Palmilla Beach Club is near Melast Beach in Ungasan which is quite far from the main beach towns of Bali.
But is it worth making the effort or are there better options closer to your hotel We sent our review team to find out for you and this is what they felt.
Introduction – Getting To Palmilla Beach Club
Getting to Palmilla as we’ve already said is hard work. It’s a long drive from most parts of Bali and worse when you get to the Melasti Beach area, you can’t drive to the club.
Instead, you have to pay 10,000 IDR in cash to get a ride to the club from the nearby car park. If you don’t have cash, you will have to walk downhill in the heat.
Where Is Palmilla Beach Club Bali? Ungasan, South Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia
Website: Palmilla Beach Club
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
What’s Inside Palmilla Beach Club?
Palmilla Beach Club has a swimming pool, a restaurant, a bar, as well as several seating areas around the venue.
Our Review Breakdown For Palmilla Beach Club
We review all beach clubs in the same fashion. Our team visits the club and grades it from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) in 20 different areas that we feel are relevant to customers.
They then vote on the final score in each area to ensure that the grades are representative of the overall experience.
One of the team then writes up a review and once it’s published, it remains online for, at least a year before we revisit the club.
If you want to see every beach club in Bali and its review score our list of the best beach clubs in Bali has you covered.
Pre-Club Advertising
There are a few posters on the road to this area to advertise this beach club but Palmilla hasn’t even bothered with a website and in 2024, there’s just no excuse for that.
We’re big fans of advertising your beach club like many of the higher-end beach clubs do because places like FINNS and Sundays Beach Club advertise, they have more people inside and that means they have a better vibe about them.
Palmilla wasn’t that busy when we were there and we think much of that is going to be due to a failure to advertise.
Location
The Melasti Beach area is beautiful but it’s a real pain to get to as it’s about as far South in Bali as you can really go.
It’s a long drive from most of the island to get to Ungasan and it’s also a fair drive from Uluwatu and Nusa Dua the two nearest resort areas.
There are other beach clubs in the area and a few restaurants and bars, but it’s not got much in the way of other amenities.
Also, we’ll talk in more detail about this later, but even getting to and from the beach clubs in this region after you arrive in Ungasan is a pain.
Some other Ungasan based beach clubs include Magus Warung and White Rock Beach Club.
Booking Process & Seating Options
No website means if you want to book, you’ll need to visit their Instagram page and then book via WhatsApp.
In 2024, this isn’t good enough and given that you pay a premium for a beach club there’s no excuse for this either.
It also means going back and forth over details like entrance fees and minimum spend.
If you turn up on the day, you will be given a nice paper menu to choose your seating from which takes a little of the sting out of it.
Entry Fee
We don’t like entrance fees at a beach club and the entrance fee at this beach club is 100,000 IDR!
We think everyone should be able to come in and have a look at the infinity pool, check out the view at high tide, etc. before the pay so much as a penny and we think that clubs that do charge an entrance fee create an artificial barrier to guests.
In fairness, the entrance fee does include “free” water or a Heineken plus a town for the swimming pool but all of our friends agree on one thing, entrance fees are not cool for beach clubs.
Minimum Spend
There are areas within this beach club that have no requirement for a minimum spend and you can eat dinner, enjoy a few drinks, etc. without having any requirements to spend x amount.
There are other parts of the club, near the infinity pool especially, where there is a minimum spend of 1,000,000 IDR per person and this isn’t mentioned online at all.
One thing that we demand from every beach club that we visit is transparency of pricing and this is an epic fail for Palmilla Beach Club.
Welcome And Security
The welcome at Palmilla is friendly and professional, it’s nice enough but it doesn’t stand out as anything special, either.
There is a bag check on the door and we appreciate this as it ensures that the environment is safe inside for everyone.
We like the fact that there is very little danger in beach clubs in Bali and the security teams in these clubs play a major role in keeping it that way.
Inclusions
You get a free water or Heineken with the entrance fee of 100K as well as free use of a towel, this is actually pretty good value if you drink beer, but not so great if you don’t.
However, this means you get no bonuses for agreeing to a minimum spend and there’s no VIP or premium service available.
We’d like to see a top tier of inclusions at more beach clubs, it’s good for guests and it’s good for the clubs too.
Service
The service at Palmilla is Bali standard. It’s friendly and warm and reasonably attentive but it doesn’t really stand out from the norm either.
We feel that the club experience can be really enhanced by amazing service and this is an area that every club in Bali could excel at if it tried.
Hopefully, Palmilla will improve in this area in the future.
Entertainment
There was a live DJ while we were at this beach club and they do hold the occasional event that can boost your mood further.
However, there’s none of the individual entertainment that you get at the best beach clubs and there’s certainly room for Palmilla Beach Club to improve in this aspect of the service.
Pool Quality
The infinity pool is big enough to swim in and the “free” towel which comes with the entrance fee is handy as you can’t bring in a towel from outside at this club.
We should note, however, that you only get one free towel per person, if you want another towel after you get yours wet? You have to pay again for it.
We thought the water was acceptably clean and we’d be happy enough to swim at this beach.
However, this is Melasti Beach and there are a lot of clubs in the area with more than one pool and without an entrance fee.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
With cocktails starting at 150,000 IDR, we found this beach club to be quite expensive for a club on the island.
The Melasti Beach area seems to see a lot of overcharging for drinks, probably because there’s something of a monopoly for the beach clubs in this area.
We also found the food to be quite pricey and 140,000 IDR for a Nasi Goreng is more than we’d want to pay for Bali’s ubiquitous dish even in a beach club.
Food And Drink Quality
We were pleasantly surprised with the food and drink quality at this beach club and it made our Sunday here even better than it might have been.
We liked that they have a wide range of vegan options on the menu (something that’s not true of every beach club on the island) and that they went the extra mile to deliver on value for their high prices.
It still wasn’t the best food we’ve had inside a club but it was very good and we enjoyed it.
Sunset View
Palmilla Beach Club faces the same problem as all beach clubs in Ungasan, it’s facing in the wrong direction to get the best of the sunset here in Bali.
Sure you can see a light show in the sky like you can on all of the island but you won’t see the sun dip below the waves on the ocean as you can in Canggu, Kuta and Seminyak.
This is a bit of a shame as many people come to Bali for its awesome sunset views and if you fly halfway around the world for a partial sunset at a beach club, you might be a bit disappointed.
Music And Ambiance
There is a DJ at this beach club but to be fair, Palmilla might want to turn the volume down a little.
We found that there were plenty of places inside where we could barely hear ourselves think let alone converse.
We don’t mind a party as we head into the night, but we like to relax by pool during the day.
Payment Options
You can pay by card or cash inside this beach club as you can at most beach clubs on the island but we didn’t see any availability of QRIS or e-wallet payments and given the state of their online presence, we doubt this beach club understands cryptocurrency at all.
Exit Process
Getting out of this club isn’t that much of a challenge, it’s not very big and you just walk back out the way you came in and you will get a cheerful farewel from the staff.
However, as you will see in our next section this isn’t the end to leaving Palmila Beach Club.
Transportation
The entire Melasti Beach area is a transport nightmare. It’s hard to get to in the first place and whether you drive or you come by Grab/Gojek, you’re getting dumped at the top of a hill, where you need to pay 10,000 IDR in cash or walk to the club of your choice.
Worse, when you leave the club, you will be mobbed by taxi mafia and hassled to spend a small fortune on transport.
If you want a Grab or Gojek, you need to get back up the hill, for another 10,00 IDR in cash (or walk).
The beach clubs in this area need to get together and help to manage this situation because for now, it’s dreadful.
Social Media Presence
There is a social media presence for this club as they don’t have a website, but it’s not great.
It does see regular updates but we didn’t feel that it was overly representative of the vibe of this place.
Other/General Comments
We struggle to recommend any club that is this transactional in regard to its customers. We want to be wowed by amazing service and entertainment htat makes us happy to spend money.
We don’t want cash to be siphoned out of our pockets for fear that we might leave before we declare bankruptcy.
Our Overall Opinion Of Palmilla Beach Club
We weren’t very impressed by Palmilla Beach Club. This corner of the island has a lot of clubs to choose from and it just doesn’t stand out except in a negative way.
Entrance fees are not cool. The high prices are only partially justified. The nickel and dime approach to customers is a real turn-off.
The food is good and if you love really loud music, Palmilla might be where you want to be, but otherwise? There are better options all over the island and even in the Melasti Beach area.
FAQs
Can You Swim At Palmilla Beach Club?
Yes, you can swim at this Melasti Beach club, Palmilla has a decent pool with clean water to swim in.
What Can You Do At Palmilla Beach Club?
You can eat, drink, dance, party and go swimming at this beach club in B ali.
Is Palmilla Beach Club A Family-Friendly Venue?
Palmilla Beach Club is not particularly family-friendly. It’s very party-oriented and while there are no policies preventing children from visiting this beach club, we felt that there was a lot of behaviour parents might not wish their children to witness.
It’s more a place for surfers to party with their friends over drinks than it is for kids to roam in.
Who Owns Palmilla Beach Club?
We weren’t able to ascertain the exact ownership of this beach club but it appears to be owned by a local citizen.
Final Thoughts On Palmilla Beach Club
Palmilla Beach Club needs to try harder. We object to entrance fees at any beach club, a minimum spend on top of an entrance fee is a cheek.
The location on Melasti Beach may be pleasant but it’s a real pain to get to and out of and it’s not worth it to feel like you’re a walking ATM for a beach club.
However, the food and drinks are good and if you want a very loud party venue, this may be your best option in this corner of the island.
