We recently returned from a 3 week holiday in Bali. There were quite a lot of us in Bali but generally 8 to 10 of us travelled around together.
We had 4 nights in Ubud, 4 in Sanur, 4 on Gili Trawangan, 2 at Canggu and 7 in Legian. I thought you might like to hear about the Hotels we selected;
Villa Sonia Ubud - This place was a great find. We had troubles finding accommodation in Ubud and all the favourites were fully booked. This small hotel has about 8 rooms. They are all different but all offer huge outdoor/indoor bathrooms, huge bedroom, huge balcony some of which you could hold a party on. The most beautiful gardens and a lovely pool area. The walk to Ubud is through the back of the Monkey forest and I would think slightly shorter than the walk from Tegal sari. Breakfast served on your balcony was ok. The food/drink service by the pool was virtually non existant so we just drank our own supply. Think we paid about US65. I would rate the rooms as at least 4 star.
Puri Ayu Sanur - This place has had some really good wraps on the forum. We had 2 of the new apartments and 2 of the old. The new ones look great and were well priced and the pool area nice. Beds very comfortable. The loft rooms (one bedroom) are not really practical with the bedroom upstairs and the bathroom downstairs. The old apartments (older section of hotel) are ok but showing signs of tiredness. The pool area in this part of the hotel is very small. Breakfast was quite nice. All in all an ok place to stay but I prefer the beachfront in Sanur.
Alam Gili - Trawangan - For those of you who have not been to the Gili Islands here is a brief rundown. Some of us flew to Lombok and then caught the boat to Gili Trawangan others caught the fast boat direct to Gili. Transfers arranged by Alam Gili and no hiccups and no going through the harbour (thank goodness). Both modes of transfers similarly priced and take same amount of time. The waters around these islands are beautiful, crystal clear turquoise with fantastic snorkelling. There is no motorised transport on the islands and facilities can be quite primitive. Transport around the islands is by Chimino (horse and cart) or on foot. The islands themselves are quite dry (similar to Lembongan)but the beaches are lovely. We found Trawangan to be a really friendly Island with great selection of Restaurants. We stayed at Alam Gili which is about a 25 min walk to town. Obviously the Alam group of hotels know how to do it right. This place is lovely. Once again a small hotel with maybe 7 rooms. Thatched roof, outdoor bathroom, ceiling fans, large comfy beds with high quality linen, out door day bed. You can snorkel directly off the beach here. They also have freshwater showers which is a bit of a rarity on the island. The food (Cafe Wayan) at the hotel was great. Great breakfast which we generally ate on the beach(still thinking about the fruit and muesli and how they can make it taste so good), afternoon tea each day which we either had on the beach or by the pool. The pool is a little oasis. Small but serves a purpose. We generally went here each afternoon to get out of the sun and have a refreshing dip after a day in the sun. The staff and service were the best I have come across. Must do trip.
Canggu - Villa Bali Kubu Rama
Very nice modern 4 bedroom 4 bathroom villa. Huge comfy beds, biggest bathrooms I have seen complete with waterwall and fish, nice pool and gazebo, big lounge/dining/kitchen and plasma tv. This place is very reasonably priced and very comfortable. We paid about $A70 couple but on WOTIF it is much cheaper. Easy walk to Echo beach. Great place to relax and the staff here have great english and are very helpful. We only had 2 nights here and next time I would stay a bit longer.
Legian - Kumala Pantai. No need to do review but I would stay in old section rather than new next time due to the noise from the pool area.
We had a great holiday (we always do). If anyone needs any additional information on where we stayed feel free to send me an email.