Bali is one of the world’s finest beach club destinations, if not the finest, and it’s always good for our review team to get out on this paradise island to sharpen their skills.
So, they were none too stressed about visiting the COMO Beach Club on Echo Beach in Canggu to offer their professional opinions on this hotel’s beach club.
This is what our reviewers learned at the COMO Beach Club and what you should know before you visit.
Introduction – Getting To COMO Beach Club
COMO Beach Club is in Canggu, Bali, which is the most popular tourist destination on the paradise island at this moment in time.
(In case you don’t know, Bali is part of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and it’s in the Indian Ocean. It’s not too far from Australia or Southeast Asia, but can be a long flight from Europe or North America; however, the cost savings of visiting Bali against other destinations can often offset the costs and hassle of long-haul flights).
Once you’re in Bali, getting to Canggu is easy, and it’s about an hour’s drive in optimal traffic from most other major destinations on the island.
The COMO Beach Club is on Echo Beach (not the one in the famous song,) and it’s a very popular black sand beach with a challenging surf break.
You can get parking at this beach club and get dropped off at the front door by a ride-share if you need to.
Where Is COMO Beach Club? Jalan Pantai Batu Mejan, Canggu, Kec. Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Online: COMO Beach Club
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi (the Balinese day of silence), from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight.
What’s Available At COMO Beach Club?
This is a simple hotel beach club. It’s a single pool area with a few daybeds around it and music being played through speakers. There is no live music or DJ in residence, and this isn’t really a party-focused beach club.
There is also a restaurant and bar area, but while you are welcome to use these facilities, you should be aware that you can’t access the pool or the beach from these areas. And what’s a beach club, really, if you can’t at least have a swim or a dip in some cool water?
Our Detailed Review Of COMO Beach Club
We assess each beach club with a consistent method to ensure fairness for owners, management, and staff, and to maintain a uniform review structure that makes comparing different venues straightforward.
The assessment process is as follows:
- A review team is assigned to the venue.
- Each member is required to visit the beach club, though they can do so on their own schedule and not necessarily together.
- At the venue, reviewers complete a scorecard, assigning scores from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) across specific categories, while also noting their experiences.
- Once all members have visited and submitted their scorecards, the team meets to review their findings and settle on final category scores.
- A team member is then tasked with writing the review, incorporating the team’s conclusions and final scores, before it is shared on our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
We like being able to reserve a seat in a beach club, we think it’s important to be able to do so if you’re travelling any distance, and we can’t understand why so many beach clubs, even those in expensive facilities like this one, make such a hash of this simple task.
You can’t book directly with the hotel. You need to use the local restaurant booking app Chope. That means you can pick a time and a date when you want to come and be certain of a seat in the club’s restaurant.
However, you can’t reserve a daybed, and you can’t pay a deposit, so if you want to actually spend time in the pool, etc., you’re going to need to turn up early or risk not getting a seat at all.
Sure, this booking service is “free”, but that still doesn’t make it any good.
Ambience and Atmosphere
We found this beach club to be something of a mixed bag. If you love having lots of children running around screaming as they have stupid amounts of fun and music blasting out of speakers, you’re going to love the vibe here.
And to be fair, some of our team responded very well to this, but some of the team either visit beach clubs to party or to chill, they’re not particularly chuffed to be under constant sonic assault the whole time they are there.
So, you need to think about what you want from your beach club day out before you choose to book the COMO Beach Club.
Location And Accessibility
Echo Beach is a nice black sand beach that looks awesome when the water collects on the shoreline and reflects the sunset lights in the sky.
This beach is home to Canggu’s most challenging surf break, and you should be, at the least, an intermediate surfer or better to think of tackling it.
It’s not a great beach for swimming, though, as the currents here are random and can be downright dangerous; even experienced and confident swimmers have been dragged out to sea here. It’s best to stick to the COMO’s pool for swimming, even if it means a minimum spend.
Aesthetic And Design
The COMO Uma Canggu is a nice resort, but it’s also an older resort for Bali, and everything is starting to look a little dated and a little shabby inside.
Hang around until the evening, and nothing will show in your awesome Instagram snaps, but in the middle of the day, you can see marks on the chair backs, stains on the floors, that kind of thing.
It’s not terrible, and it certainly won’t interfere with your enjoyment of your time at this beach club, but it’s also not the best-looking place on the island.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
One area in which the COMO Beach Club definitely has things down pat is the staff friendliness and professionalism category.
That’s because it’s a long-established 5-star hotel which has had a chance to properly train and embed its staff within its systems, etc.
So, not only are the staff members a credit to this beach club, but they are also a more polished and refined version of the Balinese hospitality for which this island is justly famous.
Service Speed and Efficiency
We also found that the staff here were very speedy and efficient, and when our orders were placed, they were promptly delivered.
We never had to work hard to catch someone’s eye for attention, and they often brought little conveniences (a stand for our bags, a magazine to read, etc.) without even being asked.
That’s a real perk of using a hotel beach club, and they should be very pleased with this aspect of their service.
Food Quality and Variety
We thought that the menu was decently varied, though there could have been more choice, and it’s not the beach club in Bali with the most variety by a long chalk.
The food was also well prepared, cooked, and presented. Most importantly, it was very tasty.
Was it the best food we’ve had at a beach club? No, but it was more than good enough that we’d happily go back to eat in the COMO Beach Club anytime.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
We found that the beverage selection was more than adequate, and there’s a good mix of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to be had.
If you’re into cocktails or mocktails, you can be assured that the final product will be Instagram-worthy, and if you asked for alcohol, it will contain enough to keep you happy when compared to the price tag.
We did think there could have been a bit more wine on offer, but overall, we were happy with the beverage selection at COMO Beach Club, Bali.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
This is a 5-star hotel, and there was nothing that left us concerned about the hygiene at this beach club. Certainly, the toilets and pool area are cleaned and well-maintained.
But this is an older beach club and it does look a touch shabby now, that’s not a lack of cleaning, it’s just wear and tear, but it doesn’t feel “perfect” and many beach clubs do, particularly those in high-end hotels.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The daybeds by the pool are pretty enough to look at, but we didn’t think they were overly comfortable. They’re fine for a couple of hours of chilling, but we’re not sure we could spend all day on them.
And given that if you’re in the restaurant, you’re shut out of the rest of the beach club, they definitely could make those seats more comfortable, as there’s no way you could do more than an hour on them.
Music and Entertainment
If you love piped music being blasted at you from around the pool area, with no real sense of curation, then you’re going to love the music at this beach club.
Normally, we find ourselves moaning about bland beach club tunes. At COMO, the issue is more that there’s no plan, no objective, it’s just music for music’s sake.
The kids seemed to like it well enough, but really, we prefer music to be played for those paying the bills.
Seasonality
This is Bali, it’s a tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and there are only two seasons. They are both hot and sunny.
While one is the “rainy season”, the island gets an average of 8 hours of sunshine a day during that time, and it rarely rains for more than an hour on any given day.
However, there is one day of the year, Nyepi, when everything on the island closes – including the airport. This holiday occurs in March or April every year, and if you’re in Bali, you’ll need to spend that day at home in quiet contemplation. It’s actually quite nice for most people.
Pricing and Value for Money
This isn’t the most expensive 5-star hotel beach club in Bali, not even close to it, in fact. And overall, we think it’s pretty good value for money for what it is.
Were COMO a little newer and more polished, we’d give it 5 stars for value, but as is, it’s 4 stars but with absolutely no hint of rip-off or tourist trap at all.
You get pretty much what you pay for at this hotel beach club, and it’s decent value for money.
Beach Access and Quality
Echo Beach is a very popular beach with the surfing community, and the black sands are lovely, though they can be a touch hot on your bare feet (wear shoes) during the day.
However, while this is a popular surfing spot, not all surfers can tackle the challenge of the break at this beach, and you should be certain of your skills before you try.
We’ve deducted a point, though, because this is a bad beach for swimming, which means non-surfers ought to stay out of the water.
Sustainability Practices
COMO is putting a lot of effort into its sustainability side at the moment, and it won an EarthCheck Silver Award for its progress in 2024.
They offer electric vehicles to their customers to reduce their carbon footprint, they recycle about 80% of the water used in the hotel and beach club, provide sustainable products in the hotel rooms, and are working on reducing single-use plastics.
The business also composts, reuses and upcycles, works on an eco enzyme project, donates used cooking oil for biodiesel production, partners with Eco Bali and Jiwa Community Garden and responsibly disposes of hazardous waste.
There’s still a lot to be done, but COMO is definitely heading in the right direction.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
You get the use of a sunbed and a towel if you agree to a minimum spend at COMO Beach Club, which is very much standard for Bali.
However, there are no additional perks available even at an extra cost, which feels like a missed opportunity for this beach club.
Safety and Security
We are firm believers in safety and security at beach clubs, and this beach club has a bag check on the door, a security check as you enter the car park and enough security guards on duty to ensure no problems present themselves during the course of the day.
They also provide lifeguarding services at the pool, which is very important given the number of children in this beach club.
Event Hosting Capabilities
As you’d expect from a 5-star hotel, this beach club can accommodate various events from wedding parties to MICE events for big corporations.
The hotel has a team dedicated to organizing events and can offer additional spaces in the resort as well as the potential buyout of all or part of the beach club.
Consistency of Experience
We have all visited this beach club a few times in the past and spoken to many others as well as read reviews of it online, and everyone agrees that the experience here is very consistent.
However, as we’ve already remarked, the place is looking a little shabby now and there’s no real effort being put in to improve things.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
There are all the basic amenities you could expect at a hotel beach club and because you’re in Canggu, anything else you need is either a short walk or drive away.
Summary
There’s nothing wrong with hotel beach clubs; they’re a valuable extra service for hotel guests, and in the cases of places like the Como Beach Club Bali, they’re often a very pleasant place to spend a few hours.
Of course, they can’t compete with the specialist beach clubs on an island like Bali. The world’s best beach club, FINNS Beach Club, and the chill-out zone that is Potato Head have a distinct edge on hotel facilities.
However, if you’re staying in the resort or seeking a nice, fun family day out where kids can really let loose, this is the place for you.
Overall, we wouldn’t recommend this beach club if you want to party, but otherwise, it’s a nice enough hotel facility and a genuine bonus if you’re staying in the COMO Uma Canggu.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At COMO Beach Club?
Yes, however, it’s important to note that not all the seats in this beach club come with access to the pool. In particular, if you opt to spend your time in their restaurant, you cannot swim in the pool at this beach club.
In order to get pool access, you must agree to a minimum spend, which, in turn, also secures you access to a nice, comfortable daybed where you can lounge around when you’re not swimming.
We don’t see anything wrong with this practice. The COMO Beach Club is a business, and it’s reasonable to expect you to spend a certain amount of money in exchange for pool access, the use of a towel, their changing facilities, etc.
What Is There To Do At COMO Beach Club?
COMO Beach Club is not a titan of the beach club scene in Bali, and it’s a small, well-focused beach club with a single pool area, with an adjoining deck, and there’s also a restaurant area.
You may eat and drink anywhere in the beach club, and if you have agreed to a minimum spend and secured a daybed, you may also swim.
There is usually music playing all day long, and there are occasional special events like the monthly pet appreciation day, where you can bring your canine chums with you to the beach club.
Is COMO Beach Club A Child-Friendly Venue?
Yes, in fact, this is one of the most child-friendly venues in Bali, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the kind of day you’re looking for.
If you’re parents with children who need some kids to play with, you’ll be happy as a pig in muck thanks to the fact that the pool area is nearly always packed out with young ones having fun.
In contrast, if you’re childless and seeking peace and quiet or a party, you may not be so thrilled.
The hotel also offers a kid’s club, and while it’s not included in the beach club access, you can pay a fee to use the kid’s club even if you’re not a resident of the hotel.
Who Is The Owner Of COMO Beach Club?
The COMO Uma Canggu hotel contains the COMO Beach Club and it’s owned by the COMO Group, which owns and manages various hospitality properties throughout Bali.
This group is headed up by a Mrs. Christina Ong of Singapore. In addition to hospitality, it also runs fashion, lifestyle, wellness and dining brands.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of COMO Beach Club
This is an extremely pleasant hotel beach club, but one which is clearly a hotel beach club. That means its primary purpose is to serve the families that stay in the resort.
That’s not a bad thing, and there’s a lot on offer here, including rooftop pools, yoga classes, juice bars, and much more. It’s definitely nothing like the surf shacks that it replaced.
Do we recommend a visit to this beach club? Sure, if you’re in the area, it’s a nice place to spend some time. But it’s not worth travelling too far for either; there are a lot of good beach clubs in Bali.
