Segara Village Hotel

We had two nights and one full day at Segara, as an acclimatisation stop after our arrival in Bali. We were very impressed. The customer service from initial meet and greet through to final departure was flawless. Friendly and helpful but without being clingy or obsequious. There is a beachfront promenade for pedestrians and bicycles, the hotel’s main site is on the landward side, and they’ve set up an outdoor dining area on the beach side, very pleasant. They even have a crossing warden on the promenade to prevent jet-lagged guests like us from getting mown down by bicycles as we cross to the beach. Our room was fine, easily big enough for two, with a security safe, effective air-con and an excellent shower. The grounds are beautiful - landscaped with mature tropical planting and some grand old trees. Very classy and well cared for. Three pools, including a jacuzzi. My wife rated the stylish infinity pool as the best one of our holiday. The restaurant building is in a kind of traditional style, pleasant and airy, not on the waterside but close enough to feel the sea’s presence. The food was good, breakfast being an international buffet style and generous enough to keep us going through the day. Free afternoon tea & cakes were served from 3-4pm, very handy. The hotel is towards the northern end of the promenade, which offers several km of safe, flat walking if you need to shake out your legs after a long flight. We thought that the nearby beach was a bit average, there’s an offshore reef that makes the shore-side lagoon too shallow for swimming, but feasible for rock-pooling. But the promenade itself has plenty of interest along it, countless warungs, bars, tourist shops and now the huge new Icon Bali shopping mall. The latter is impressive, and it saved us from a soaking during a howling tropical downfall, but we felt that it signals the arrival of big new money in the area with the attendant demise of the small, family-run businesses. Sanur itself blends with the conurbation of Denpasar, and the traffic congestion and pollution are hideous. That’s not an issue within the hotel at all, but the area isn’t a great base for exploring further inland. That said, we would highly recommend the Segara as a stepping-stone in or out of Bali.