I’ve got one word for you. Waterslides. As we all know, if you’re traveling with kids you need waterslides. And in Bali with kids, Padma Resort Legian not only has waterslides, it has a beautiful jungle pool area devoted to families with waterslides for everyone, a bubbling lagoon, a lazy river and waterfalls and fountains.
But Padma Legian is much more than waterslides, it is one of the most relaxing, calming and fun family resorts around, with a 20 year history of entertaining families in its luscious green jungle grounds, beautiful swimming pools and beachfront location.
Over time Padma Legian’s family offering has grown, and it really is the perfect place to spend four to five days relaxing, enjoying family time and popping the kids into kids club – Kids Clubs in Bali are the best! – and sneaking off to the adults only pool for a cocktail. We loved our time at Padma, so much that we extended our stay so we could have more time by the pool and watching the sun set over the beach at SKAI Beach Club.
Why you should stay at Padma Legian:
The grounds.
Padma’s grounds are absolutely beautifully landscaped – you’re always surrounded by greenery, flowers, artwork and such attention to detail. Scan the pond you overlook at breakfast to spot the leopard, gaze through Heaven’s Gates towards the main pool and find the gold and grey dragon that curves through the grass near the family pool. You will feel like you are in a tropical jungle as you lazily float around the family pool, wander pathways from pool to pool, to the restaurants or beach club. It’s so relaxing and tranquil.
Pools.
There are four pools at Padma.
The family pool
With slides, a lazy river, a shallow toddler play area, waterfalls and a bubbling lagoon this is the prefect place to park the fam for the day! This pool is surrounded by carvings, greenery, little bridge crossings and seats to relax on in the water. There’s a good number of sun lounges surrounding the pool – there was always some available whenever we arrived.
The pool lounge serves up delicious food (we had pad thai, pizza, nasi goring and steamed broccoli) and there’s delicious gelato (omg please try the pandas and coconut).
There are pool toys to play with, sunscreen if you forget yours (yep we did) and lots of towels.
There’s also a swim up bar here and staff are really relaxed with letting you swim your drink back to wherever you’re sitting and lots of families and groups of friends were chatting and playing and enjoying a beer.
The infinity adults only pool
We didn’t visit this one but it looks gorgeous stretching out overlooking the beach and sunset…I am not sure why I didn’t get there – I think because Emmie and I were having so much fun I didn’t need any adults only time! I did come here in the mornings for yoga though with Adi and that was so peaceful and a lovely way to start the day. It’s the one at the back of this pic overlooking the beach:
The main pool
This is a huge deep pool perfect for swimming laps, hanging out with older kids, having drinks at the swim up bar or surrounding restaurants. We really liked this pool. It’s one of the hugest pools we have seen in Bali and there’s also a shallow kids pool at the end surrounded by flowers.
The SKAI Beach Bar Pool
Thos is an awesome pool cause it is here that you can swim, have a wine or a lemonade and watch the amazing sunsets over Legian Beach. The food here is delicious, there are happy hour cocktails, a good wine list, a beautiful view and DJ who plays old school tunes. Kids can swim in the pool til 6ish. We LOVED it here!
Rooms
Our room was really nice with a garden courtyard, huge bathroom with massive shower and very comfy beds, Four bottles of water are generously supplied each day and there are Kids TV channels which is nice for calm down in the evening! The staff are really attentive and helpful – on arrival our doorbell rang and we had been delivered a yukata each to wear in the evenings and in bed. It was such a nice touch!
The rooms are quite spread out around the grounds but because of the many pools and restaurants you’re never far from anything – and it never seems busy or crowded cause there is so much space.
The resort also offers family rooms sleeping up to five plus an infant, with a master bedroom and children’s room plus two bathrooms. Blissful!
You can check out all the room types here.
Wolly Kids Club
The Wolly Kids Club is right next to the family pool and water slide area, and is open for children aged 4 – 12. Tyson Chicken Nugget runs the club and is adored by all the children. Each child has a locker and brings their necessities for the day including swimming costumes as the children swim twice a day with carers. They can eat at the club and spend a fun day with their friends.
There are so many activities for kids like painting, drawing and craft and the very important cultural activities including Bahasa Indonesian and cooking lessons. There’s an outdoor space and a quiet area if kids need some downtime.
The Games Centre for children aged 6 – 12 has air hockey, billiards and table soccer, and electronic games like Playstation.
Wolly Kids Club is super professional and an awesome option for some downtime for mum and dad and for some alternative stimulation – like craft and games – for the kids,
The vibe
The amazing thing is that with many people here at the resort it is so spread out that it’s really quiet, and you never feel crowded. This I LOVE. It’s also just a really calm and relaxed place to be – I think it’s the jungle vibe, the beach just across the road and that everyone is so happy. It’s soooooo nice.
The beach
Just across the road is Legian Beach. We spent an afternoon there having a beer at the Ketut and Rhonda beach bar, sitting on bean bags and playing in the water. We left my bag and camera at our beanbag – it’s safe there. It was just so nice, I really want to go back and do it again. Sunset is gorgeous and the local blokes who run the bar are just lovely.
Dining
I admit we ate in-house for our entire visit. Breakfast at Donibiu restaurant was really great with a huge selection of Indonesian and western dishes. We generally ate lunch by the pool and had dinner at the SKAI Beach Club or ordered room service! There is a fabulous Japanese restaurant, Tenkai, that I wanted to try but we didn’t get there…we were so tired each evening after all our activities – next time!
The Spa
I love getting cheap massages but they can never compare with the resort spa experience. The Spa at Padma Legian is so beautiful and is the perfect escape when kids are in Wolly Kids Club or for a mummy and me pampering session. Emmie and I had an hour long massage together – side by side – which was really nice, followed by a milk bath. Heaven!
We had an incredible stay at Padma, and I do recommend it for families visiting Bali. Highlights for me:
- Such a lovely natural setting with lots of greenery and palms.
- A big selection of pools, especially the family pool area which is so beautiful and lots of fun.
- The kid free pool – cause while I didn’t use it, I know a lot of you will!
- The waterslides – fun for all the family.
- Sunset from the beach or SKAI Beach Bar
Emmie agrees – here’s her top five.
Emmie’s Top Five Padma Resort Legian
- Waterslides because they were super fun.
- The pools were awesome because they have lot of nature
- The rooms because they are beautiful
- The gelato because it is yummy
- Making friends – my favourite thing to do in any resort.
LOCATION: Legian, Bali. About 40 mins from the airport depending on traffic
PRICE PER NIGHT: It depends on your room, the time you’re staying and how far in advance you book. We found a room for $190 per night one day in advance but expect to pay more. Find out prices here.
RATING FROM US? LOVE.
Book your flights now – download the Skyscanner App!
We stayed at Padma as a guest of the resort and also paid for room nights and food.