A couple of weeks before we left for Bali there were a couple of posts on here regarding the Barong, as we were booked in there for our first week I was really concerned as the posts were pretty damning.
I sent the Barong an email and received a lovely response from their manager, an australian lady who is just wonderful.
When we checked in this lady (wont mention any names) personally came to meet us and make sure everything was ok.
My family had booked the quarto room, which was fantastic, very large room with a queen bed and 2 single beds. The room was spotless including the sheets and towels, which were all gleaming white.
We chose this hotel mainly for the location and were not disappointed, it is about 1/2 way up poppies 2 and in a great spot for shopping. Its also been said on here that it is not a family hotel and only for younger people, well I sort of have to agree with that, however it probably depends on luck, as to how many young ones are there at the time you are. We were lucky as it wasnt too bad, only on the last night did they all seem to party, but hey its Bali and they are there for a good time too so didnt worry us in the slightest.
The massages are great and really cheap, had my nails painted and the girls done the best job Ive ever had in Bali, the pool (out back) was lovely, always sparkling, breaky was good with eggs, ham, bacon etc enough for a good start to the day!!
One night we went to the party they have around the pool and the entertainment was fantastic, they had beautiful balinese girls doing a traditional dance, a couple of balinese muscle men (pretty impressive heheh), a transvestite (again pretty impressive heheh) but a great night had by all.
Our friends who were with us have had some beautiful carvings done by the guy there, he sits in the section linking the front pool to the back pool, these carvings are quite big and he also framed them (they are panels to put in their front verandah) he done a fantastic job on the carvings, we seen them and they are coming back on a container.
Finally I know that the australian manager does get on and read the posts so a big thank you to her, it was lovely to meet you and thank you for treating us all so well:))
For anyone who has a problem with thier hotel, go straight to management and not the reception staff, believe me all your worries will be dealt with in a very considerate way, especially if you have such a lovely lady like we did!!
I mentioned location, well this is the first time we have stayed down this end as we usually stay in a friends villa at Tuban (more on this in later posts). Had a great time and really enjoyed being in the heart of things. Done lots of shopping of course and found some great places to eat. One of the best was Warung 96, wow so cheap and the food was excellent, even when we moved to the villa a week later hubby kept going back there to have 2 steaks for the price of 1 in the better restaurants...he still says it was the best steak in Bali for the price and he loves his steak.
We took our balinese family to the Warung for dinner one night and they loved thier meals. However there is one thing that did happen - they have a dog there (yeah not good when you are eating to see a dog beside you begging for food), well this bloody dog was sitting next to one of the boys at our table and I walked behind it, it turned around and savagely grabbed my leg, I freaked!!! luckily it did not break the skin but did end up with a good bruise from it. Well hubby had got to know the owner pretty well (like I said he was there nearly everynight having steak) and the owner was really upset, suffice to say I dont think there will be a dog at the Warung 96 anymore!!
Well to sum things up on the Barong - we totally enjoyed it, found all the staff to be friendly and nothing was a problem. I have even tried to book our son in on 29th Nov for a week with his girlfriend but unfortunately they were fully booked so he is now staying at the Dewi Sri (a sister hotel). For anyone booked into the Barong, enjoy your stay and if there are any concerns ask to see the Australian Lady Manager.
Heaps more to come - hope Im not boring you all
Cheers Trace.