From valet parking to a concierge desk — where customers are escorted to the main door — this new Starbucks Reserve on the island of Bali, Indonesia feels more like a luxury hotel rather than a coffee shop.
Officially known as the Starbucks Dewata Coffee Sanctuary, it is largest Starbucks in Southeast Asia and brings the Starbucks Reserve experience to a new level. A Starbucks Reserve is a higher-end version of its traditional coffee stores.
Interactive coffee journeys
Newly opened in January, the store aims to immerse its guests in a journey of discovering coffee while paying homage to one of the company’s biggest growing coffee regions, Sumatra.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone visiting our store would have an opportunity — and even feel compelled — to learn more about coffee,” Scott Keller, senior vice president of store development and design in Asia Pacific, at Starbucks told CNBC. “We considered different ways to engage our customers in that interactive journey.”
The store includes a nursery, greenhouse and outdoor area where customers can rake coffee beans. It also features digital screens which run interviews with some of its coffee farmers in the region.
Starbucks Reserve Dewata also offers multiple classes each day where customers can pay to learn more about coffee.
World’s only coffee farm inside Starbucks
The first thing customers see upon arrival is a 1,000 square foot coffee farm — which represents the equivalent size of a typical Indonesian coffee farm.
The Bali store ultimately hopes to pay homage to one of its largest coffee regions, Keller said.
The entire project is yet to be completed. When finished, it will have its own conference facilities, plus a separate restaurant with its own menu. Live bands will perform at the open patio area.
How customers are reacting
“It’s 100-percent different than any other Starbucks,” Alex Shtefan, a Ukrainian living in Bali told CNBC. He said he’s been visiting regularly since it opened and likes to work from his phone inside the cafe. “This is my first time I spent any time in a Starbucks,” he added.
But, it won’t be a frequent spot for everyone.
“I don’t frequent Starbucks that much, but this place is nice,” David Yan, an Indonesian from Jakarta said during his first visit. He said he was a regular coffee drinker, but wouldn’t come back again as “It’s quite expensive.”
The cost of a grande Cold Brew at Starbucks Reserve Dewata was listed for the equivalent of $3.83, compared to a nearby Starbucks where it was priced at $3.68.
