When we started Best Beach Clubs Bali, we intended to only review beach clubs that were fully open to the public, but in the interests of completeness, we’ve opted to also include the beach clubs that are part of hotel complexes like the Arton Resort & Beach Club.
It’s in an uninteresting location on Medewi Beach half way between the resort towns of the South and West Bali National Park and given the reasonable hotel rates at Arton, we decided to send out our team to enjoy themselves and report back on the beach club and this is what they learned.
Introduction – Getting To Arton Resort & Beach Club
It’s not a trivial undertaking to get Arton Resort & Beach Club, it means driving nearly halfway across Bali and it’s in a location that is quite remote from major attractions, etc.
We’d consider this part of Bali a stopping off point for those heading to Gilimanuk, and a boat to Java, or to the West Bali National Park.
As such, very visitors to Bali make this journey and the businesses you tend to find down this part of the highway connecting East and West Bali tend to be more popular with local tourists, than international ones.
However, the drive is doable and if you choose the right time of day, once you get away from Canggu, the traffic is more manageable than it is on much of the rest of the island.
When you arrive at the Arton Resort and Beach Club, you won’t struggle to find a parking space, either. There’s plenty of room for you even if you drove in a convoy.
Where Is Arton Resort & Beach Club? Jl. Pantai Bahari, Yeh Sumbul, Kec. Mendoyo, Kabupaten Jembrana, Bali 82261
Website: Arton
Opening Hours: 24 hours daily all year long for hotel guests
What’s Inside Arton Resort & Beach Club?
This is a hotel beach club facility and as you might expect, that means there’s a central pool area with beach access, as well as day bed style seating along with restaurant and bar service. There’s not much beyond that, though they do have some useful racks where you can store your surfboard.
Our Review Breakdown For Arton Resort & Beach Club
It is very important to us that we always conduct our reviews in the same way, this allows us to treat all beach clubs equally and ensures owners that they are being fairly treated by our review team.
It also matters to our readers, who need a framework where they can make equal comparisons between two beach clubs.
However, we do acknowledge that sometimes this system will disadvantage places like the Arton Resort & Beach Club which aren’t “pure beach clubs”. So, it’s worth bearing that in mind when you take a look at the final score.
The way our review process works is simple. Every single member of the team will visit the beach club, often not all at the same time or even on the same day.
While they are at the beach club, they rate it from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) in the categories outlined below.
After everyone has visited the beach club, they all meet up to discuss their experiences and to vote on a final score in each category.
Once this meeting has been completed, a member of the team is assigned to write up the review, and the review takes into account the discussions and voting as expected.
When a review is completed, it goes live on the site and it will remain there for a period of, at least, a year before we revisit the club and amend scores/comments as required.
Pre-Club Advertising
We believe that pre-club advertising helps to ensure that a beach club is at it maximum capacity and that, in turn, helps to improve the social appeal of the beach club.
After all, the best days out are usually with other people rather than spent by yourself.
And while we do understand that there are challenges associated with running a beach club off the beaten path, we think that advertising is likely to help rather than hinder.
So, it’s a bit of a shame that we only learned of the Arton Resort & Beach Club while we were doing some online research to find beach clubs in Bali.
The location is pretty remote, but our experience showed there’s plenty of room inside to get some more people inside.
Location
If you’re on the way to West Bali National Park, the Arton Resort & Beach Club couldn’t be much better placed for you to take a pit stop before you finish the big journey the next day.
However, if you’re not, then this beach club is quite a way from any of the major holiday towns in Bali and that means it’s a long drive to get there.
The good news is that it is on the right side of the island to enjoy the sunset, which is one of the things that many people come to Bali specifically to enjoy.
There is also plenty of parking once you arrive at this beach club as space isn’t really at any kind of premium in this kind of location.
Booking Process & Seating Options
This beach club does have a website, well the resort does, but it may be one of the worst websites that we’ve encountered in all the time we’ve been reviewing beach clubs.
Not only can you not book a place in the beach club online using this site, but incredibly, you can’t even book one of the villas at the resort, either.
Yes, if you want to do business with this place, you’ll need to book via Booking.com or a similar hotel site or go through the long, tedious process of email and calling them directly.
While we appreciate that this beach club is only available to hotel guests, we’re baffled by a property making it this hard to reserve a room in 2025.
It doesn’t even make economic sense as they have to pay a hefty commission to the booking sites that they could save by just having a semi-decent website.
Entry Fee
While, technically, there’s no entrance fee at the Arton Resort’s beach club, you do have to stay in the resort to access the facility.
That means you’re going to pay around 620,000 IDR a night (that’s about $40 USD or $60 AUD) to enjoy this beach club.
While it does, of course, come with the perks of a room and breakfast, it’s also one of the most expensive entrance fees to a beach club on the island.
We didn’t feel that it wasn’t value for money, mind you, but on a direct comparison with other beach clubs, this one is going to be harder on the wallet than most.
Minimum Spend
There is no minimum spend at this beach club and you’d expect that as it’s a guest facility for the resort. It would be a bit cheeky to charge you from a room and then insist you also spend a million on margaritas, after all.
However, it also means, that by the standard we judge other beach clubs by, that there’s no incentive for them to admit outside guests and none to install a reservation system for this beach club.
And given that it’s not very busy, we’d suggest that anything they could do to encourage more people to come to this part of Bali would be a good idea.
Welcome And Security
The welcome at the Arton Resort is very typically warm and Balinese. The staff are polite and pleasant and will ensure you get settled in quickly.
However, there are no security present and there is no bag check of any kind. While we do know that the odds of any kind of incident in the middle of nowhere (for Bali) are very low, we think that partly this is down to high-quality security operations.
It costs very little to do a bag check and it helps to ensure the safety and security of all the guests in the building.
Inclusions
As you would very much expect at a resort facility, they will supply you with access to a daybed, a towel and their shower and changing facilities.
However, there’s nothing else available and you will need to pay for anything else you use or consume at this beach club.
That’s fair enough but we feel many beach clubs are missing out on a chance to boost their revenue by offering higher tiers of inclusions for a little extra money. We don’t mind paying to be treated like a VIP when we’re on holiday.
Service
We found the service at this beach club to be exactly what we’d expect from a three-star resort in the backwaters of Bali. It’s friendly, kind and attentive and while it certainly isn’t as polished as the big beach clubs or 5-star resorts, that doesn’t matter very much.
The staff here are a credit to the Arton Resort & Beach Club and we were very impressed with their efforts.
Entertainment
The Arton Resort and Beach Club might find it difficult to provide entertainment even if it wanted to, after all, it would be a long way for a DJ or band to drive each day to lay down some tunes.
However, that’s not really what this beach club is about and you’ll find there’s no entertainment to speak of, you’re meant to chill on a sun lounger or go surfing here, nothing more.
Pool Quality
The pool area is actually pretty impressive for this kind of resort and you’ll enjoy spending some time on the daybeds around the side of the pool.
We found that the area was clean and relatively well maintained but was showing signs of aging which meant that it didn’t always look great in photos.
Overall though, it’s ideal for a dip in the middle of the day and big enough to swim in too.
You can get direct beach access at this beach club, but this coast of Bali isn’t great for swimming as the currents can drag even experienced swimmers out to sea – it’s best to swim in the pool.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
The menu here is quite limited and tends to focus on local dishes rather than international fare, but it’s very reasonably priced when compared to other beach clubs.
The drinks are also slightly cheaper than at other beach clubs which is about all you can ask for as alcohol taxes play a large part in drink pricing.
Food And Drink Quality
We enjoyed the food at Arton Resort & Beach Club, it wasn’t the most memorable food of our lives, but the portions were decent sized and tasty enough.
We thought it was all prepared fresh and from decent quality ingredients too.
The drinks were strong enough when we ordered a cocktail, which is important too.
Sunset View
While you may have to move around a bit as the view of the sunset from this beach club can occasionally be obstructed, this beach club is on the right side of the island for one of Bali’s legendary sunsets.
It delivers wonderful views over the Indian Ocean and even delivers the occasional silhouette of a surfer catching some of the final waves of the day.
Music And Ambience
There is some piped music at this beach club, but it’s played so low that mainly you forget that it’s there.
We’re OK with that, this is a beach club for chilling in the Bali sun not for partying and it does a good job of being just that.
Payment Options
One thing we did like about this resort was that it was easy to pay in cash, card or by QRIS which is the local Indonesian payment system and our favourite way to settle a bill here in Bali.
Exit Process
This isn’t a big beach club and leaving is simply a matter of drifting back to the hotel reception. You will be given a cheerful farewell as you leave.
Transportation
You will need to arrange transportation before you leave as there is no Grab or Gojek service in this part of Bali.
Almost every customer will either drive (usually on a scooter) or use a private car and driver to move on to their next destination.
Social Media Presence
There is a very basic Instagram account for this beach club, but it contains no pictures of people inside the facility and gives you almost no idea of what to expect.
They do occasionally update it with special offers, though.
Other/General Comments
If you go to the Arton Resort & Beach Club expecting a fairly basic place that is meant to be a pitstop on a cross-island journey, you won’t be disappointed.
But if you go expecting a Bali beach club experience, this may not live up to your expectations.
Our Overall Opinion Of Arton Resort & Beach Club
We enjoyed our day at Arton Resort & Beach Club and if we ever drive out to the national park again, we’d definitely stop on the way.
However, there’s no reason to make the long drive out this way just for this resort and beach club, there are better facilities much closer to the main tourists spots than this one.
FAQs
Can You Swim At Arton Resort & Beach Club?
Yes, you can swim at Arton Resort & Beach Club. The pool area is attractive and well-maintained and the water seemed clean to us.
Given that this area is very quiet, the odds are pretty good that you will have the pool to yourself for much of the day for swimming.
While there is direct beach access at this resort, we don’t recommend swimming on a surfer’s beach – the currents can be a bit random and even strong swimmers risk being pulled out to sea. It’s best to stick to the pool.
What Can You Do At Arton Resort & Beach Club?
You can enjoy food and drink while lounging by the pool or take a walk along the beach and go surfing. This isn’t the busiest of beach clubs and it’s not designed as much more than a service to hotel guests.
Is Arton Resort & Beach Club A Family-Friendly Venue?
Yes, the Arton Resort & Beach Club is a very family-friendly venue. Children are welcome throughout both the resort and the beach club.
There are no special facilities for kids here, though, so they’ll need to use their imaginations to enjoy the place beyond the pool and beach.
It is also important to note, that parents are expected to watch over their own children in this environment and to take steps to ensure that their play is safe and appropriate.
They are also expected to ensure that their kids don’t get on the nerves of other guests during the course of the day.
Who Owns Arton Resort & Beach Club?
The ownership of the Arton Resort & Beach Club is not in the public domain, though our experiences at this resort lead us to believe that it is under local (either Balinese or Indonesian) ownership.
Final Thoughts On Arton Resort & Beach Club
If you’re heading down the coastal road to West Bali, there aren’t many options for beach clubs and resorts and the Arton Resort & Beach Club is certainly more than good enough for a place to break your drive.
But it’s certainly not worth making a trip out this far just for this place, it’s pleasant enough and you will get a decent break from the bustle of the rest of the world, but you can say that for plenty of places in Bali that aren’t as hard to get to.
Surfers may enjoy coming out to this beach club because it gives them a chance to try some more unique breaks than the majority of surfers get to, mind you.
