In Reply to: Aston Bali or Ramada Benoa Resort? posted by alantje on Friday, 23. July 2004 at 17:18 Bali Time:
Hi alantje,
We have enjoyed our stay at both. We stayed at the Ramada Bintang for 8 nights in Easter 2001 and the Aston Bali for 6 nights in May of the following year.
Here's the best way to summarise them:
1. Comfort - very close to each other; maybe the Aston has the edge.
2. Service - the Aston wins. The Australian manager at the Aston was ever present making sure his guests were happy (he may not still be there, of course - he told us he was considering his Company's offer to transfer him to Hawaii).
3. Pools - both were great. Maybe the Ramada a little better. Both had great "cooling-off" waterfalls and a swim-up bar. We enjoyed the "happy hours" at the Aston better.
4. Beaches. Let's face it; both beaches left a lot to be desired. the beach outside the Ramada was dirty & had a lot of broken coral. The Aston's was always well groomed but shallow & non-existant had low tide. Early morning ritual by the Aston staff - gather up & bury the seaweed!
5. Meals. The Aston had a better buffet breakfast.
6. Location. The Ramada was great when it came to the proximity of everything - shopping, restaurants etc being in Jalan Kartika Plaza in Tuban. The Aston though was quieter. Less opportunity to shop. The Galleria being available by regular shuttle. But, of course, more expensive & mainly aimed at the Japanese spending tourist. Some nice places to eat across the road though.
So, after saying all of that. In summation: do both! But we reckon spend just a little more time at the Ramada!
Regards
from
L&M
(6 weeks to go - and counting!)