In Reply to: Senggigi or Kuta posted by Imagem on Thursday, 1. May 2008 at 08:37 Bali Time:
first you need to decide where you want to stay on the island.
kuta (in the south) has beautiful beaches and is really worth a look at. on the upper end is the novotel, but there are many other cheaper hotels to stay at.
sengiggi is the 'main tourist' area on the island and my choice there is Santosa. a huge property with the biggest pool on the island, and its within walking distance to everything in sengiggi.
personally i dislike the holiday resort. they have recently 'redecorated' the rooms but i think they leave a lot to be desired. the management there also seems to be disorganised.
the oberoi, up near the gilis, is a beautiful resort but it is pretty stand alone. no other places in the immediate area to eat.
lombok is a really beautiful island and well worth the visit.
you can take boats there which take anything between 1 and 5 hours, depending on which one you take.
if you are staying in the gilis, i advise you to take a boat from padang bai, as many of them go direct (only around 1.5 hrs).
if you are staying in sengiggi or kuta, i recommend flying. 20 min, and the view is lovely on a good day.