Hyatt Regency Sanur Bali Review
Overall this is an excellent resort if you’re coming to Bali just to relax and you’re not fussed about visiting the hippest day-clubs.
The newly renovated Hyatt Regency Sanur opened its doors a few months ago, amazingly it is (not for long – changes to cat 2 in March) classed as a category 1 Hyatt property which is the cheapest to redeem with Hyatt points. I wrote a full guide back in October on how you can book the most expensive suite in this resort for only US$137 a night instead of US$463 by strategically buying World Of Hyatt points.
Here’s my review of the Hyatt Regency Sanur (Bali) and the Regency Club suite.
Hyatt Regency Sanur Location
The Hyatt Regency Bali is located right on the beach in Sanur. For those not familiar, Sanur is on the sunrise side of the island, so it’s a lot quieter compared to the touristy Kuta/Seminyak/Canggu areas on the sunset side.
That’s both good and bad…
The good: traffic is excellent in this area, unlike Seminyak you won’t be stuck in the same spot. There’s also a new bridge so you can bypass Denpasar which saves a lot of time when coming from the airport. By default, some drivers will not take the new road as it’s a toll road, so you need to ask for it and pay the extra. In total, you can get from the airport to the resort in 20-25 mins.
Being on the sunrise side of the island means there are fewer tourists in Sanur and more expats who live here. If you’re into diving, all the dive boats depart from Sanur beach, so it’s a great base.
The bad: You won’t find all the trendy beach clubs and restaurants which you would get in Seminyak over here. It’s a bit quieter, and western style dining options are limited. If sunsets on the beach are your thing, forget about it.
Hyatt Regency Bali Check-in
We arrived at the resort around lunch time, and although check-in wasn’t officially until 3PM (I no longer have Hyatt status), we were informed that our Regency suite was ready so we could check in early at no extra cost.
The Resort
The Hyatt Regency Sanur is a massive property with a few different buildings set in a lush tropical garden. Orientating took us a while since all the 3 room blocks look very similar and are built around different gardens.
The room blocks are very 70’s when it comes to the exterior design; which I think looks pretty cool. It looks like some overgrown jungle bunker. However, once you step inside the room, it’s a world of difference compared to the exposed concrete slabs on the outside.
The Regency Suite
The whole renovation of the resort took 5 years, and the result is fantastic!
Although the outside of the hotel is mostly untouched, the rooms were completely gutted and redesigned from scratch.
Our room, the Regency suite with Club access was located on the top floor with a huge balcony overlooking the spa side of the hotel complex.
The interior has done away with the 70’s vibe and instead the designers have gone for what I would call ‘modern Balinese’.
The suite consists of a living room with day-bed TV, small dining table and sliding windows which open up to the 2 terraces to which you have access.
At the entrance of the suite is an extra bathroom and shower.
Leading into the bedroom is a separate walk-in wardrobe with plenty of space to store suitcases and clothing.
The master bedroom is spacious and has its own little terrace as well (total of 3 terraces in the suite). Double sliding doors open up to the main bathroom which comes with a huge shower, double vanity, bath and another toilet.
Comfort wise, the bed was good although the mattress was on the harder side. Pillows were excellent, and there was plenty of choices to please a pillow snob like me.
The Regency Club
As part of our redemption, we had access to the Regency Club. It’s a separate area and only guests with club access can get in. The place itself is located in outdoor pavilions so don’t expect air conditioning.
The club serves breakfast in the morning, free coffee/tea and water throughout the day and evening drinks and canapés from 5 until 7 PM (all inclusive).
While the breakfast was excellent with a good variety of food and eggs cooked to your liking, the happy hour drinks were a bit limited, and the quality wasn’t that great. Granted, it’s expensive to serve wine & champagne in Bali due to the high taxes, but the sparkling wine they had on offer was on the undrinkable side, so I stuck with a safe choice of G&T instead.
Gym & Spa
The Hyatt Regency has an extensive spa complex building away from the main pool and garden; it’s also where the gym is located, and it does have a separate pool. If you want privacy and from time to time a whole pool to yourself, head down to the spa since most guests stick to the main pool area at the beach front.
The gym at the resort is well equipped with a range of machines, free weights and a separate yoga pavilion.
Hyatt Regency Bali Gym
The spa itself is beautiful as well although some parts were still under construction when we were staying and the menu was limited due to missing products etc. Prices at the spa are also on the expensive side, and there are plenty of good spas in the neighbourhood to suit your budget.
Dining at Hyatt Regency Bali
The resort has 2 restaurants on site, one Italian and one Balinese inspired.
We had dinner at the Italian restaurant one night which comes with a custom built wood-fired pizza oven. Although the food was good, I feel there were a few things that would need fine tuning (this is me being picky): the pizza had a lot of uncooked flour at the base, I realise they put flour on the bench to prevent the dough from sticking but in this case it was overkill (and no one wants to eat raw flour). Flying in a pizzaiolo from Italy for some extra training would pay off at this place as the equipment and ingredients are on point.
Beach & Pools
The resort has direct access to its own beach where guests can make use of the many sun loungers available. The beach itself is very clean and well maintained.
The Hyatt Regency has a great selection of pools which are located in the tropical gardens of the resort with views onto the beach.
Hyatt Regency Conclusion
Overall this is an excellent resort if you’re coming to Bali just to relax and you’re not fussed about visiting the hippest day-clubs. The resort renovation is stunning, and the service and staff at the Hyatt are excellent as well. Even though I’m no longer a Hyatt elite member, the hotel allowed early check-in and late checkout until 4 PM since the suite was available.
