The Hard Rock Hotel Bali was probably the best surprise we had from a Bali family hotel – everything about it was so much more than I expected and it’s a fabulous Bali hotel for kids. From arriving at the entrance to rock music, watching live bands and hiring a poolside cabana for the day, to borrowing a guitar for the night and recording songs in the Hard Rock’s own studio – it was amazing.
The hotel is in Kuta – it’s such a well known part of Bali and we really enjoyed the location. It is right across the road from Kuta Beach, just down the road from restaurants and shops and the fancy Beachwalk Shopping Centre. It’s also close to Waterbom Bali Waterpark.
We stayed for three days at the Hard Rock Hotel and it was awesome. Here are our favourites:
The pool and waterslides
The Hard Rock Hotel Bali has a huge pool – there is so much for kids to do here at the pool. First of all there are two big waterslides for them to go down – and adults can go down one of them too. Be warned, your children will be getting you down like Emmie was with me.
There are cabanas you can hire for around $50 a day – and that’s from around 9am to 9pm – and they come with a picnic basket of goodies including chips, biscuits and drinks. Many of them are over the water and you can just step down into the pool and swim off.
The pool is so huge. It has a big swimming area near the slides, then a lagoon beach section which is all sandy and shallow for kids, adn a sandbar where kids activities are held in the afternoon.
Then there’s more pool and swimming areas followed by a kids water playground with tipping buckets, slides and climbing. This really is a Bali resort for kids and mum and dads – because while all the kids are playing, you get to relax poolside.
Each afternoon there are games for the kids on the beach at the lagoon. If your child is in Kids Club they come out to the pool for these games, and all the children can join in.
Kids Club
The Roxity Kids Club concept at the Hard Rock is brilliant. There’s three clubs for different ages including a centre for teens which snooker called Tabu Teens Club, a snack bar and video games, and a Lullaby club for babies aged 2 – 4 years old. They hold movie nights and the while family is invited to spend time in the family/teen retreat. It’s a great space for some alone time, chill time or family time. It’s the only resort I’ve been to that has this teens focus and it’s such a brilliant idea.
The younger kids have a big play centre with games, craft and creative arts plus there is daily rock climbing and afternoon Kids Olympics on the sandbar at the swimming pool. There’s a real focus on kids at this resort and there is so, so uch for them to
Music
If you love music then this is the Bali hotel for you. There’s always a rock vibe with music playing at the pool, in the lobby and live bands at the Centrestage every night. Memorabilia is hung all over the walls and each staff members has their favourite band or musician written on a badge – it’s a great conversation starter and can bring back memories of music you haven’t listened to in a while. The attention to detail here just makes it all so much fun.
Recording studio
There are so many little extras to discover too. We found we could book the Boom Box recording studio for an hour and record two songs for around $50, which we did on our last day. I was kicked out by a tiny diva for singing too loudly but we ended up with two songs and so much fun singing into a huge studio mic with our headphones on.
Overnight guitar
Did you know you can borrow a Fender guitar overnight at the Hard Rock Hotel? A proper musician will come to the room and set it up for you and explain how to use the pedals and equipment. We mostly used it for photos but Em had a great time strumming away and it was a real thrill to have a guitar in the room! I can see how musicians would love it – and you can borrow a different one each night! Read more here.
Rock Climbing
The rock climbing wall is right by the pool. Sign up for a session at the pool or if your child is in Kids Club they’ll come down for a climb in the morning.
Rock Spa
This spa is amazing, I had a massage where the therapist massaged me in time to music that is set at certain wave lengths to create relaxation within your body. OMG! It was fabulous that’s for sure. Emmie had a lovely mani pedi and we heard there was a whirlpool but we ran out of time to experience it. Next time for sure.
Dining
Splash Bistro is the Hard Rock Hotel’s poolside restaurant, serving meals you in your cabana or poolside, or at the restaurant. Food here is really, really good. There’s a Jamie’s Italian at the hotel too, and guests receive a discount on dinging when you eat there. The food here was so good, the best pasta we’ve had in ages – and check out the kids menu!
Breakfast is buffet style served in the open air/air-conditioned dining room overlooking the pool.
Rooms
The rooms here are currently being refurbished and once completed will offer a whole new style of holidaying at the Hard Rock. Keep an eye out for their announcement.
The Hard Rock Hotel Bali was areal surprise package for us. It was so much more than we expected and it offers such a different experience to other resorts and hotels. Families will love to pool and activities and just crossing the road over to the beach, nd of course the overnight guitar hire and karaoke! So much fun!
Find out more at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali website.
We stayed as guests of the hotel but paid for activities and meals.