Hi, I’m Olivia Dixon, daughter of Michael Dixon, founder of Pointrs.
My dad recently decided he needed to escape the Sydney winter and find some sunshine. He chose a little getaway to Bali, and I was lucky enough to accompany him on his holiday. We had a relaxing, fun, and indulgent five days away and I’m going to tell you all about it!
Flight
Our flights to Bali (Denpasar) were with the Indonesian airline, Garuda. This was my first time flying with Garuda and I was very impressed. I was lucky enough to be able to fly business class, using points, with the help of Pointr #9149 and it was a lovely way to start and end our holiday. The Indonesian flight attendants provided great service and it was nice to experience the Indonesian hospitality before we even arrived in Bali. They were all lovely, gentle and eager to assist. On arrival onto the plane, we received a lovely glass of champagne which got the holiday vibes going.
Our flight on the way there was a day time flight, so we made use of the entertainment facilities and enjoyed a couple of movies over the 6 hours. We had a great food service with a huge lunch midway through the flight. This included a fresh bread roll, nicoise salad, a butter chicken curry of my choosing, and a raspberry cheesecake for dessert. The portion sizes were very large and satisfying.
Throughout the flight you could also request a snack at any time which involved a classic meat pie for those who were a bit hungrier. Our flight home was an overnight flight which gave us a great opportunity to test out the lie-flat beds in business class. The seats reclined into a fully flat bed, with a pillow and blanket and it proved to be extremely comfortable for an overnight flight. I chose not to have any food service on this flight and slept the full 5 hours on our way back into Sydney.
Resort
We stayed at the beautiful W Bali - Seminyak, which was also booked using points. W Bali - Seminyak is located right on the coast. I have stayed there before when I visited Bali last year and loved my experience, so I was very happy to be returning. W Bali - Seminyak has villas as well as a main hotel. We stayed in the main hotel with an ocean view room that looked straight at the over-water sunset every evening. The room was very spacious and the highlights were a large balcony overlooking the pool area and ocean, as well as a skylight over the top of the shower and bath area.
The pool area was so lovely and we made use of it every single day! They had one main swimming pool and two other accompanying pools with plenty of pool chairs, lounges, and cabanas. This made the experience very relaxing as we never felt rushed to find some chairs by the pool as there were more than enough for everyone. You could even rock up in the afternoon and easily find a spot to bunker down in. The pool was open 24/7 which I believe is difficult to find these days. We never went in the pool at night time, or too early in the morning, but I can imagine enjoying a post-dinner swim. It was also heated to the perfect temperature to enjoy all day and into sunset – not too cold which is what I love.
The ‘Woo Bar’ was enjoyed every afternoon by many hotel guests including ourselves. This is the W Bali - Seminyak’s outdoor bar which is a great spot for pre-dinner drinks. The bar was filled with comfortable lounges to sit back and enjoy the sunset while sipping on a cocktail. There was even a DJ booth set up and music was played every evening to establish a relaxed lounge atmosphere. Lanterns hung over the entire bar area and lit up at night time that provided a more luxurious feel to the outdoor bar.
The staff at W Bali - Seminyak were very attentive and friendly. They were always in eyesight and eager to help whenever you needed. From the breakfast restaurant, to the pool area, to the Woo Bar, to reception, the staff were all amazing. They got to know us by name and made our experience really relaxing and personable. Speaking of service, the pool area had an efficient initiative which was a call button for each pool chair that you could press and a staff member would be over within two minutes, max. This made it very easy for us to order cocktails and food by the pool all day long, without the hassle of trying to find someone to take your order.
Food
We went to some lovely restaurants, both inside and outside of our resort although my highlight was the buffet breakfast at W Bali - Seminyak each morning. We had a choice of either ‘Fire’ or ‘Starfish Bloo’ to have our breakfast, but Starfish Bloo was the way to go. It’s located in an indoor/outdoor space right beside the pool area with ocean view tables. We could choose either a la carte or buffet, but the extensive buffet was what we opted for every morning. The choices were endless including pastries, donuts, breads, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, French toast, pancakes, waffles, sushi, dim sum, cheeses, cereal, and more! It was an indulgent and extremely filling start to every morning.
Another restaurant highlight was an Indonesian restaurant located in Seminyak called ‘Bambu’. This was just a five-minute walk from W Bali - Seminyak and offered delicious food. The restaurant itself is all outdoors, although located in what feels like an open traditional Balinese temple. They had an extensive bar as well as upstairs/downstairs eating areas. We were excited to try some local dishes which did not disappoint.
My personal favourite was a lemongrass stir fried chicken served with rice on the side. This was very flavoursome and incorporated lots of fresh herbs and spices. Another stand out dish was the rice noodle and prawn curry. This was the perfect amount of spiciness for us, with beautiful and fresh flavours. The highlight for me was my dessert which was a street-style pancake. It was essentially thin, rolled up pancakes with nuts, a chocolate dipping sauce and ginger ice cream. It was so delicious and all of the flavours balanced each other perfectly.
If you’re looking for a finer dining option, Mauri is the way to go. It is located in Seminyak, directly opposite from the W Bali - Seminyak driveway which makes it super convenient and prevents tackling the hectic streets of Seminyak. Mauri is an Italian restaurant with a modern flare. The beautiful white interior and open kitchen provides an elevated experience. Throughout our entire meal, we were given complimentary dishes from the kitchen. They were all lovely including burrata and mortadella, egg foam custard, fresh focaccia, cannoli, and madeleines, although feel prepared to be very full due to this. We ordered a 3-course dinner each and quite honestly felt over-fed by the end. This is also a good sign that each meal was delicious. I enjoyed tuna crudo, followed by a prawn pasta, and finished with a raspberry and yuzu tart. Everything was extremely yummy!
On our final night we ate at ‘Fire’ restaurant located inside our resort. We joined them for their ‘Fridays on Fire’ event which was essentially like a Hawaiian luau if you have ever experienced one of those. We were sitting at tables on a large grass area with fairy lights hanging over us, intertwined between the palm trees. We were treated to a BBQ style set menu which was all cooked right in front of us on open grills, while enjoying live music.
The set menu included oysters, pork ribs, roast chicken, chorizo sausages, and a beef rib eye. The highlight for me was the delicious, juicy pork ribs. I would definitely recommend doing this if you love meat. We got to enjoy the warm Bali night time air and was beautiful to watch the sunset from our table if you have a booking early enough.
Activities
One of the highlights of my trip was visiting Bodyworks day spa. This is located in Seminyak and was a five-minute walk from our resort. I had heard lots about this day spa from friends and had seen Instagram photos of it, so I was eager to try it out for myself. My dad and I both went for massages which I can highly recommend. I got a 65-minute aromatherapy massage and this was perfect if you’re looking to just relax and enjoy.
Following the massage was a flower bath that you could enjoy for up to 15 minutes. The entire spa has only female masseuses and the Balinese women were so friendly and respectful. I felt very comfortable and relaxed throughout the entire experience. Now talking aesthetics, the fit out of the day spa was beautiful. It had a blush pink interior with vibrant green vines crawling up the outside walls. There were scalloped arches throughout the building and a plunge pool in the centre of the day spa.
I enjoyed my time so much that I even made another appointment two days later for a Hair Spa. This was so relaxing and a great way to get your hair washed and blow dried if you can’t be bothered doing it yourself on holiday. I noticed the pool water made my hair very strawy and stiff, so I booked in for the Hair Spa treatment which included a shampoo, head massage, L’Oréal conditioning hair mask, neck, shoulder and arm massage, and a blow-dry. This was a 1-hour experience and came to a total cost of 40AUD.
Definitely worth the money in my opinion and I would highly recommend it for the girlies! It was a perfect treatment to get done on my last day of holiday to renourish my hair after swimming in chlorine. Although keep in mind that it can be difficult to get a booking at Bodyworks, so I would organise this prior to your holiday. If you can’t get a booking there you can always book the Away Spa at W Bali – Seminyak, which is open 24/7!
Overall, we had a fantastic 5 days and look forward to returning one day.
