A Sofitel twin room with two beds, a round table by the window and a woven pendant lamp

The main pool in front of a pavilion with a peaked thatched roof

Thatched beach umbrellas and navy-and-white loungers on the sand in front of the sea

The pool’s stone columns and curtained cabanas, with blue loungers along the water

A narrow lagoon pool winding through tropical planting below a guest wing

The lobby pavilion reflected in a long pond

Lunch of noodles, fried rice and Indonesian dishes on a table

8.0/10

Excellent

Best Bali Hotels score

5-star · ~A$250–500

The Sofitel is the best deal in Nusa Dua for a family of three. You get a 70-metre lagoon pool, rooms that open straight into the water, a kids club and the beach, for 5-star money rather than splurge money.

The catch is the room limit. The standard rooms take three people, no exceptions, so a family of four is booking a suite or two rooms, which get expensive fast.

Pools
A 70-metre lagoon pool with a swim-up bar, and a lagoon that runs past the ground-floor rooms.
Kids
A kids club with 2 free hours a day and a sandy kids pool with a slide. Under-4s need a parent with them.
Value
Free extra beds and free breakfast for under-12s.
Service
Friendly, but it gets stretched when the hotel is full.
Rooms
Big, refurbished in 2022, with marble and a bath. Only three to a room.
Location
On the sand at the north end of Nusa Dua. Bali Collection is a 15-minute walk.
Food
A big breakfast buffet and a great Sunday brunch. Dinner is fine, not a reason to stay.

Things I loved

The pools. The main lagoon pool is over 70 metres long, with a swim-up bar and in-water loungers. I think it’s the second-best pool in Nusa Dua, after The Laguna’s lagoons.
The swim-out rooms. A lagoon about 400 metres long winds past the ground-floor Pool Access rooms. You step off your terrace and swim to the main pool.
The rooms are big. Even the entry room is 48 square metres, with marble floors, a bath and a rain shower. Every room, suite and villa was refurbished, finishing in 2022.
The kids pool. It has a sandy bottom, fountains and a small slide, right next to the kids club. There are loungers beside it for parents.
Free extras for kids. An extra bed is free for under-12s, and so is breakfast. That makes it REALLY good value for a family of three.
The Sunday brunch. It runs every Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm at the Italian restaurant, and it’s one of the best buffets in Nusa Dua.

What could be better

Three to a room. Every standard room takes a maximum of 3 people. A family of four needs a Prestige Suite, a two-bedroom villa or two rooms.
Some ground-floor rooms feel damp. The pool and plunge-pool rooms sit in the garden humidity, and a few smell musty. Check yours on arrival and ask to move if it does.
Mosquitoes around the lagoon. They come out at dusk, and in the early morning when you swim. Pack repellent.
Service slows down when it’s full. Weekend breakfast can mean a 15–20 minute wait for eggs, and room service can drag.
The beach club music. Manarai Beach House is a separate beach club on the hotel’s own stretch of sand. It plays music from the afternoon into the evening.
It’s big. There are about 413 rooms, plus conferences and weddings from the convention centres nearby. It never feels small.

Rooms

The rooms are some of the biggest entry rooms in Nusa Dua. They’re calm and modern after the 2022 refurbishment, with marble floors, a bath and a separate rain shower.

Every Luxury Room is 48 square metres, with a king or two singles, and sleeps three. What changes is the view and what’s outside the door.

Luxury Room: the entry room, with a balcony. The lowest floors lose their view to the plants.
Luxury Room Resort View: the same room, looking over the resort.
Luxury Room Ocean View: the same room, facing the sea from the balcony. Book this rather than hoping for a high floor.
Luxury Room Plunge Pool: the same room on the ground floor, with a small private pool and a garden.
Luxury Room Pool Access: the same room, with steps from your living room into the lagoon. You also get Club Millésime, the club lounge, which is why I’d book it.
Honeymoon Suite: 88 square metres for two, with a living and dining area and either a plunge pool or an ocean-view balcony. Club Millésime and a butler are included.
Prestige Suite: 120 square metres, with a king, a separate living and dining room, and a balcony or a plunge pool. It sleeps four, includes the club and a butler, and the kids go on extra beds.
One Bedroom Pool Villa: 88 square metres, with a plunge pool on the terrace and the club. It sleeps three, so it’s not the family answer.
Two Bedroom Pool Villa: 175 square metres, with a king, two singles, a living room and a plunge pool. The one villa that takes a family of four.
Presidential Villa: three bedrooms and a private pool, at the top of the range.

For a family of three with a child under 10, I’d book Pool Access. The lagoon is right outside, and the club breakfast covers the grown-ups.

For a family of four, I’d book two connecting rooms rather than the suite. Ask about the family offer when you do: the hotel advertises half price on a second room.

Club Millésime gets you breakfast in the lounge, afternoon tea from 3 to 5 pm and drinks and canapés from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Under-12s can’t come in for the evening drinks.

Pools and kids

There are two big main pools, plus the lagoon that links the Pool Access rooms to them. There’s no big waterslide, so if that’s the point of your trip, the Grand Hyatt has the best slide in Nusa Dua.

The Kids Villa runs from 9 am to 6 pm, and the first 2 hours each day are free. After that you pay by the hour. Kids do cooking, painting, jewellery making, yoga and face painting, and there’s a nap room.

The catch for toddlers: under-4s must have a parent with them, or a paid one-on-one babysitter. And there’s no teens club.

Food

Breakfast is a big buffet at Kwee Zeen, with about 10 live stations and a juice bar. On weekends I’d get there by 7 am, before the queues.

The Italian restaurant does the Sunday brunch, plus steak and seafood at night. Book the brunch ahead.
The beach bar and grill is the casual one, on the sand. It’s where I’d have lunch.

Dinner is good rather than a reason to stay. For a cheaper night out, take the free shuttle to Bali Collection.

From August to December 2026, the hotel also sells an all-inclusive package with breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks.

Location

The Sofitel is on the sand at the north end of the gated Nusa Dua area. The paved beach path runs along the front for about 7 km.

The beach is wide and reef-protected, with gentle waves. Like all of Nusa Dua it’s tidal, so swim at high tide. In the wet season, roughly November to March, there’s more seaweed.

Bali Collection is about 15 minutes on foot, or a free shuttle ride. Expect a few beach vendors.

Overall

The Sofitel is my sleeper pick in Nusa Dua. With one child, it’s the one I’d tell friends to book. You get big rooms, the lagoon on your doorstep and a kids club. The Laguna has no kids club, and Paradisus is built for older kids.

With two kids it gets harder. Two rooms or a suite pushes the price up, and that’s where the Westin’s two double beds win.

Book it if you’re a family of three, or a couple who wants a swim-out room for 5-star money. Skip it if you’re four in one room, or you’ve got a toddler who needs a kids club.

Alternatives nearby

The Westin Resort Nusa Dua. Two double beds in a standard room and a free kids club, so a family of four fits in one room. Mid-range money.
The Laguna. Better swim-up rooms and a calmer resort, but no kids club. It costs more.
Grand Hyatt Bali. Five pools and a 50-metre slide for mid-range money. The rooms are older.

See all my picks in the best hotels and resorts in Nusa Dua, the best family resorts in Nusa Dua or the best Accor hotels in Bali.