Sol by Melia Benoa

Confusion!! If you think you are booking Melia Bali.. you are not. I'm so disappointed that I didn't look further into detail after staying with Melia twice around the world before. My mistake aside... although made by a number of other guests I found after chatting by the pool. While the staff are wonderful, I'm at a loss as to what I spent $3000 on! (6 nights) Although it is listed as 5*, I assure you it's a long way off. All-inclusive doesn't mean all inclusive, despite it being in the name of the hotel... a menu is provided of juices, wine, Sinharaja beer and Arak cocktails. Any Non local drinks are charged for with a 30% discount but add 205 tax (eg. Jack Daniels ~ $22 AUD) as we had purchased PREMIUM All Inclusive, although they didn't even have available. Minibar all-inclusive has 1 beer, and 2 chocolates plus 2 snack sized chips. You are provided with 3 small bottles of water daily for teeth brushing and consuming. Despite having the Premium all-inclusive package, they refused to add more than 3 bottles per day (3 guests) so had to call room service and order as a beverage each time. Room service was actually all included in our package to our surprise, although the food was simply not good. Fine dining doesn't mean fine dining... There are 3 restaurants on site. One all day buffet and one evening buffet and one evening "fine dining". While they have everything to make a great dish it is just not executed well at all. Breakfast was inedible unless you wait for the egg station, 20 mins for an uncooked egg with flies as a side as its done outside. One cook doing one pan at a time for and entire hotel meant waiting 30+ minutes for a single fried egg. Food & Beverage was the biggest let down of the resort, we ended up using the place as a bed and venturing out each day. The rooms are fine, very basic. Small things like not having bathmat or hand towels for the first couple of days and then we started getting them. Website states coffee machine but is a dirty old kettle and sachet coffee. We tried the spa as we received a complimentary massage with our Premium package, although found it also comes with the standard package. It was nice but we preferred the spa on the street across the road, which is had the price, if we had paid at the hotel. Kids Club was a highlight for my daughter. She had recently been at Kids Club in Melia Koh Samui and rated this one higher. I think it had a lot to do with that it was one on one, there were barely any children in this hotel. The team members are wonderful and friendly. They did dress ups, dancing, learned Indonesian and many arts and crafts. The pool and garden areas are nice, probably the best part of the place. They did a nice setup for the evening buffet and have some good activities areas. We did enjoy the fire dance show and music however could have done without hearing the Karaoke super loud late into the night when trying to sleep. Overall the hotel is dated and not very clean, I can see that it once may have been the 5* offering it claims it is. The staff are friendly and are attentive. They are the highlight of the resort. I would not return at all but if I was to, I certainly wouldn't recommend the Premium all-inclusive as there was 0 benefit. Definitely not value for money here, Nusa Dua prices for a run-down establishment. Read less

The stay was good. Enjoyed the room, comfortable and ambiance. However, the hotel in general looked slightly dated. The pool had yellowing stains. It was always low tide at the hotel (don’t know why). The all-inclusive was really good. But as a vegetarian I would have appreciated if more items could have been included into the menu as by the 3rd day I was repeating my orders and was getting abit tired with the menu. Overall, good stay. But maybe some maintenance and upgrading works needs to be carried out. Read less

We have lost track of the number of times we have stayed at the Sol Beach hotel over the past 20 years and here are some of the reasons. The hotel is an older style but small and friendly and clean and the staff are all awesome and treat you like royalty! The all inclusive gives you the freedom to eat and drink without the signing of dockets. There are 3 Restaurants to choose from and I think that the food and drink selection and quality during our visit this month was the best ever! There is entertainment at night with shows in the beach areas. Laundry is included in the all inclusive so that you can return home with a minimum of washing. There are shops in the hotel for souvenirs and clothes The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms large and there is a good size balcony. The icing on the cake for us is the Swim up Pool Bar where you can meet guests from all over the world. We will be back! Read less