In Reply to: the hotels posted by shopaholic on Saturday, 5. March 2005 at 21:47 Bali Time:
We stayed at the Sofitel last month and I wish we hadn't..thats a strange statement but I had wanted to go to the Padma or Mandira both of which I had not seen but heard about on this forum. The Sofitel staff seems not very friendly - it feels like you have left Bali already and could be in the US or Australia at a nice hotel but with little character..the pool area is beautiful though...the rooms are nice but it was missing an ingredient I found all over Bali of warmth, friendliness and we were disappointed. Its very subtle and hard to explain why..see others comments by searching the forum on sofitel.
good luck