Editor's Rating
I used to live and work in Bali, and Nusa Dua somehow is memorable for me compared to other areas in Bali. Although I was there for short term only, all the memories I had about Nusa Dua are nothing but good ones, and I was glad I managed to stay in a hotel around the neighborhood during my last trip to Bali.
This time, we are gonna share our 3D2N staycation experience here in a 5 star resort located in Nusa Dua. Mantra Sakala Resort & Beach Club is another property under management of Mantra Group, the same group that manages Peppers Seminyak. Mantra Group itself is a leading manager and marketer of hotels and resorts in Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia, operating 3 well-known and trusted brands: Peppers, Mantra, and BreakFree. If you haven’t heard about this group before, let me share the information that with 116 properties and over 12,500 rooms under its belt, Mantra Group is the second largest accommodation operator in Australia. Now we are talking.
This 261 room resort was previously known as The Chedi Sakala and has been rebranded as of 27 April 2015. Originally opened in 2013 and commands a unique 2.4 hectare site at Tanjung Benoa on Nusa Dua Peninsula, it has sweeping views of sandy shores and turquoise waters which offer luxurious, tropical experience in a stunning, absolute beachfront location.
Aligning with many 5 star resorts like Conrad Bali, Grand Aston Bali, Holiday-Inn Resort Benoa, and many more, what makes Mantra Sakala worth checking? Keep reading to find out why! 😉
Mantra Sakala Resort & Beach Club
Location-wise, the resort is not too far from the airport (30 minutes drive) and we can find many restaurants, convenience stores, beaches, and water sports in the area. In fact, Tanjung Benoa is one of the most popular destinations in Bali if you are looking for water sports activities!
When we arrived there, we were quite surprised to see the building. So basically, the resort is located on the left side of the Pratama street, while the beach club is located on the right side. Yes, you guessed it right, the beach club is separately located from the resort and we’ll need to cross the street to go there. More on that later.
The lobby area is accessible by walking upstairs and we saw a huge and spacious area with high ceiling. The main reception desk is located in the center of the room, with the lobby bar just behind it. The combination of colors like black, ivory, and bronze really give a perfectly luxurious touch into the whole area, and wait until you see the round sofa overlooking the beach club, gorgeous!
Reception area in spacious lobby.
Bar in lobby
Lots of seating area in the lobby, very comfortable.
Beautiful round sofa overlooking the Sakala Beach Club in front of the hotel.
Surrounded by water, this area looks extremely chic and beautiful.
Welcome Drink
The check-in process didn’t take too long and we proceeded to our room immediately after we got our keys. I spotted elevators in the lobby but until I left the hotel, I had never seen it being used by anyone so I am still wondering whether it is functioning or not. The journey to our room was quite long, but we only went through “nature” shortly, before we entered dark hallways of rooms which looked pretty creepy to me.
Luckily our room, the Sakala Deluxe 2-bedroom Suite, is located on the highest level (7th floor) of the hotel, and on the way to our room, we could see the daylight from a semi open hallway.
The two-bedroom Deluxe Sakala Suites are the top suite category, with a size of 125 sqm, covering 2 bedrooms with king-bedded master bedroom and twin-bedded second bedroom, each with en-suite bathroom, living and dining areas, private walk out balcony, kitchenette with contemporary glass-top stove, microwave oven, wine chiller and refrigerator, coffee/espresso-maker with illy caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee pods, plus premium tea selection. If you are wondering about the rate, it’s around USD 630/night or about IDR 8,5 million/night including taxes.
Without further ado, let’s move to the photos!
Suite Entrance
Starting from the bedrooms first, the Master Bedroom is located further away from the entrance. Of course it’s bigger than the Second Bedroom, and the bathroom is also bigger and more complete. Basically the bathrooms in both bedrooms are similar but the one in master bedroom has a bathtub.
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Bathroom of Master Bedroom with the bathtub among many other amenities.
The Second Bedroom is much smaller but we love how comfortable it is. The most important thing for me is the soft bed and cold aircon, after staying in nature-friendly resort like Peppers Seminyak the previous 2 nights, I felt so blessed to have a cold bedroom like here, LOL! The bathroom is also okay as long as there are standing shower with both rain and hand showers.
Twin-bedded Second Bedroom
The living and dining area is located in the middle of the suite, occupying quite a large space connecting to the kitchenette and everything else. The kitchenette, although is small, it has almost everything we need to cook, to drink (they even have the wine chiller and microwave!) and basically to survive for longer stay. The private walk out balcony is only accessible through the living room, and from there we can see the magnificent view of other rooms and the expansive lagoon pool.
Dining area with seating capacity of 6 person.
Spacious living room with sofa bed and 42-inch LED TV.
Comfortable sofa bed in spacious living room.
Kitchen and all its glory.
Private walk out balcony which is accessible through living room.
View of rooms and expansive lagoon pool from the balcony.
After resting for a while in our room, we decided to walk around. First, we tried to find our way to go to the beautiful lagoon pool which looks very long, blue, and intriguing. Honestly I have never seen a hotel’s swimming pool as big as they have there, and I was curious to find out where it ends. It looks like this lagoon pool lies from end to end separating the building our room is at with another building in the opposite side. It is just amazing and I couldn’t wait to explore!
When we arrived at the opposite side of the building, which we found out to be the restaurant, the spa, and many other areas, we saw something that is so interesting that made us want to change our room. The rooms on the lower floor has DIRECT ACCESS TO LAGOON POOL through their private balconies, and I was like, NO WAY I so want to stay in that room now! Apparently, these rooms are those Sakala Deluxe Lagoon Suites and I swear next time I stay at Mantra Sakala, I am gonna book one of these rooms so I can jump directly to the pool without any hassle! XD
Next finding is the health club, which is truly amazing if you ask me. There are few floors only for all the most recent gym equipment, from treadmills until weight-bearing machines, they have them all. The whole gym area is air-conditioned and super comfortable, and we were actually lucky because it is located very close to our suite on 7th floor.
The Kids Club is a great facility here at Mantra Sakala because sometimes guests come with family and they need this to spend quality time without the kids. Little tables and chairs are ready for painting, arts & crafts, Lego building, with a vast array of toys, blocks, books, crayons and interactive games awaiting them. Another playroom is for the older children with lounging beanbags, TVs and all the latest video games and consoles. There is a wall of computers for children to be both entertained and educated, all with age-appropriate content controls activated. The third area houses bunk beds, lounge chairs and sofas, for when the children need to nap or relax and take a break from all the fun.
The kids will always have something to do, with a huge choice of indoor and outdoor activities that make the most of the beach, the pool and the club. There is an extensive daily kids schedule with pool games, Balinese traditional arts and crafts, such as kite making and flying, Balinese temple visits, healthy yoga and stretching, cooking classes and sandcastle-building on the beach. Parents can relax and unwind in the secure knowledge that their children are safe, happy and entertained.
FYI, The Kids Club is not free, and there is certain rate to apply if you want to use this facility. Available daily from 9AM to 6PM, you can contact or visit the reception for more info.
For a hotel as big as Mantra Sakala, I was actually quite surprised that they only have 2 restaurants in the whole area. That’s the place where we had our breakfast for 2 days and we must say we loved the options of the buffet. I think during the day, guests prefer to dine in another restaurant in Sakala Beach Club but breakfast is only served here, so it’s always crowded in the mornings.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Sakala Beach Club is located in the opposite side of the hotel, so we need to walk across the street to get there. I personally think this is kinda weird, but since it’s not far AT ALL, I won’t complain and what lies there before my eyes was enough to excite me like, SO MUCH!!
Walking across the street to get to Sakala Beach Club.
The Sakala Beach Club features a beachfront infinity pool along with the Sakala Bali Restaurant. The Mediterranean-inspired beach club is simply breathtakingly GORGEOUS (with capslock on!) and the blue sky is like the best roof an infinity pool can possibly have. I think photos always speak thousand words louder than my weak sentences, so ENJOY!
The restaurant is located adjacent to the infinity pool, which features a refined indoor dining room with dramatic décor and an open-air sky deck. Both settings offer uninterrupted views of palm-fringed Tanjung Benoa beach and the Indian Ocean beyond. On the second day of our stay, we had unforgettable lunch here, it was hot and humid day in Bali as usual, but the views surrounding us really made us forgetting about the weather for a while.
Indoor Dining area of the Restaurant in Sakala Beach Club.
We just couldn’t miss capturing such a beautiful art.
For the lunch, we tried some of the specialty menu created by Mantra Sakala’s Executive Chef, Nyoman Gede Wardana, who has impeccable credentials at leading 5-star hotels like Hanging Gardens Ubud, The Intercontinental, the Ritz-Carlton and Ayana Resort & Spa. Nyoman is Balinese born and bred, who knows exactly where to source the very best products in the island, and also has the skills and confidence to produce traditional Balinese dishes as well as his international dishes.
There is special menu called Chef’s Inspirations consisting of Appetizers until Desserts, specially crafted by the chef. We tried 6 dishes altogether and I must say I love his creations. The plating is very beautiful but the dishes are very satisfying although they looked like fine dining materials (read: small portions).
Jewels From The Ocean IDR 185,000
Slipper lobster, curried coconut shrimp, guacamole, king crab wrapped in mango jelly, avruga caviar, yellowfin tuna tataki, tropical fruit chutney
Avocado & Tuna Tartar IDR 150,000
Char-Grilled Rack of Lamb IDR 315,000
Prawn Linguine IDR 110,000
Wild Berry Parfait IDR 90,000
Drypirosca IDR 60,000
Lime, lemon, orange, brown sugar, ginger ale
Last but not least, we also tried their Afternoon Tea set which is priced at IDR 150,000++ and can be enjoyed by 2 person. The set comes with tea or coffee options, and we can have this anywhere we want in the hotel area, although usually they serve this in the lounge above the restaurant in the hotel area.
Beside usual rooms and suites, Mantra Sakala also offers pool villas (one and two-bedroom villas) and is an ideal resort for couples or families. I can see myself coming here again for Deluxe Lagoon Suite, seriously, and spending a day or two in the beach club also seems like the best idea for holiday. Location-wise, I rated it 8/10 because Tanjung Benoa is very specific area which is quite far from everywhere, and there is not many places to go around unless you specifically want to spend time doing water sports or lazying around in the beach. But again, if you come to Bali to relax and unwind, this resort is a great choice because they have everything in the property, you don’t even feel the need to go somewhere else.
Thanks for reading, hopefully this long, photo-packed review will be helpful!
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** This review is written based on our stays on 23-25 May 2016.
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MANTRA SAKALA RESORT & BEACH CLUB
Jalan Pratama 95
Tanjung Benoa (Nusa Dua Peninsula)
Bali 80363
Indonesia
Ph.+62 361775 216
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