Nightly rate: IDR 525k nett (S$48)
Nightly rate after BRG: IDR 391k nett (S$36)
Length of stay: 8 nights
Date of stay: Apr 2021
Membership level: Titanium Elite
Fairfield by Marriott Bali Legian opened in 2018 with just 160 rooms in 6 floors.
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Location
The hotel is located in the northernmost point of Legian and just outside Seminyak. There is a reliable laundry shop just 1 minute walk away that charges about IDR 15k per kg.
12 mins drive to Beachwalk Shopping Center
15 mins drive to Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS)
1 hr 15 mins drive to Ubud Town
Arrival
Upon arrival, we had our temperatures taken and were assisted with our luggages before being directed to the reception.
I had booked the base room (Deluxe King) and was pre-upgraded to the Deluxe Pool Terrace room.
I had requested to pay for my stay using my Marriott eGiftCard but the hotel mentioned that there was an “error on their account” that they are trying to fix. They never managed to fix it for the 9 days that I was there.
Loud music from the pool
I chose to return to this hotel to write a review as I enjoyed my stay in 2018.
However, frustratingly, I requested to move rooms twice before finding one that gave me peace and quiet.
This hotel is now playing low quality (no bass), loud pop music from a looped playlist from the pool area. When I say loud, I mean this music will be in your ears as long as you are in the room. The only way to not listen to the pool music was to blast loud music in your own room. That was how loud it was. If you think loud music from Moxy and W hotels are bad, this is worst.
I initially thought that the music was loud because I was on the ground floor (pool access room). I then requested to move to the highest floor possible, which was not any quieter as there were speakers blasting music upwards from across the pool. I downloaded an app which showed a reading of 65 decibels in the room when my balcony doors were closed shut.
I got in touch with the hotel to ask if the music can be lowered down, the staff then turned it completely off for the entire day. While I was happy that the hotel tried to make me feel comfortable, I wasn’t sure if it was the solution. I wasn’t expecting the hotel to change its ‘image’ just to suit me.
The loud music continued on the second day and I requested to move to a room that is not facing the pool. Looking at the floor plan, there are very few such rooms. These are rooms of the “lowest category” without a pool view.
I was grateful that the hotel was kind enough to prepare this base room from a closed section of the building.
This loud ‘image’ is similar to what I experienced at Fairfield Bali Kuta in 2019.
The room (Deluxe King)
Room 105 is 30sqm / 323sqft in size.
Amazingly, the peace and quiet from these rooms were outstanding! It was like staying in a completely different hotel. Music from the pool was totally gone and I could only hear faint sounds of birds and chicken throughout the day.
This base room has the exact same design and size as the pool access and pool view rooms.
Furnishing in the room was practical. A work desk is always welcomed.
This room is located above the Garden Suite, as seen from the balcony.
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Best rooms
In general, I always request for a room on the highest floor possible and it must not be a connecting room (for less noise).
Because of the loud music from the pool, the best rooms are the base rooms (without pool view) or the garden suite. Although room 105 was a connecting room, the hotel staff assured that no one will be staying in that room as the hotel is concentrating all guests to the middle section of the building (i.e. the rooms most affected by the noise from the pool).
Breakfast
Breakfast is complimentary for Platinum members and above and was served as an assisted buffet at Tebu Merah restaurant. Food quality was below average and quite a downgrade from what I had at Aloft Bali Seminyak, which has similarly-priced, nicer rooms.
Other facilities
The swimming pool is large for a hotel of this size.
The gym is very small and located in the basement.
Ratings
Breakfast: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Location: 7/10
Room: 8/10
Facilities: 7/10
Elite member recognition: 8/10
Value (for what I paid): 8/10
Bottom line
I can’t understand why both Fairfields in Bali are trying so hard to be cool by being loud. They are both very unattractive to me and Aloft Seminyak is an easy pick at this price point.
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