Hola! As you might have known already from our Instagram, we just came back from 11 days trip to Bali, and seriously there are so many things to share, especially the hotels reviews! I personally am very thankful for the opportunities to be able to stay in the great hotels, villas, and resorts during this trip, and I hope I can finish all the posts before we leave for another long trip by the end of this month. XD
The first hotel where we stayed at is PEPPERS Seminyak by Mantra Group. This luxury villa resort is located in the trendy Seminyak area, only this one is much more secluded and “hidden” because we needed to get through small roads to reach there.
For a concept of luxury “private” villa resort, the area can’t be better than this, but glad to tell you that despite of its secluded location, it’s not totally far from the center of Seminyak. The greatest thing is that the hotel provides buggy ride to Seminyak center FOR FREE, and it’s actually very convenient rather than calling for taxis (you’ll get to pay minimum charge for relatively short trip, not worth it!).
Since we took noon flight to Bali, we just arrived at PEPPERS when it was almost dark, probably around 5.30PM but we still managed to capture some moments during our arrival.
Getting there was easy because the location is precise on the maps, but the roads were bumpy on the way to the hotel complex and it was a painful trip if you go by small car. But heck, who cares about the darn journey when you finally see such a beautiful building in front of you?
Main building of PEPPERS Seminyak
Reception Area
Main lobby area connected to the Swimming Pool, The Laneway Restaurant area, and a small boutique: Natalie.
The moment I saw the swimming pool just near the main lobby area, I was stunned by its beauty. The water is greenish blue, it reminded me of a clear turquoise color, and I couldn’t wait to jump into it. But later on, I found out that the pool here is somehow very deep (up to 2 meters deep) so eventually I gave up and only swam in the private pool in our villa.
Clear, beautiful main pool in the evening.
Bicycles are available for YOU.
Welcome Drink and Towel
After we finished the check-in process, we were given a buggy ride by the staff to our villa. I thought that the villa is located somewhere far inside (you know, hotels and the so-called “resorts” in Bali), but actually our villa is very close to the lobby. I appreciate the buggy ride though because like it or not, it was very convenient for us to just hop onto that and arrive in front of our villa’s door in a blink of eyes.
The entrance to our villa
PEPPERS provide private villas accommodation starting from One Bedroom to Five Bedroom villas (each with private pool inside), and since we stayed here with our friends, ours was Three Bedroom Presidential Pool Villa.
Three Bedroom Presidential Pool Villas are set on 600 sqm of land and feature their own private swimming pools with teak decks and reclining loungers, and are surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens and a large poolside bale.
The living and dining areas feature fully equipped gourmet kitchens with full-size refrigerators. The Villas accommodate six adults and three children and have air-conditioned bedrooms complete with ceiling fans. All have en-suite master bathrooms with bathtub, marble floors, spacious wardrobes and study desks. Bedrooms also feature flat screen televisions with an integrated DVD system and satellite channels, IDD telephones, internet access and digital safety deposit boxes.
Stepping inside the villa, the first thing we noticed is this beautiful tropical gardens and lotus pond surrounding the path way to the living room area. The concept is pretty much outdoor or back to nature like many other resorts in Bali, so you can see that the living room is semi-open, and there is only fan installed. It can be super hot there because Bali’s weather is usually hot and humid, so although I like the comfortable and spacious living room, I mainly chose to cool myself down in my air-conditioned room. XD
Living Room area connected to the kitchen and dining room.
Spacious and fully equipped kitchen makes you lazy to go out.
Dining table that can seat up to 8 person, excellent!
The private pool with the large bale to relax.
Welcome fruit bowl
Since there are 3 bedrooms in this villa, of course there has to be the master room: the biggest, the most spacious, and the room with most complete facilities among the three. The master room is located furthest away from the entrance, directly across the living room.
The bedroom is bigger than the other 2 rooms, it has a couch, separated walk in closet, bigger bathrooms with double sinks, rain shower in the box, bamboo shower, and bathtub.
Master Bedroom – the biggest of them all.
Modern or Traditional? Your choice.
Meanwhile, the other 2 bedrooms are located facing the pool and bale, side by side, and are about the same size. We stayed in one of these rooms, actually the one right beside the entrance, and although we were quite happy with the whole room, it was unlucky that the aircon wasn’t functioning very well (read: not cold).
These rooms are particularly smaller than master room, but behind the canopy bed, there is a large wardrobe area where I consider as a small walk in closet. Bathroom is pretty much smaller (but actually very big and spacious for a bathroom), completed with a large bathtub (can fit up to 3 person I think) which is much better than the one in master room, IMHO, and a bamboo shower.
Oh, did I tell you that the bathroom has open-air concept with natural plants surrounding it? During the day, it can be very beautiful and exotic to shower with the nature, but when it goes dark, I found it a bit creepy, LOL. But don’t worry, you can always take the roller blind down whenever you want, just like what I did for my entire stay!
Private pool, large poolside bale, sundecks with reclining loungers, what else are you asking for?
Normally, people who stay at villas like this prefer to stay inside and a good restaurant is so much needed by the guests. Luckily there is a restaurant inside PEPPERS called The Laneway, and basically it’s where we can order our breakfast, lunch, until dinner. The Laneway has indoor and outdoor seating, while the indoor area is definitely more comfortable because it is less hot, we think having breakfast under the shining sun wasn’t a bad idea at all.
Bar area at The Laneway Restaurant.
The indoor seating area is chic and cozy, you can order drinks, lounging around or playing balls.
Care for shisha?
Outdoor seating area by the pool, the sun can be a little harsh, though.
The breakfasts are served a la carte, and it comes with bread basket and tropical fruit platter for everyone. Juices are available for grab, but not many choices to pick, that day there were only orange and watermelon available.
Freshly-made fruit juices, wish they have more options available.
Bread basket – lots of selections and tasted good, too.
Our breakfast situation.
We loved the Granola served with milk and yoghurt, and for the mains: Steak & Eggs can be a good choice. I found it weird to have a steak for breakfast, but it wasn’t bad at all. The food are not exactly something I would say “delicious” but for a fulfilling breakfast, they do the job well.
Granola – with strawberries, oats, maple syrup, natural yoghurt IDR 50,000
Homemade Muesli – with dried fruits, honey, raisins IDR 50,000
Croque Monsieur – ham, cheese, grilled sandwich, with salad IDR 85,000
Steak & Eggs – with Cajun baked beans, potato and crispy gremolatta IDR 85,000
Nasi Goreng – fried rice with vegetables, fried egg, crackers, chicken satay IDR 70,000
Magnificent main pool view at PEPPERS Seminyak, amazing!
Beside the breakfast, we also tried some of their All Day Dining menu for lunch. The menu covers many selections from Asian fusion to Western dishes, which also includes options of vegetarian and gluten free. The food were presented beautifully but portions are considered small for the prices. Taste-wise, there were hits and misses, but my favorite would be the Black Angus Beef Burger, with a soft buns and super juicy beef patty.
Prawn Rice Paper Rolls served with Chili Lime Sauce IDR 95,000
Classic Caesar Salad IDR 65,000
Grilled FIsh of The Day served with wok-fried vegetables and fresh lime IDR 130,000
Trio of Satays (chicken, beef, prawn) IDR 95,000
Black Angus Beef Burger IDR 95,000
Chicken Parmigiana served with Linguini Podomoro IDR 95,000
Lemon Tart served with strawberries & fresh cream IDR 55,000
During our 3D2N stay at PEPPERS Seminyak, we only went out for dinner in central Seminyak once, and we spent our time mostly inside the villa. The private pool is not too big but more than enough to play around with friends, or just to float around just like what Mr. K did!
Crystal clear pool under the massive blue sky surrounded by the greens, heaven!
Mr. K floated around the pool enjoying his holiday.
Beside enjoying our own villa, we can also walk around the complex and enjoy the beautiful green tropical gardens. I personally think that PEPPERS do a great job maintaining its surroundings, so although it is so much connected to the nature, I didn’t feel scared of encountering wild animals or insects.
We can also enjoy the facilities in the hotel such as spa, fitness center, and many more. I looked at their spa menu and wanted to try it, although in the end I didn’t because I felt extremely sweaty almost all the time. XD In any case, you can check their website for more details.
There are so many memorable moments during our stay at PEPPERS Seminyak. Most all of them are good ones. Although there were some flaws (like the not-so-cold aircon in our room), no in-villa breakfast feature for a luxury villa like this, we truly enjoyed our stay in the villa. If only they can improve the dishes a little bit more, I think PEPPERS Seminyak will definitely be one of the top accommodations in the neighborhood. Nonetheless, thanks for reading and hopefully this review can be a help for you.
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** This review is written based on our stays on 21-23 May 2016.
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PEPPERS SEMINYAK
Jl. Pura Telaga Waja
Petitenget, Seminyak
Bali 80361
Indonesia
Ph.+62 361 730 333
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The post [HOTEL] PEPPERS Seminyak, Bali appeared first on FOOD ESCAPE: INDONESIAN FOOD BLOG.