StarwoodGuy: Around the World With Starwood Hotels in 30 Days. Days 4 and 5

I grabbed an Uber to the airport in Hong Kong for the next leg of my journey. The driver was quite talkative and asked about Uber back in North America and if I used the service often. I told him I did and he complained about the taxis in the city, so basically a similar story you hear in many cities. Once I arrived at the massive airport I made my way through security, there was no set line for APEC business card holders, but there was an APEC immigration line (the second hurdle you face getting to the departure area), another ten minutes saved! Cathay Pacific has three lounges beyond security spread out through the airport. The flight board did not have my gate listed nor did it come up on the Cathay Pacific flight app, so I opted for the most talked about lounge, The Wing. The lounge is beautiful with three main sections on the upper level with the main area including the long bar with a beautiful view out over the airport traffic. Cocktails were mixed by a bartender here but since it was early most people were just having the Moet that was being freely poured. They announced that there was a thirty minute delay with my flight so I decided on checking out the other lounges. It turned out the Wing was as far from my flight as possible but I still had time to stop into The Bridge, a lower level lounge connecting the two main sections of the airport, with a large seating area, slightly narrower, but still an excellent space. Piper Heidsieck was served at the long bar here along with similar food offerings but there was a chef cooking away at an open area as well. I went out to my gate and was told it would be another ten minutes and right next door on the lower level was the third lounge, The Pier. This was the most basic of the three lounges and not worth a stop unless you are heading out of a nearby gate, but still it had similar food and it was back to the Moet here.

The flight was on a 777 with a more dated pod then the previous plane but along with Billecart Salmon champagne there was some Moet on offer here as well, which was apparently not typical onboard. The food was once again excellent with a salmon appetizer and I chose the sushi and sashimi to follow. I am a big Downton Abbey fan so I was pleased to find the show on offer in the flight’s entertainment system.

It had been more then fifteen years since I had last been to Bali, way back when I was a student at the University of Australia on exchange from the University of Victoria in Canada. Ours was the only flight when I landed making the airport quiet. There is a $35.00 US fee collected as you enter (and they were collecting in US which was somewhat odd), but I was waived right by this thanks to the handy APEC Business card. I had arranged a car from the hotel and I was met in a comfortable lounge area for limousine transfers. It is very cheap to get one on your own but as it was only an $18.00 US car service from airport to the hotel in AC and charged directly to my room so I found it well worth the price. We headed off and the first thing I noticed was how much Bali had changed in fifteen years, perhaps not surprisingly. The traffic was crazy getting through the airport which is very close to the hotel. Scooters dart around everywhere, so whether coming or going, leave yourself additional time with the traffic snarls around the airport itself. Once at the hotel, the Sheraton Kuta Bali, I was greeted with a mango infused iced tea and a wonderful suite upgrade. My room was large and very comfortable, as usual I needed a quick tutorial on my in-room espresso machine. I showered and headed straight out into Kuta, the busiest area of the town where the Sheraton is located. The streets were bustling, but amazingly the hotel itself right in the heart of it all, was so quiet compared to the neighboring Hard Rock. I stopped for one drink and headed back to get some much needed sleep only to find my turndown service included several desserts and an arrangement of nuts, olives and cheeses.

The next morning I worked out at the slightly too small gym but only one other person came in the entire time I was there. The view over the infinity pool, however, was amazing for a treadmill run. The breakfast in the restaurant Feast was wonderful with multiple offerings, American, Australian and Asian fare all included as well as chefs cooking on demand, though with no AC it was a little warm inside and it was too humid for me on the outdoor patio. It was my first meat pie for breakfast though! After, I walked from the Sheraton up the beach to the W Hotel. The W was beautiful with a large pool area in lush grounds, and unlike the Sheraton which has the main beach road separating it from the beach, the W is right on the beach itself. It was definitely the younger, trendier crowd here as one would expect and the signs noted the DJ performing at the hotel until 4:00am. The pools were nice and the lobby attractive, but it is definitely geared towards the party scene. There are golf carts to take guests to the main road, but I just walked out into the Seminyak area which had also changed a great deal as well. The neighborhood now has a mix of small stores and mainline companies, I counted three Quicksilvers, a Billabong, and a Polo Ralph Lauren store as I walked back in the direction of the Sheraton. Once back at the hotel I had a drink at the pool at chatted with some of the other guests while mini pizzas were brought around, then took advantage of the complimentary afternoon tea in the lobby bar (1 per stay for Platinum guest). That night I had dinner at a great restaurant in Seminyak and called it quits to watch some television in the room. I typically do not get anything out of the minibar but when I looked at the prices I was shocked. 18,000 IRD or Indonesian rupiah! The conversion rate is quite tricky and everyone at the pool joked that you spend a million rupiah in a weekend. Once I did the math on my iPhone I discovered 18,000 IRD was $1.34 US. For a beer from a minibar! Well 4 beers later and the next day’s workout was made much harder. I followed my difficult next morning workout with breakfast followed by a walk on the beach, this time in the other direction towards the airport. I should note as well that the Sheraton is connected to the beautiful BeachWalk mall with Starbucks, Zara and other stores located right inside. Once back at the hotel I showered quickly and took advantage of the thirty percent discount on spa services for Platinum members which the hotel offers. I booked an hour massage and 1 hour facial combo for the following day. Regular price 800,000 IDR discounted plus tax and tip. Effectively it was $65.00 US for two hours of amazing service. The spa setting is adjacent to the pool, and though it is not as deluxe or grandiose an experience as other Balinese spas (the Intercontinental or Fours Seasons with lavish settings) this was still excellent. I headed out and said goodbye to the amazing staff and jumped into the hotel car bound for my next stop, Le Meridien Jimbaran Bay, just twenty minutes away north of the airport.