This is not going to be one of my usual JBR's but a summary of what I view as important information for some.
I have posted on here for 5 years and still enjoy giving info as much as I enjoy receiving it.
I have no doubt that some aliases will flame me, though as suggested by many,I shall try my best to rise above it and ignore for the sake of the many people that have asked me for a JBR.
Feel free to ask any questions..
15 glorious nights in Bali for Myself,husband and 12 year old daughter
Departed Perth 27th March and spent the first 3 nights at
Matahari Bungalows Legian in a deluxe room.As a repeat guest I got it for $35 Aust a night including breakfast and was upgraded to a deluxe room.Just the position of the rooms differ from the standard. They give free transport so we didn't have to bother with a taxi.
I actually think we should have gone to Lovina first rather than Sanur first to save carting all our goods etc but you live and learn and we will swap next time doing Sanur afterwards.
Rate was 7315 and stayed this way dropping no lower and going up to 7375.Lower in Lovina though as we were warned so we changed cash before we went there.
Weather was very hot and humid and rained a lot of afternoons
During our first stay in Legian we ate at
DoubleD
Legian snacks
Dimimidi at GWK cultural park (Hi to TinaG, Belinda, Didi and Sharon 27)
Bali Cyber café (Haaris, what a lovely man and great food too)
Bamboo corner in poppies 1
All fabulous places and then on the Friday we then moved over to Bumi Ayu bungalows in Sanur for 4 nights and it was wonderful. We actually think we almost prefer Sanur now.
Bumi was a gorgeous little hotel with a beautiful pool and the most lovely rooms.We had room 22. Staff were fabulous and it was close to everything. We will be staying there again next trip and probably for half of our holiday.This was $45 a night with a small breakfast though I believe that for couples the rate is between $30 and $40.
We ate at
Bumi Ayu
Star cafe
Aladin (Hi to John from Bali golf)
Lazers sports bar
Jepun (Thanks Smokey for telling us)
Apa Kabar
Bonsai
By far the best place we have eaten in Bali would have to be Jepun and they pick you up and drop you back to hotel.....same as Apa kabar.
Up to Bedugal for 1 night as Glenn was playing golf ,but wouldn't bother staying there again as we much prefer Lovina and would have loved another night there. A stop at Crackers bar for lunch and a whiz around the markets would be a good enough break for us on the way through.
Glenn loved the course at handara and will no doubt play again one day.
Wednesday we arrived in Lovina and spent 2 nights at Puri Bali hotel.
If you are on a budget it is a fabulous little hotel.(Thanks Enpi and Camille).Made who seems to run the place is a lovely young woman and goes out of her way for you.The owner of the hotel allows his staff that are single to live there in a couple of rooms free and also gives them meals....a great help with them struggling as they do.
The rooms were spacious and the pool lovely though the only downfall is that there seems to be no main pool light at night so you are virtually swimming in the dark....but no matter.
It was only 200 000rp(about $27 aust) for the 3 of us with brekkie
If you are not on a budget then Rambutan cottages have delightful rooms and is just next door.
We enjoyed Richards company when we had dinner there at Rambutans one night.
We also ate at
Kopi Bali
Puri Bali
A lovely little warung type local restaurant that we took our sponsor child to for lunch with the foundation people and the name escapes me sorry, I know that it is a truck stop though.
We would have loved another night or 2 in Lovina....not because there is a huge amount to see but we really chilled out and we also spent a lot of time sorting out our sponsor stuff so missed out on the hot springs and Buddhist temple.....no matter there is always next time.
Back to Legian on the Friday and the last 5 nights are back at Matahari Bungalows again.
They had trouble with the air con and were renovating some deluxe rooms ( I call it painting lol)so they put us into a suite......gold 4 poster bed that I had to be helped up into it was so high lol....felt like royalty.
Now I love this hotel but they had trouble with the pool and the pool person was new and couldn't get it right and the pool was closed alot...even in the day.
Needless to say in the end I did my block (as did 4 others)and they then got their act together.
We find this hotel central and spacious and will stay there again one day.
We ate at
Bali Agung
Basil leaves
Warung Kartini
Alley cat
Warung Sendok
DoubleD
Other Places we went;
Early morning markets Legian
Discovery mall
Ketuts in Legian of course
Syah for another painting
S&S (Hi to Yappa and crew, Fisho girl and family,3 girls and family,Linda/scully,Smudge,Chris and Ken, Nicno and boys)
Waterbom Park
Denpasar to Ramayanas/The Watch place opposite/Mataharis/Tiara Dewata
Tootsies /Jenis and the other stalls at Sanur markets and also Hardies.
Ghost Palace empty hotel/Crackers bar /The Lake at Bedugal area
Dolphin boat early morning in Lovina/ Visit to the Learning centre/school/ home/Markets in Singaraja area.
Kuta Townhouses for live AFL viewing
Makros
The Dentist (Dr Rudy)
Golf at Handara
We had massages most days.
In Legian at the Spa above Matahari Bungalows 44000rp for hotel guest for 1 hour.
Also in Jalan Benesari at what was Salon Made and now called Salon Hana as it has a new owner. They charge 39 000rp , not as relaxing as the spa of course but great massage.One afternoon we were in a hurry to get to S&S after a massage so we paid the 3 girls to take us on their bikes.
In Sanur at the beach in front of Bennos (Jeffrey and the girls...Jeffrey is a lady but too many Ketuts so she calls herself after her son lol) They were fabulous and 40 000rp each.
We would have had at Bumi Ayu but the 3 of us always have together to save time and there is only one masseur at Bumi at one time.
Got DVDs from DEDE at Bali Gong in Legian...we were up that way at the time and he writes on the display discs if they are a poor copy. Easy as.
Always try to look at a few hotels each trip so this one included
Sri Ratu
Kendi Mas
Nusa Indah
Bendesa
Villa Shanti
Kuta Townhouses
Samsara
The final part (after a nanna nap)......will be shopping (what we bought and where)and our sponsor child visit which was wonderful and the whole reason we are trying to save to head back at christmas.
Any questions just ask.