Potato Head is one of the giants of the Bali beach club scene. It’s been around for a long time but does that mean they’re one of the greats of the current era?
Well, we think there’s a lot to like about Potato Head but there are still some areas for improvement, our fully balanced review explores the positives and the negatives of this Bali favourite.
Introduction – Getting To Potato Head Beach Club
The club is well located in the Seminyak area and there is parking available at the venue. You can easily get there using the Grab or Gojek services and there’s no problem with being collected at the end of the night.
Where Is Potato Head Beach Club? Petitenget St No.51B, Seminyak, Kuta Utara, Badung Regency, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Website: Potato Head
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi, from 9 a.m. to 12 midnight.
We should note, however, that the club is quite a long walk from the main entrance from the road and if you have any mobility issues, Potato Head might not be the right club for you.
What’s Inside Desa Potato Head?
Potato Head is not a small place and there are three restaurants, three bars, a substantial lawn and lounge area, and an oceanfront pool to enjoy. There are also limited spa facilities for visitors to enjoy a massage by the beach.
There are also additional features inside the Desa Potato Head complex that are open to some guests either for a fee or on certain dates. You will need to check with the venue to find out what’s accessible to you during your visit.
Note: The dress code at Potato Head is not the same as the dress code at most clubs, that’s because there is no dress code. They say this is about celebrating diversity but we think it can make the restaurants look a little shabby, particularly at night when people are chilling out in singlets and thongs.
Our Review Breakdown For Potato Head Beach Club
To try and keep things objective and to offer constructive criticism to each beach club we visit, we break our reviews down into 20 individual sections, each graded out of 5, to offer a final grade for a beach club out of 100.
The best grade possible is 100, the worst is 20 as the minimum mark in each section is 1.
The whole team votes on every score to ensure that the reviews are a reflection of all our experiences of any given club.
Once a beach club has been rated, the score will remain in place for a minimum of one year until we next visit the club for a new review.
Potato Head ranks highly on our list of best beach clubs in Bali, best beach clubs with no minimum spend, best beach clubs in Seminyak, best beach clubs for first timers and best sustainable beach clubs.
Pre-Club Advertising
Potato Head Beach Club is one of the big names in Bali’s beach club scene and we suspect that they’re resting on their laurels a little when it comes to advertising.
While the other big-name clubs on the island are quite aggressive in trying to attract your attention Potato Head doesn’t seem to have the same drive.
The advertising we do see is high quality, but we’re surprised that Potato Head doesn’t work a bit harder on this front.
Location
Potato Head is in a prime position on the oceanfront in Seminyak and it’s relatively easy to get to from Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta and Legian and it’s not too far from Ubud, Nusa Dua and Uluwatu.
As with most beach clubs on this side of the island, the club isn’t directly on the beach, it’s recessed from the sand and offers a wonderful view over the Indian Ocean.
Guests can pass out onto the beach, assuming they’re in the main seating area, and get back in but you cannot enter Potato Head Beach Club from the shoreline, you need to visit the main entrance area.
Seminyak itself has a wealth of restaurants and bars to enjoy but tends toward the upscale. The area is popular with younger adults who come to see and be seen.
That doesn’t mean you won’t fit in if you’re older and the beach club doesn’t discriminate at all, all ages are welcome inside.
You might also enjoy our reviews of Ku De Ta and Vue Beach Club both of which are not far from this club.
Booking Process & Seating Options
The booking process is reasonably straightforward though a bizarre piece of engineering on their website leaves you clicking the booking button at the top to find you can book everything at Potato Head except for a daybed through it.
You have to scroll down to find a link to book a daybed, which is bound to keep a few people out each day.
However, once you’ve found it, you just pick out your time slot, and state the number of people you’re coming with and the site then serves up all the appropriate seating options alongside the minimum spend associated with each.
As with all the other clubs, you will need to make a deposit against the value of the minimum spend to secure your booking.
If you don’t show up on the day, you don’t get your money back. You will find that’s the case with all the clubs on the island too. So, make sure you get the booking right, there won’t be any refunds.
Entry Fee
Potato Head has recently introduced a door fee during the sunset hours between 4.30 p.m. and 7 p.m. of 180,000 IDR (that’s about $12 USD or $18 AUD). This fee can rise during special events to 250,000 IDR. This fee does include a voucher for a single drink.
Otherwise, you can get in for free though as with almost all beach clubs, you won’t be able to use a daybed without paying for a minimum spend.
We have to say, that we’re disappointed in the entrance fee. We think you should be able to go inside any beach club and see what you’re getting into before you pay. Sure, you can eat and drink for most of the day and night without a fee, which is why we’re only docking a couple of points here.
Minimum Spend
Most clubs around the world, not just those in Bali, insist on a “minimum spend” to secure a day bed (a posh sun lounger). There is usually no charge for entrance when you agree to a minimum spend and you are not charged for the use of the day bed.
Instead, you agree to purchase a minimum value of food, drinks and tobacco products from the club menu during the course of your time in the club.
Guests at Potato Head are expected to consume all their purchases on the premises before they leave the club, so you will need to keep the minimum spend in mind to ensure you use it all up during your visit.
We think the minimum spend limits set at Potato Head Beach Club are a fair indicator of the quality of the food menu, the service and the location of the club.
However, we’re not impressed with the time slots which either run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 4.30 p.m. to close with no all day options.
Welcome And Security
Getting to Potato Head Beach Club is pretty easy and most people will arrive in a Grab or Gojek. However, while you will be warmly greeted at the entrance to the club, it’s actually quite a long walk into the beach club.
It’s not always clear that you’re heading in the right direction and it could use a little more signposting, however, if you just keep going straight – you should be fine.
When you get inside there’s a concierge counter where you can arrange your seating in the beach club and get directions on where you need to go.
Potato Head does accept walk-in guests but it can’t guarantee that there will be any seating unless you book a day bed in advance, which we discovered to be entirely true on our visit – we ended up in the bar, rather than on a bed because we had failed to book.
Overall, the welcome process is efficient but it’s a ridiculously long hike to get where you’re going.
Inclusions
There’s only one level of service at Potato Head for day bed users and a standard bar service for walk-in visitors and those only paying (or not paying depending on when they arrive) an entrance fee.
The day beds come with towels for use inside the beach club as well as free fresh fruit brought around at regular intervals during the day. They also provide access to the beachfront infinity pool.
Other visitors, will find that the entrance fee includes a “free” drink but that everything else they want in the beach club, they will need to pay for.
This is a fairly standard set of inclusions for a beach club, and Potato Head Beach Club is in line with most other clubs in Bali.
One thing we would note is that the free-entry bar is not part of the rest of the beach club and is in an upstairs area away from the action. You can still have good times in this area but you do feel a bit like a second-class citizen too.
Service
Service reviews are always a touch subjective and on our trip to Potato Head we found the servers to be extremely pleasant and attentive, but it took a while for somebody to take our order.
And it took much longer for our order to arrive, now, we’re OK with waiting for food but when it takes nearly half an hour for somebody to open a bottle of beer and put it in front of you? It’s a bit slow.
In their defence, Potato Head Beach Club was absolutely packed out that day and they may have been struggling with capacity. However, when you pay a premium for an experience, you expect their service to reflect that premium.
We would also note that there aren’t quite enough toilets to go around and there’s a real shortage of urinals for men, particularly.
Entertainment
Potato Head Beach Club isn’t really about entertainment as much as it is about chilling out by the Indian Ocean.
While the beach club definitely has some entertainment efforts, they’re not the primary purpose of this club and if this is something that’s important to you, you should consider somewhere like FINNS instead.
Pool Quality
The infinity pool at Potato Head Beach Club is a striking feature and you can see it from anywhere in the building as it sits right in front of the ocean on the shore.
The water seems clean enough to us and people have a great time swimming around and enjoying cold cocktails particularly as the sun goes down.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
Potato Head has an excellent food menu with a wide range of dishes from around the world drawn from their onsite restaurants and kitchens.
However, the prices are a little on the high side as are the prices of their extensive drinks menu.
We don’t think Potato Head Beach Club is overcharging, mind you, it’s clear that the market will bear these prices and the costs of having plant-based options and interesting cocktail ingredients like aromatic bitters have to be met somewhere.
Food And Drink Quality
We were really impressed with the quality of the food at Potato Head Beach Club and we thought the dishes we ordered could compete on taste with any beach club in Bali.
However, we were a little disappointed with the quantity, the plates were much smaller than at rival clubs and this beach club could use injecting a little more value into the meals they serve to guests.
Our drinks were very good, though, and the cocktails were more than strong enough. Something that not every beach club gets right.
We didn’t try the vegan options but there’s a solid plant-based set of bites available.
Sunset View
What’s a beach club without a great sunset view? Fortunately, Potato Head Beach Club doesn’t disappoint here.
This is a great place to lounge around and soak up the Bali sun until the gorgeous sunset arrives and lights up the land.
Music And Ambiance
We have all had some good times at Potato Head Beach Club but if there’s one thing we all agree on, it’s that it’s in spite of the music in this beach club and not because of it.
In fact, we’d say that it has the worst music of any major beach club in Bali and while it’s definitely chill, it’s unmemorable and unengaging. We often find it’s the first thing that people mention in connection with Potato Head too.
Payment Options
Potato Head Beach Club accepts nearly all forms of payment that we can think of and you can pay by cash or card anywhere in the venue.
We found the payment process to be simple and straightforward and as with most Bali venues, the transaction with your card is carried out in front of you at your table. This ensures you feel secure when you pay.
Exit Process
The exit process is the entrance process in reverse and that’s fine but if you thought the walk-in was long and a bit boring, it’s worse on the way out.
We know there’s not much they can do about the design of this site and the space itself is beautiful, but we wish they’d given a bit more thought to this aspect of the beach club.
Transportation
The taxi mafia tend to mob around the doors of this beach club, but you’re not obligated to take one of these taxis and you can just summon a Grab or Gojek (and we recommend that you do).
Sure, the taxi drivers can be a little intimidating but they won’t do you any harm and you can simply say “no thank you” if they hassle you.
Social Media Presence
Potato Head Beach Club has an excellent social media presence and you can find them on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
They’re not quite as well-managed as FINNS but they’re not far off and certainly, their social media features the kind of professionalism that visitors deserve.
Other/General Comments
We want each beach club we review to be great and we feel that Potato Head Beach Club is great. It’s not our favourite, that’s FINNS but otherwise, it’s very good.
The experience from start to finish at this beach club is polished and professional. It’s a great place to spend a day in the sun or to recover from a hangover.
However, we feel that it’s not a great place to party and we’re not totally in love with the new entrance fees.
Our Overall Opinion On Potato Head Beach Club
Potato Head Beach Club is our number two choice of beach club in Bali. It’s second only to FINNS in our estimation.
We were impressed by the warmth of the service and the quality of the overall set-up at this club.
We do have some constructive criticism as you can see above, but overall we think on most occasions, you’re guaranteed to have some good times at Potato Head Beach Club.
Potato Head currently sits at Number 2 in our list of the best beach clubs in Bali, want to find out who’s Number 1?
A Quick Mention Of Desa Potato Head (inc. Potato Head Studios and Potato Head Suites)
Potato Head is a part of a bigger entity called Desa Potato Head which is billed as a creative village and includes Potato Head Studios where both art and engineering projects are regularly carried out (they also offer lessons to children regarding sustainability on Sundays).
Then there’s also the Potato Head Suites which is a residential block where you can enjoy big spacious comfortable rooms that are widely regarded as very good, indeed.
If you stay in the suites, you get access to a daybed at the club with no requirement for a minimum spend, though you may need to book the beds in advance due to the demand for them.
It’s not the cheapest hotel option in Bali which might mean that any savings on food and drink at the beach club aren’t substantial enough to cover the cost of your room.
FAQs
Do You Have to Pay To Get Into Potato Head Beach Club?
Yes, but only during the period from 4.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Otherwise you can get free entry to Potato Head Beach Club.
However, if you want to use a day bed at this beach club, you will need to either agree to a minimum spend or be a guest at their onsite resort.
What To Wear At Potato Head Beach Club?
Wear what you like to Potato Head Beach Club they have no dress code at all.
What Time Should I Get To Potato Head Beach Club?
Potato Head Beach Club feels more like a daytime experience to us than a nighttime one, we’d recommend that you go early and stay until sunset.
Can You Swim At Potato Head Bali?
Yes, Potato Head Beach Club has its own pool area where guests who have a daybed are welcome to swim and the minimum spend includes the use of a towel.
Final Thoughts On Our Potato Head Beach Club Review
We very much like Potato Head Beach Club. It’s a professional place with a very laid-back vibe. It doesn’t have the party people of FINNS but it’s not really aiming for that, either.
It’s a good place to spend a day by the pool enjoying a great view of the ocean while drinking cold cocktails and eating some good food.
