In Reply to: RAMADA posted by Kaz on Thursday, 19. August 1999 at 15:33 Bali Time:
Kelly and Rory - Stayed at the Ramada in July with family and had absolutely not problems. Yes it is a large resort by Bali standards, however it is set in tropical gardens and the lay out is quite good.
My advice would be to take your own tea and coffee along with UHF milk as to avoid paying for what could be considered at little ordinary. I would also suggest you remove the drinks from your mini bar and stock up at the supermarket - we had to watch housekeeping as they would turn the fridge done low (warm drinks), however a polite note fixed that problem. Also you can requested addtional bottled water free of charge. The pool is massive, we didn't find it crowded, despite the fact we were there in Aussie school holidays. One of the bonuses is the beach access, not all hotels along that strip have this. You can easily walk into Kuta along the beach or take the road - what ever you prefer. The Ramada along with many hotels of similar calibre tend to be relatively expensive to eat and drink at (compared to the local restaurants). We ate a couple of times at the Kartika Palace Restaurant which is on JL Kartika up stairs above a supermarket, which we also found to be good value. We also ate at Daddy's and the All Star Surf Cafe. In Kuta we went to Un's and Poppies, personally I found Un's much better than Poppies. I felt it over rated and the service standards quite poor. The night we went there it took 3/4 hour to get a drink at our table and this was served by staff who obviously would have prefered to be else where.
Waterbom Park is also walking distance and enjoyable. If you are looking for a good massage try Teddy's in Kuta Centre, went there 2x and was absolutely pampered (massage, hair treatment, facial, manicure and pedicure) for $20AUD.
Hope you have a great time. Don't be put off but negative reports - all places have their pros and cons. The staff could not do enough for us, hopefully it is the same for you.