Review of Grand Mirage Resort & Thalasso Bali 4*

There are some reasons why I would not call this a 5 star resort. The room wasn't cleaned properly when we checked in. The mini bar was stocked with the lower grade beers and snacks. Also in the last week of our stay it seemed that the level of cleaning deteriorated for example the bar fridge was not stocked properly and the cleaning was not up to scratch. To be fair I have to comment on the good things as well. First the bad. When we arrived at the hotel we needed to swipe our credit card used to pay for the booking. There was a problem with the hotels card machine and it kept on returning an incorrect pin error. The attitude from the concierge manager was less than helpful which resulted in us having to make expensive calls to our bank who couldn't assist because the issue was with the card machine used by the hotel. This was unnecessary as we have just made a 22 hour commute from South Africa and just wanted to have shower and relax. This started our trip on a bad footing but on the positive side there were many reasons why I would return. The food at the resort was second to none. The variety was great ranging from Indian, Thai, Chinese, Australian, Indonesian, Italian and American. There are more than 5 restaurants on the resort and with the gold all inclusive option you could eat at all of them and have access to 24 hour room service. Drinks are included in the gold all inclusive except the hard tack was to local whiskies and vodkas which was the only downside. We stayed for 14 nights and never got tired of the food. The service from the room service and restaurant staff were impeccable. Nothing was ever an issue. Our main reason to book the resort was that it was away from the hustle and bustle of Bali which it lived up to. The beach was private to hotel guests and those that were staying at the neighbouring hotels. We were travelling with a 2 year old and the kids club was a great benefit. It cost us 18 dollars per hour for a baby sitter. Kids over 4 can stay at the kids club for free till 5pm. With the all inclusive came massages and access to water sports. Free laundry 2 items per person per night. The hotel shuttle offered free trips to the shipping centres and to the airport. There is a gym on the premises and a games room. There are 2 large pools that caters to the main resort and family paradise which is the other part of the resort. The hotel has its own live entertainment at dinner time almost every day. i would definitely return. Maybe the concierge staff can brush up on their customer service skills and perhaps the cleaning can be improved. But all round a very good stay and I would definitely recommend if you are travelling with kids.