In Reply to: 3 Great Hotels!!?? posted by gnv on Wednesday, 17. August 2005 at 19:10 Bali Time:
We did almost the exact trip a few years back, but spent about a week at each (stayed at old Raddin, now Mercure and not Puri Santrian, then Coconuts and Villa Ombak) and had a ball. Had friends at Puri Santrian and it looked nicer than our hotel. (I was in sanur and Lembongan two months back and Puri still looks awsome - also spent a night at Coconuts in fan room - try and get AC if you can)
Coconuts is great but the service is generally not as good as at Bali hotels (found the same at Vila Ombak so I guess its an "island" thing - still very acceptable though)
As with all Bali / Lombok hotels, everything is MUCH more expensive in the hotels (drinks, meals, transport etc) so look around at places close by for really good food etc at bargin basement prices. Donalds (go on the beach path in front of Puri Santrian to the right of the hotel) is excellent. Great Tom Yam soup & coldest Bintangs in town. A bunch of places on the main street as well.
There is not as much choice on Lembongan and Gili T, but there are still great warungs and pubs within easy walking distance of the hotel (the ones further away on Lembongan will give you a free lift back on a motorbike if you have a meal)
Hope you have a great time. Please post a JBR as we're planning on visiting Gili T and Sanur in December and would appreciate an update.