Favela Chic should not be mistaken for the restaurant La Favela here in Bali, they’re not the same place at all.
La Favela is an upmarket restaurant in the Oberoi Hotel, Favela Chic, on the other hand, is a rather more down-to-earth establishment on Echo Beach.
With that in mind, we sent our intrepid team out to Favela Chic to see what this modest beach club had to offer and this is what we discovered.
Introduction – Getting To Favela Chic
You will need to get to Echo Beach and then walk along the beach a little to reach Favela Chic Beach Club. This is easy enough and Grab and Gojek drivers can get you there without any real hassles.
You could also use your own transport and park at the Echo Beach Car Park (there is a small fee attached to this, but it is a small fee) and pick up your ride afterwards.
Where Is Favela Chic Bali? 84WF+7PV, Canggu, Kuta Utara, Badung Regency, Bali
Website: Favela Chic
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi, from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight.
What’s Inside Favela Chic?
Favela Chic Beach Club is not very big and it doesn’t have a ton of facilities. So, really, it’s a restaurant and bar with some chairs overlooking the ocean and there is no pool, etc.
Our Review Breakdown For Favela Chic
We review every beach club in the same way. Our team ranks the club on a rating scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) in a series of 20 categories.
The scores are then amalgamated to give a total score of between 20 (worst) and 100 (best).
To ensure fairness, the team votes on the scores before we publish our reviews to ensure that the numbers are best reflective of everyone’s experience and not just that of an individual team member.
Once a review has been made, it will remain in place for, at least, a year until the next time that we visit.
Pre-Club Advertising
Favela Chic has no website, just an Instagram account and as you might expect that means they’re not in the kind of league that spends a lot of money on advertising.
In fact, apart from a few photos on their social media, there is no advertising at all.
Location
This part of Echo Beach is overshadowed by a car park and it’s right next to “Mejan Stone Beach” which as the name suggests is black sand with quite a bit of stone on it.
It’s not particularly difficult to get to this spot, if you’re using Grab or Gojek, you can be dropped at the beach and just walk down to it.
Otherwise, you’ll need to use the Echo Beach Parking and then walk from there.
It’s not a long walk and you won’t find yourself sweating too much in the Bali sun even in the middle of the day.
Booking Process & Seating Options
There is no booking process to speak of and this is simply a spot where you turn up and walk in.
If they have seats, you have a seat, if they don’t, you can wait for one or just drop a towel on the sand – assuming that you brought a towel, they don’t have any towels in Favela Chic that you can use, unfortunately.
Entry Fee
As you might expect, Favela Chic has no entrance fee, because there’s really nothing there that would justify an entrance fee – there’s no pool or entertainment.
However, we’re still giving this a good score as we believe all beach clubs should offer some kind of free entry.
You ought to be able to see what you’re going to buy before being committed to spending a fortune inside a beach club.
Minimum Spend
There are no minimum spend areas in Favela Chic and that’s not really a surprise.
They don’t really even have any sun loungers, just the typical Balinese chairs that you can sit in while lining the bar or in the restaurant area.
Welcome And Security
There is no cheerful greeting at Favela Chic as there’s nobody manning the door at all.
You can walk in and one of the staff will acknowledge you pretty quickly though and ensure that your order is taken within a reasonable time frame.
There is no security of any kind and that’s pretty typical of this kind of beach bar set up, Favela Chic is not playing in the big leagues and it shows.
Inclusions
Favela Chic has no minimum spend and as you might expect, that means there’s nothing included in their service.
This means that if you intend to use a towel when you visit this beach club, you will to bring one with you or buy one from the local vendors.
You can’t rent or borrow a towel at Favela Chic even if you want to.
Service
The service certainly isn’t up to the standards of the 5-star hotels or FINNS but it’s perfectly adequate too.
The Balinese staff are friendly and kind and they’re as efficient as a small team can be.
They’re happy to discuss things like menu substitutions too which is quite handy.
Entertainment
There’s no organized entertainment at this beach club. Don’t expect dancers or live bands or DJS, it’s just not big enough for that.
The only real entertainment is the pleasant view over the ocean from the bar and the piped-in music played by a staff member on the bar’s stereo equipment.
Pool Quality
There is no pool at Favela Chic and while you could, in theory, go swimming in the sea by the beach – it’s not recommended.
Favela Chic is by a very popular surf spot and the currents and waves can be quite vicious. By all means take a walk down to the shoreline and dip your toes in to cool down, but we’d recommend you pick another place to go swimming in the sea.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
Favela Chic offers incredibly low-cost food and drinks and if you’re looking for a budget day, then you won’t go wrong with the prices levied by this restaurant by the sea.
Even the cocktails at this place are less than 100,000 IDR (and that’s without any happy hour pricing), so you won’t spend too much money at Favela Chic.
Food And Drink Quality
We certainly weren’t expecting fine dining when we visited Favela Chic and as long as your expectations are reasonable for what is, essentially, a warung on the beach, you won’t be disappointed.
The portions are a good size and the costs are low. The overall quality is decent and you can substitute ingredients, etc. based on your dietary requirements.
The cocktails were a decent strength though the spirits used are always the cheapest possible ingredients.
Sunset View
This part of Echo Beach is privy to one of the best sunsets on the island and you can get an excellent view of the sunset from anywhere inside Favela Chic.
If you want to take photos and videos of the sun going down behind the surfer crowd on the waves, this is a great place to do it.
Music And Ambiance
Favela Chic will have some music on in the background which is played by a member of staff but it may vary a lot from day to day.
This isn’t always a bad thing, we do get bored of the mid-tier chill-out tunes we hear at some of the bigger beach clubs, so a bit of variety is not the end of the world.
Payment Options
Cash is most definitely king at Favela Chic, and they won’t take cards, so make sure to bring some cash with you when you visit.
They also don’t take QRIS payments from any of the local e-wallet schemes nor do they have anything exotic like crypto support.
Exit Process
This is a very small bar and you get out the same way that you came in. You will probably catch your server’s eye and they will wish you a fond farewell but that’s it, there’s still no team on the door to make certain they see you leave.
Transportation
Getting to Favela Chic is OK, but getting home is a bit of a pain. This part of Bali has taxi mafia and that means when you reach the main street running down to the beach, you will be hassled for an overpriced fare.
Worse, if you want to catch a Grab or Gojek, you will need to walk a couple of hundred meters up the road to get them to pick you up.
If you drove, you just get your vehicle from the Echo Beach Car Park and leave.
Social Media Presence
They have an Instagram page but it’s barely updated, though it will give you an indication of the basic food and drinks that they serve.
Otherwise, there’s not much going on and probably, never will be.
Other/General Comments
This isn’t really a beach club as we’ve said at other points in this review. It may have “beach club” in the name, but it’s more of a beach bar or beach warung.
That’s not a problem, but it’s something you should know before you decide to visit.
Our Overall Opinion Of Favela Chic
Favela Chic is a decent beach bar with a restaurant attached but it’s not the kind of place that you make a special trip to see.
It’s really a place for the surfers on the beach to stop at enjoy a cold beer between waves more than it is a “must-see” destination.
FAQs
Can You Swim At Favela Chic?
No, there’s no swimming pool at Favela Chic Beach Club and while you could swim in the Indian Ocean, the currents at Ech Beach are very unpredictable.
By all means, get your feet wet, but we’d avoid swimming anywhere where there’s a real possibility that you might get dragged out to sea.
What Can You Do At Favela Chic?
Favela Chic is a very basic beach club. You can listen to the piped-in music, drink cold drinks and eat some food while you chill out in the sun or watch the sunset.
Is Favela Chic A Family-Friendly Venue?
Children are entirely welcome at Favela Chic but there are no special provisions for them.
We’d imagine that given the fact this place is on the beach, most children can make their own entertainment on the sands.
Final Thoughts On Favela Chic
Favela Chic Beach Club has an ambitious name but it’s not really a beach club so much as it is an old-school beach bar.
That doesn’t make it a bad place and it’s certainly worth checking out if you’re in the Echo Beach area, but it’s also not worth making any kind of special trip for – you can find cheap Bintangs at a warung anywhere in Bali.
Looking for other beach clubs reviews here on the island? Check out Mari Beach Club and Suka Sunset Beach.
