Grand Mirage Resort & Thalasso Bali is located in theTanjung Benoa area of south Bali. We went to Bali in May for a week and stayed there for 3 nights. We stayed in Adhi Jaya hotel in Kuta for the 1st 3 nights. You can read my review of Adhi Jaya in this post.
Grand Mirage booking involved good research. We wanted to be at a resort with private beach on the last 3 days. We also wanted some Indian restaurants closeby; some resort where breakfast was good and we didn’t want to splurge too much. Hotels in main Nusa Dua area were priced very high; so we were looking at the nearby Tanjung Benoa. Some friends recommended Grand Mirage and we went ahead with the booking. Costed us ~8000 INR (1600000 IDR) per night.
Location & Beach:
The resort is huge and is located right on the Tanjung Benoa Beach. It has a private beach and water sports does not happen at that beach. However, one can see all water-sports happening to the right and left of the beach; which pollutes the water. The beach here is not white sand beach. They try to keep it clean, but can do a better job at that. There are many recliners on the beach, but it was too hot to sit outside. Surprisingly, most people were seen enjoying the pool rather than beach. We found the beach empty most of the time. The hotel is close to many restaurants (Queens of India is 1.4 kms away, if you are looking for Indian one) and Coco Express (similar to 7 eleven) is right across the hotel if you need any provisions.
Room:
We had booked an ocean view room and had requested one on top floor for better view. The corner room that we got on the 3rd floor had very less ocean view. The room size was decent, though the bed could have been bigger. Our room had a bathtub and separate shower area. The bathroom had no lock which is inconvenient when you have a kid. They also have a window in the bathroom that opens to the room; which again should have a lock; especially since many families book room here. Rooms and common area had all free WiFi.
Restaurant:
They have 4 restaurants, though we dined only at Grand Cafe. An Indian restaurant was supposed to open in June’16. We had a breakfast included package, and since we prefer veg food; we were told Grand Cafe is the best option. Food is priced atrociously high. They had a separate Indian menu too, which we ordered on the first night. However, curry was half-cooked and didn’t taste good. Tomato soup tasted like plain tomato puree. Next time we ordered a mix of Indonesian and Thai, which was better. Breakfast spread was good. They had an Indian and Chinese section there too, which had paratha, 1 curry and some veg/non-veg dimsums. We liked the breakfast spread on all days.
Amenities:
They have a big pool divided in 3 areas – kids pool, pool with 4 ft depth and pool with 6 feet depth. They have a basketball basket and arrange for pool volleyball too. The pool was maintained well and had quite a few recliners. Pool seemed to be their most used amenity. They also have a kids playground and kids room where we saw some kids being babysat. Our 5yr old wasn’t much interested in them. They also had big chess boards at few places, an outdoor and an indoor TT table. Their business and game center was located at the ground floor and had air-hockey etc. They had a tennis court too, though its paid. They had a spa too, priced quite high compared to other places in Bali. Overall many amenities in case you do not want to go out of the hotel.
The hotel also runs a free shuttle to Bali Collection (which has Nusa Dua beach, Peninsula and Bay) every few hours. We got to know about it too late though! It would be good if they provide this info to guests when they check-in. The schedule is below:
Value for money:
Given the amenities, private beach and size of the resort, the rates make sense. However, all-inclusive packages are very costly. Go for the breakfast included package though. Paid amenities are again expensive and not value for money. And yes, they charge for cutlery too (26000 IDR per set). We got some food packed from outside on one day and were astonished to know the charge. This was the first time we heard hotel charging for cutlery!!
If you have been to Grand Mirage and think I have missed out on some points, do post it in comments. If you are heading to Bali and have any questions, post a comment or head to the travel forum.