Sthala Hotel in Ubud, Bali

Our one-month in Bali was winding down to the end and, right before we said our goodbyes, we wanted to spend a day in Ubud. We saw that SPG (Starwood) had a new hotel that just opened in Ubud and we thought why not check it out. Also, they were offering a discounted rate since it was a soft opening.

We have never had the privilege to stay at a brand new hotel where we were some of the first people to touch everything — they just opened 2 days before. Personally, I was more than ecstatic because I knew everything was spanking new. The towels were soft, the sheets and pillows were crisp, and, most importantly, the water pressure was strong!

Room
Room
Room view
Room view

The overall design of the hotel was beautiful from the beautiful folk art painting on the lobby’s ceiling to indoor-outdoor living design in the restaurant.

sthala-front-lobby-1
Back of lobby looking out front
sthala-front-lobby-4
Lobby with ceiling art
Sitting area
Sitting area
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Lobby

The restaurant located in the basement overlooking Ubud’s jungle and Wos River provided you with a refreshing escape from the typical bustling city.

sthala-restuarant
Indoor-outdoor Restaurant

The gym was small but provided the essentials. We did not try out the gym because it was really hot and we didn’t see any aircon in the room. This area of the basement that consists of gym and spa is still unfinished.

The roof top bar was our favorite area. The swing set chairs around the bar provided a very whimsical-romantic feel. At the bar, you can witness Bali’s famous and gorgeous sunset – honestly, I can never get tired looking at it.

Roof top bar
Roof top bar

The staff overall were so attentive, especially the breakfast staff. They, not only, provided impeccable service, but also, anticipated our needs before we did. Maybe it was because we were the only ones at breakfast – ha. I hope they can keep up this type of service when the hotel is fully up and running.

One of two pools
One of two pools

The location is quite far from the town center, however, they do provide a shuttle there every 2 hours, which was nice since taxi can be expensive in Ubud.

The only two things we were unsatisfied with were the check-in and the late checkout process. The check-in was very slow even though we were the only one there. There was a discrepancy in our room-rate charges. The bill the hotel provided was a lot more than the quote we were given online on the SPG website. Although, the problem was resolved and even if it was a system error, we thought the hotel would want to overcompensate and provide us with a complimentary something like a drink at the bar for the hassle and the long wait time. We don’t think is an over the top demand since SPG is known for their service and making their guests happy.

The next morning, we went to the front desk asking for a late checkout time at 2pm (standard late checkout time for SPG members is 4pm) since we will be visiting the town center and didn’t want to rush back. To our surprise, the front desk manager denied our request and said that the room was booked for another guest. We were surprised because this hotel boasts 145 rooms and they had about 10 guests in the hotel. I know this because the bartender told us the night before when we had dinner at the roof top bar. This is shocking because we were given late checkout at the Westin (SPG) in Nusa Dua, Bali, a fully running and very busy resort.

Our overall experience was great other than the check-in process and late checkout request. We would definitely give this hotel another try when we return to Bali.