an upgrade? You're back to SPG Gold now, right?

Cheers,
- Febs.

[Keith009]

Saw your photos on FB the other day mate, looked very impressive, especially that room! Did you book that, or was it an upgrade? You're back to SPG Gold now, right?.

I actually booked the villa. The standard garden room was about USD250/night, the Fantastic Villa Retreat was USD299 thanks to a promo I saw on FB... no brainer.

Been told they do not upgrade to villas. So the best room you'll get is a Spectacuar Ocean Facing room in the main building if you booked the standard Wonderful Garden View room. Apparently all the rooms in the main building are the same, the only difference is the views.

They were kind enough to keep me on as SPG Plat for another year...

[Febs]

I actually booked the villa. The standard garden room was about USD250/night, the Fantastic Villa Retreat was USD299 thanks to a promo I saw on FB... no brainer.

Wow, good deal.

Yeah I've found W's particularly stingy with upgrades, compared to Westin/LM. Westin always give me a suite, without fail (the one I got in Langkawi a few months ago was just ridiculous - 8 seat dining room, balcony bigger than a small apartment etc..)

I've had one nice W upgrade (Corner room at the W Dallas, which was huge and had a great balcony), and the odd "high floor, slightly nicer room" upgrade, but generally, nothing special.

May need to consider Seminyak as a stopover on our honeymoon.

Cheers,
- Febs.

[Keith009]

Wow Style
In keeping with Bali’s casual vibe, the W is laidback and comfy. Yet in the hip surrounds of Seminyak and in line with its design-focussed provenance, the W is also infused with a playful, fun-tastic and fashionable touch. The look is clean line, contemporary and cool, which should come as no surprise if you’re familiar with the brand’s signature style. Local features are incorporated subtly and tastefully, and certainly not to the point of being chintzy like the wood-heavy, quaint designs in other Balinese hotels. The design is steadfastly and unashamedly culturally agnostic. You do feel like you’re hanging out in the hottest WeHo nightspot, with little cutesy, tropical, ‘exotic country’ features to remind you that you’re somewhere different. Ws have certainly encapsulated the desires of a significant niche amongst travellers like yours truly – we simply want fashionable design and gourmet cuisine. We party hard and even harder when travelling. The brand is a successful convergence of the typical boutique design hotel experience and the functionality of a large chain hotel. The W is in many ways a destination unto itself. Glitz up Seminyak even more with international and avant garde fashion boutiques Robertson Avenue and Rodeo Drive stylie and I could literally live in the W. (In fact, their villas are actually available for purchase!)

The magic begins as you cruise up the rather lengthy picturesque driveway. The W tells you to ‘escape hectic philosophies’ and you do feel like you’re leaving the mundane behind and entering your own secret, magical hideout. Every cab driver we had, whilst undoubtedly annoyed by time spent driving up and down the long driveway, were simply blown away by the W and there were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as they navigated the driveway up to the main building.







The W Lounge has rather a nice, chilled out vibe with a reassuring amount of glitz and whimsical touches like hanna paintings on the ceiling, wind chimes and the funky egg couch. The W Lounge is in-touch with natural elements –bathed in natural light as well as refreshed by the sea breeze.