Hotel Review: The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas Nusa Dua, Bali

Location: Nusa Dua
Price: £££
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Perfect for: Direct beach access, relaxation, pure luxury, incredible buffets

The Mulia Bali opened in 2012 on one of the most exclusive locations on Bali’s coast line. Located in Nusa Dua is an all-encompassing resort from which you’ll never feel the need to leave.

Winner of Beach Resort of the year 2013 by Condé Nast Traveler USA - Readers’ Choice Awards. The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas continues to win numerous and is widely recognised as one of the world’s most outstanding hotels.

Location

The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas is located about 90mins away from Ngurah Rai International Airport (also known as Denpasar Airport) by car - depending on traffic.

Nusa Dua is seen as an upscale part of Bali, and as a result it is much more relaxed than other parts of Bali, such as Seminyak. The beaches are clean and quiet, meaning this hotel is the perfect destination for those seeking a relaxed and laid-back trip.

In fact, The Mulia Bali has direct access to the white sandy beaches of Nusa Dua and have lined it with sunbeds facing the beautiful clear waters.

As the hotel is in a secluded location, bear in mind that there isn’t much else around, including stores to pick up souvenirs or essentials. However you shouldn’t feel the need to leave, as The Mulia Bali aims to provide guests with everything they need.

Design and Character

Be prepared to be amazed when you arrive at The Mulia Bali. The large lobby area is more like an atrium, which opens out onto breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean, a spacious lounge and a relaxing bar too.

The design is spacious, sleek and minimalist, allowing the views of the sea on one side and the mountains on another to draw all the attention.

The hotel itself is a sprawling property. There are pools, bars, restaurants, spas and lounge areas galore. There are so many beautiful areas to lounge in that you won’t need to sit in the same space twice. I really enjoyed this sense of space, as I could easily find a corner to relax and not come across any guests for hours.

Of course the sense of luxury is all around you, from the art hanging from the walls, water features and reflective pools, decadent cascading chandeliers and the quality of all the furnishings.

Accommodation

The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas, consist of 3 experiences within one location, but guests won’t notice this very much during their stay.

The main part of the hotel is the Mulia Resort, which features 526 luxury rooms and suites. These are centred around the facilities including pools, restaurants and bars. This does mean that there can be a lot of walking involved, depending on where your room is located. I easily completed 8,000 every day of my stay without trying, just from walking back and forth to the room, pools and restaurants.

Our room was located in the main part of the hotel, and I was very impressed with the size and space that we had. There was a large king-sized bed, desk area, comfortable seating area, as well as a bathroom with bathtub and a vast balcony too.

All these aspects of the room weren’t crammed into a small area and in fact there was plenty of space to manoeuvre. This makes it evident that the rooms and hotel were specifically designed with a sense of luxury in mind, and no short-cuts were taken at the expense of this.

The theme of the furnishing in the rooms mirrors that of the hotel itself, with a rich creamy palette and sleek design. All rooms feature Smart TVs, high-thread-count sheets on ultra-comfortable beds and even high-tech toilets that open, close, warm up and flush automatically.

From our balcony we had views of the many pools in the centre of the hotel, as well as the ocean and it’s beautiful waves too.

Dining at The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas

There are four restaurants and five bars to dine in at The Mulia, all specialising in a large variety of cuisines.

Dinner at The Café

The Café is the main restaurant at the hotel. It is a vast space that serves buffet breakfasts and buffet dinners. But these are not the tacky buffets of standard hotels, far from it in fact.

The dinner buffet offering was phenomenal, and I couldn’t believe just how much was available. There are reportedly 100 chefs from around the world working at The Mulia, all producing a range of different cuisines from Italian, Indian, Japanese, Hainanese and more.

I honestly didn’t know where to start, so I went with the counter closest to me - Japanese. These proved to be are great choice as the sushi and sashimi was incredible. The fish was fresh and the flavours fantastic. I couldn’t resist heading back for more salmon sashimi.

I also tried a delicious butter chicken curry and lamb curry with freshly made naan from the tandoor at the Indian stand. I was also able to try Thai food, traditional Indonesian cuisine, and teppanyaki grilled meats too.

Be sure to save room for dessert, as the restaurant also features an entire room dedicated to cakes, offering everything from red velvet cake to freshly made cake. Oh and don’t forget to visit the ice cream roulette stand to their range of amazing gelato or ice creams.

Breakfast at The Café

After literally feasting at The Café the night before, we were surprised to find that we were hungry in the morning and looking forward to breakfast.

Breakfast is also served buffet style in The Café and when we were led to our table I couldn’t help but get a sense of de ja vu from the night before. As it initially seemed the same offering from dinner was available at breakfast too! But on close inspection this wasn’t the case, and many of the sections had switched over to serving more breakfast appropriate food. This included a fruit platter stand, yoghurt area, coffees made to your taste and eggs freshly cooked to your liking.

I was pleased to see the Japanese section was still there, so I indulged in some more sushi, as well as a delicious Indian pumpkin curry and puri too. The coffee, juices and fruits and yoghurt were delicious too. The cake room was open for breakfast too, but I couldn’t find the space in my stomach to try it again!

Dinner at Table8

Table8 serves buffet style dining too, but focused on Cantonese and Szechuan food.

The decor and vibe is very different to The Café, as it is much more stylish, themed and luxurious. It is also much smaller in size compared to The Café, which makes it feel much more like an intimate restaurant.

I was pleased to see a selection of traditional authentic Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine dishes on offer, as well as a more modern offering too.

We really enjoyed the claypot noodles and rice, which are cooked to order, as well as the dim sum selection. There is also a section to create your own noodle dishes by selecting the ingredients which will then be cooked for you.

I really enjoyed dining at Table8 and trying the variety of dishes on offer, especially as many of them are cooked to order and then delivered to your table, making it feel more like a restaurant than a buffet.

Facilities

The facilities at The Mulia feel endless. There are six large pools to choose from, all of which are beautifully designed and many of them are adorned by Grecian themed majestic statues, adding a regal vibe to the resort.

It definitely feels glorious to lie in the sunshine on one of the sun beds, especially the ones which seem to be levitating over the water, and be served drinks from the many bars adjacent to the pools.

There are also sun beds lined along the beautiful Geger Beach, for those who want to swim in the sea, or simply have ocean views.

It is easy to spend an entire day by the pool, but there is also a grandiose spa and gym, ideal for working off those buffets.

TIP: There is a path on the right side of the hotel which makes for a scenic short walk towards the sunset, and there is actually a beautiful hidden cove which is ideal for swimming it - give it a go!

Overall

If I was to summarise my stay at The Mulia Bali in one word, it would be incredible.

Everything was far beyond my expectation, from the size and comfort levels of our room, to the decadent buffets from breakfast to dinner.

The hotel itself is beautiful, and oozes a sense of luxury from every corner. Due to the vast nature of the hotel, it was difficult to get to know the staff well, but everyone we interacted with was friendly, chatty and remembered us too. The property is literally sprawling though, so be prepared to get lost and do a fair bit of walking.

I would highly recommend The Mulia for couples who are looking for ultra-luxury on the beachfront with no desire to leave for days on end.