Just back from our 6th trip to Bali and I miss it already! We arrived at 9.30 pm so decided to stay at Puri Bambu in Jimbaran because of their good prices (USD30 / night with breakfast), proximity to the airport (we were in our rooms within 20 minutes of leaving the airport!) and the free transfers they offered. The rooms were excellent value - clean, large and set in nicely landscaped grounds, and while its not exactly the most central place around, the transfers to Kuta made transportation easy.
We spent a day in Kuta / Legian / Seminyak before heading up to Ubud. Nothing's changed since our last trip a year ago except for more imitation LV bags on the street (and amusingly enough, in the airport duty free as well!). Dinner at KuDeTa was really disappointing - absurdly high prices for a very mediocre meal and snooty service. Ah well, we're not going back there again!
Ubud is where our holiday really began. We stayed at a brand new boutique resort (Balinese owned) called Kajane Mua. Its right on Monkey Forest, opposite Komaneka, though it took a while for our driver to find it as half the resort is still under construction and there's just the smallest sign leading to the place. But the villas are wonderful - 5 lovely private one bedroom villas with a good size private pool and a padi field / ravine view. The quality compares with the Komeneka or Barong villas, but much cheaper at USD138 with breakfast (served in villa). And they throw in some nice touches like free mountain bike use, complimentary tea and cakes and pick up / drop off anywhere in Ubud. As a final touch, their service was wonderful - understated and warm, and the driver that took us to Petulu to look at the (very overrated) herons even refused a tip for the 45 min trip!
After Kajane Mua, we moved to Kayu Manis where we were pleasantly surprised by an upgrade from our one bedroom to a two bedroom villa. It was amazingly luxurious - the two seperate bedrooms, the living / dining / kitchen area, the pool, and a personal butler to attend to our needs. Truly a private retreat and absolutely nothing wrong with the place, but strangely enough, we missed the warmth and comfort of Kajane. Still, it was a treat to have breakfast cooked for us in our villa and being made to feel like royalty!
We spent our last night at Sunset Hill in Payogan. We first stayed here 4 visits ago and we make it a point to spend at least a night there every time we return. Its a simple place, but nicely decorated and the view from the pool (and Villa 1) is really breathtaking! Now that the road has been paved almost all the way, getting there by car is also much easier - its now about 20 min by car to Ubud town, although we much prefer walking into town on the lovely ridge walk. Christian and Lanny are warm and hospitable and have become good friends and it feels like we've come home when we stay there.
We spent our days getting massaged at Zen (the only place that was willing to massage 6 month pregnant me), going for yoga at Bali Spirit at Jln Hanoman, and enjoying the wonderful food at our usual haunts. The soya place was a new discovery this trip - its two doors from Casa Luna and serves lovely teas and soya-based products at very decent prices and more than decent quality!
Finally, our driver (arranged by Lanny) to the airport was also a lovely guy - Ketut Mendra (mendra@balitravelinformation.com) stays in the village near Sunset Hill and we thought the transfer from Ubud to airport (including a side trip to Jimbaran to pick up something we had left behind) in a new 4 wheel drive was good value at Rp125000.