Planning a family holiday in Bali but not sure where to stay?  Our recent family escape to the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali resort near Seminyak has us convinced it is a contender for the best family resort in Bali.

Stay

Our family room, consisting of a master bedroom and adjacent children’s nook (featuring a bunk bed suitable for children aged 7 and under) was right near the kids club and children’s ropes course.

The ropes course was just outside our room.

Play

The Pan Pacific Nirvana Bali is perched on a cliff top overlooking  a surf beach with the stunning Tanah Lot Temple in eyeshot.  The centrepiece of the resort is a magnificent four tiered pool.  This masterpiece of a pool is extensive enough to cater to families – our kids loved the 3 waterslides and waterfall while still catering to adults looking for a romantic place to relax via a network of day-bed flanked water enclaves.

The Pan Pacific Nirvana Bali pool has 3 waterslides

We love traveling with our kids but realised a few years back that the only way to have a real holiday is to stay somewhere that caters to both kids and parents.  The kids club at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali is free for children aged over 3, and the staff were lovely.  Activities within the club did cost extra however.  These included the ropes course, a turtle release program, and cake decorating.  Having some respite from the children allowed me to sneak off to the spa to enjoy a facial, body scrub and some soaking time in a bath full of rose petals.  For this over-worked, overtired mumma there could not have been a more sublime experience.

The kids club at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali allowed me a little kid free time.

Not sure that I will ever get to soak in a bathtub like this again but so glad it happened once.

The Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali is a golfers paradise – as for this non-golfing family, well we did get out onto the driving range however the golf course was the perfect place for a bicycle ride.

The surf beach is too rough for swimming but we did enjoy meandering round the black laval tidal pools that were full of crabs and small fish.

Trying out the driving range at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali

Eat

Each day commenced with a sumptuous tropical buffet dining next to the water gardens and ended with a delectable Balinese delight left on our pillow.  Breakfast involved the children feeding bread scraps to giant catfish and goldfish in the adjacent pools we luxuriated over our cooked to order omelettes and tropical fruit.  The kids were delighted with the children’s  breakfast buffet selection which did mean I had to take off my strict mum hat as it was covered with sweet delights.

Breakfast at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali

I’d highly recommend the buffet dinners (seafood, Italian and Balinese), particularly those with a cultural show to other families visiting.  A short walk off the resort towards the Tanah Lot temple took us to a local outdoor dining precinct however the food was so delicious, and reasonably priced that we preferred to eat onsite for all of our meals.

Culture

While we appreciated the fantastic family features at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali it was the introduction to Balinese culture that has us sold on this resort.  We expect our kids to love a giant pool with waterslides, what we didn’t expect was for them to be entranced by a traditional performance of the Ramayana.  The performance of the epic Hindu legend had my five and eight year old boys riveted for over an hour so much so that they wanted to see it again.  Another cultural opportunity came courtesy of the resident musicians that invited guests to try their traditional Saron.  Families also have the chance to explore the staple agricultural practice of the island by picking rice in a paddy. Ultimately it was the cultural inclusions at the resort that meant my kids finished their holiday enriched.

Subscribe to Bubs on the Move's newsletter to keep updated on great places to visit with kids, travel tips and giveaways.

Your information will NEVER be shared or sold to a 3rd party.