In Reply to: JBR - Paradise Plaza Suites and Kids. posted by dazzer on Friday, 25. March 2005 at 13:18 Bali Time:
Hi all
Thanks for the positive feedback. Was a little worried I'd get slammed for not being super positive!.
The Plaza Hotel looks a lot nicer than the Suites and is used for indon gov conferences so I think inside is okay.
I am not into trinkets and as I am moving to Hobart dont really need t-shirts etc so the markets for me are not really of that much interest and I would happily give them a miss. I did get suits made by Janako on poppies II which were great and they are located in amongst the markets so I suppose I did use them for that. I feel that for value for money the quality at Discovery Mall (aus $ versus rupiah) beats the markets. Rather pay twice as much but get good quality.
The raspberry cordial really does work and we just used Cottees brand. I am very susceptable to stomach upset and pushed it hard eating out and having ice and brushing teeth with tap water and had no real problem. I gave our kids a couple of normal strength cordial drinks with meals in the weeks before we left and then two each day in bali.
Didnt see too many germans in Sanur...there was a U boat off the coast and a few half tracks in the streets. I asked one of the Panzer-fuhrer what they were doing and he said that since the war was over they were just having a holiday which explained why they were wearing braces and leather pants, dancing and slapping their thighs and drinking from those big jugs of beer... ;-)
Would I take the kids again?.......Yes I would take them but only for about 5 to 7 days and definatley in walking distance to the mall and waterbom park.
We are thinking of going back in about 18 months with my parents and in that case we will probably let the kids go backhome with the grandparents after a week and then stay for about 3 nights more to have a look around the island more. I would then travel across to East Timor and spend three nights at the Posada in Maubisse which is the old Portugese governers summer retreat. Then ET to Darwin and on to Hobart. My prediction is that if ET can get the oil that they own and invest heavily in tourism it will become the next bali for Australians.........better beachs, lovely people, no hawkers and the most amazing mountains. (sorry went off at a slight tangent there!)
good luck
dazzer