Review: Staying in Hilton Garden Inn Bali for 80 nights with only 240,000 points (King Room with Pool View)

Lowest nightly rate: 539,000 IDR (652,190 after tax)
When to book: One week in advance

There are 2 ways to get the most value out of your Hilton points; splurge them on a few nights in high-end hotels or redeem them for a lot of nights in “lower-end” ones like Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport. I put “lower-end” in quotes because I never felt like I was in one. This property easily beats some Hiltons in USA that I have stayed in.

Average of 3,000 points per night

If you have done quick calculations from the title of this post, you will find that I redeemed an average of only 3,000 points-per-night. How is that possible? There are only a small number of properties under Hilton’s umbrella where you can redeem 5,000 points for a free night and most of them are in Turkey. This is the closest one to Singapore. You may already know that if you make a redemption for 5 nights as a Silver member or above, the 5th night will be free. This means that I can redeem only 20,000 points for every multiples of 5 nights at this property. This brings the average points-per-night to 4,000. To get to 3,000, all I had to do was hit 40 nights within a year. After your 40th night, Hilton credits 10,000 to your account for every 10 nights that you stay, even on award stays!

I redeemed blocks of 20 nights for 80,000 points. At the end of the 20 nights, I did a simple check-out and check-in at the reception. By the next day, I would see 20,000 points (milestone bonus) credited back to my account. This means that I redeemed a total of 320,000 points and received 80,000 points in return and hence, brings the average points-per-night to just 3,000. If you purchase these points during the current sale, 3,000 points would cost you just $20.40.

The Review

I enjoyed the free airport transfer offered by this hotel as I absolutely detest the aggressive taxi touts at the airport’s arrival hall. Booking the free airport transfer was easy. All I had to do was drop them a WhatsApp message at +62 811-3977-606 to inform them of my reservation and flight details. I had to look for someone holding a “Hilton Garden Inn” sign at the arrival hall. As I did not see one when I was there, I informed the information counter and they made an announcement via the public address (PA) system.

Checking in was quick and easy as there is a dedicated line for Gold and Diamond members. As I have stayed here plenty of times before, I knew that the suites are not the best rooms. I would not take it even if I was offered that upgrade as a Diamond member. The suites have a moldy smell and all of them do not have nice views. I requested for a King Room with Pool View (Room 3027) on the 3rd floor (highest).

Breakfast

Gold and Diamond members are offered complimentary breakfast buffet daily at Garden Grille Restaurant from 0700 – 1030 hours. The spread is fairly large but the quality is not good. The pastries are dry and the chicken is always hard and cold. It didn’t bother me much as I do not like to stuff myself during breakfast. I usually go for eggs from the live egg station along with a good cup of coffee.

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating and they have enough tables even on the busiest days. I never had to queue up for breakfast.

The gym is very spacious and equipments are adequate. You will have a nice view of the pool and sunset if you decide to hop onto the treadmill at around 6 in the evening.

The laundry is located beside the gym. It costs about $15 for washing and drying. I never used it as I could just call one of the many laundry businesses nearby to pick up my laundry for wash, dry, press and fold for only $4 for 5kg of clothes.

There is a money-changer at the lobby but the rate is very poor. You are allowed to exchange larger notes of the local currency for smaller ones at no additional charge though. I recommend Revolut or OCBC 90°N for overseas withdrawal and spending.

Which rooms are the best?

Get a room at the wing closest to the drop-off area. You want a room on the highest floor (3rd) so that you do not hear noise from above. Go for the rooms with pool view unless you prefer looking at the car park. You should also go for rooms at the far end of the building as the walls are very thin in this hotel (more on this later) and you will hear lots of noise in the morning when guests walk pass your room to check-out. This means that the best rooms in order of preference are 3018, 3019, 3020, 3021, 3022 and 3023.

What I loved about this hotel

The staff here are very friendly. A lot of them took the effort to remember my name. At breakfast, the staff even remember how I like my eggs. Cleanliness is very good all over the property.

What I disliked about this hotel

The thin walls and the noisy door. The soft-close system attached to the doors are very poor. If your room is not located near the end of the building, you will hear doors slamming all day. To make it worst, some housekeepers refuse to use door stoppers while working. A lot of them would use the double-lock hinge and slam the doors over and over again all day long. I have spoken to the duty manager and this is still happening.

This hotel also disallows Go Massage services. Some of the staff do not know the actual reason but when I asked the General Manager, he mentioned that this is to prevent prostitution and also theft. Makes no sense to me as they do allow other services like hair and make up in the room.

WiFi is also weak as I often get dropped connection. I requested for an Ethernet cable and this made it a lot better. I was told that they are going to upgrade the WiFi system in the coming months.

Conclusion

Nothing can be done about the thin walls. However, the hotel should change the soft-close mechanism as soon as possible. Will I stay here again with 3,000 points? Absolutely yes! Will I pay $70 a night for this hotel? Absolutely not! There are plenty of villas and nicer hotels around for that price.

Ratings

Value: 10/10
Breakfast: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Location: 8/10
Room: 8/10
Facilities: 8/10
Executive lounge: –
Elite member recognition: 8/10