Posted by Geoff on Sunday, 18. October 1998 at 08:06 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Bali posted by Carolyn on Sunday, 18. October 1998 at 07:40 Bali Time:
Hi Carolyn. There really are just too many hotels and stays to list. Your travel agent is unlikely to know about more than a few and the bargains that are good and cheap are often fairly new or poorly marketed and best found once you get there.
For the better known places I could not negotiate the same or better price that I had pre paid at the travel agent in Sydney. Eg We got double rooms at the Barong for Aus$24 (US$15). In Bali the walk up rate was US$40 negotiable to $25. They had people waiting for rooms.
Travelling with yours kids, as we did, will mean a compromise. The kids will want to sleep late and then action till they drop. We wanted lazy days, a bit of culture, good slow food, a friendly bar and sometimes a night club.
We started, moved around and finished at the Barong and I can reccomend it. It's on Poppies II about half way between Legian Road and Kuta Beach. The action is right at the front entrance but the main hotel complex is about 100 meters back and a surprising contrast. It is in very good condition, clean with a huge pool and very good rooms.
Speaking of the pool I should give you a warning about tiles. Bali does not seem to know about non slip and the tiled areas are like ice when wet. I saw some nasty slips, including my wife, and Bali is not a good place to get hurt.
Have a great holiday. Bali is very safe and I let my 14-16 year olds do their own thing and meet at our favourite beach bar for sunset.
Geoff.