Gajah Mina Beach Resort

Lovely setting and nice room. Outdoor shower was great

Our room was very nice, but the grounds needed a lot more attention. Check in was a bit ordinary, and the place was under staffed

We stayed at Gaja Mina Resort Balian, in late June 2023. The place was underwhelming. The setting in a large rambling garden is quite lovely, with a walk out to the headland with great views but the resort's gardens and buildings are poorly maintained with piles of rotting compost, construction fences, partially cut trees (logs), scattered litter, unemptied rubbish bins, neglected and broken furniture and water features that were dried up or contained stagnant water infested with mosquito lava. My sons room was grim, concrete and basic, think prison cell, ill matched furniture, with a toilet that regurgitated what went into it (disgusting), a shower that only had cold water and gave you an electric shock when you used it. My room although quite charming in a traditional but dilapidated way had a family of cockroaches in the bedside table, most of the window stays and catches were broken. Without a shower screen or curtain, use the shower and wash the floor at the same time. Annoying and mould making. The lighting was so poor you could not read in the room. In the tropics its nice to sleep with fresh air under a mosquito net (yes there is malaria in Bali), but lack of flyscreens and only a duvet means you have to sleep with ac cold enough to justify a duvet. That’s energy efficient. NOT. There is a pool area with a bar. The bar was always closed and there was no staff to provide drinks (even in the restaurant next to it), so we got them from a local shop about 10 minutes walk away. The pool had mold all around the edge. I suspect they did not use chlorine in it. There was not enough umbrellas if more than two families were there. The restaurant food is ordinary and very expensive; the internal dining room smelt of stale food and damp. Everyone I saw requested salt and pepper to make the food edible, including on their pizzas. My prawns were only just edible, suffering greatly from blandness. The fresh coconut juice directly from a coconut tasted of water not coconut. When I brought it up with the staff he dismissed my concern. The restaurant was also the most expensive in Balian. Considering the waiters did not come to the tables to take orders, barely moved and provided the most meagre level of surly service, the 10% restaurant service charge included on the bill at the end was a complete mystery. Although our tariff noted that included return transfers to the airport, they wanted me to pay for it. 24 hours prior to leaving I provided my voucher to reception but they insisted I contact the resort Owner to sort it out. She did not answer my calls or texts; finally an hour before departure her only response was that she was in a meeting. She is a disgrace. This place is wildly over-priced, horribly neglected and staffed by the most unhappy people I met in Bali. Even the airport security staff were friendlier. It could be so much more.