If you were to come to Candidasa, but wanted to stay out of the busy tourist area, this is the place to be. Only 5 minutes away from the buzz, you find Puri Bagus with its beautiful garden and fine pool. The staff in the hotel is great, as they are very helpful and open to suggestions. The rooms are spacious and well maintained. Ours was a garden view deluxe room, but we could see a bit of the sea as well. Not that you’ll spend much time in your room though. You can chill out at the pool or at the gazebo’s on the seaside. There is no beach at this hotel, but the water in the pool is of perfect quality. Beach/Pool towels are provided at the pool for free. Next to the pool there is a small restaurant for lunch and dinner. Dining upstairs in the restaurant is also possible.
Are there no downsides? Yes, unfortunately there are two. The hotel asks you not to consume anything you bring from outside the resort, on their premises. There is no shop on-site and the minibar menu is very limited. There are no bar snacks. We considered this a minus. On our first night we had an absolutely underwhelming dinner. The indonesian food on the menu is limited (mostly western, but the kitchen staff is Indonesian), and it seems the crew doesn’t master all dishes. We suggested to slim down the menu, and only serve amazing food that matches the surroundings. We hope management takes our suggestion into consideration. As of now, we decided to go off-site for dinner the remaining two nights. For that we ended up with Vincent’s in the town.
Should you want to explore Candidasa, the hotel has two basic bikes available, which you can use if available. Nothing fancy, but good enough to save you the walk and have a nice look around.