Total of 18 of us (8adults and 10kids 11-18) stayed at the Outrigger O-CE-N Legian/Seminyak for 9 nights from the 11th January. 1st time back for me for 25 years. 15 first timers. Everyone hooked!
FLIGHTS - Flew Garuda they were fine no hassles, food good. Only lined up for 15minutes to get through airport on arrival, we were expecting much worse! Flight home also no problems, not sure I would like to do the midnight flight though as it took a few days to recover.
HOTEL - Our stay at the Outrigger was fantastic. We got a pretty good deal(compared to what the prices have gone up to now) and the place really suited all of us. We stayed in a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom units they are very clean and modern, air-con great. hotel food was lovely, enjoyed the happy hour cocktails some evenings so did the older kids we discovered after a few nights. Staff so friendly. Had heard some negatives about this place saying it was not very Bali like but we couln't fault it and you get plenty of Bali the minute you walk out of the hotel. Its in a perfect location for beach, shopping and restaurants.
RESTAURANTS - We loved the strip just up the road including Zanzibar, Kumala Pantai, Lanai, Seaside and Blue Ocean. We really didn't have a bad meal and they all catered well for the kids. Loved the fact you could all eat and drink for several hours and the cost averaged $50 aus per family. Great Value!
TOURS - We had a bit more planned but spent so much time just walking the shops, having tatoos and massages/pedicures on the beach etc. We did hire a coach for the day and went to Barong Dance,Woodcarving,Kintamini for lunch,Rice fields and Ubud. A great day out even though teenagers thought it was a little boring they saw some great sights and got a bit of culture which doesn't hurt them. We went over to Nusa Dua and Sanur both had drastically changed from 25 years ago. Beaches very nice. We had lunch at the Sheraton Laguna Resort, very expensive compared to what we had been paying.
GENERAL - Men and boys decided to hire motorbikes I couldn't believe it when they all decided to meet us girls in Kuta, I thought it was too risky but they were fine and it wasn't long before I jumped on the back. Mainly used Bluebird Taxis no problems at all. Used the Pelangi Laundry very cheap and great service. No one got Bali Belly so that was fantastic. No worries with money changers. Weather was brilliant rained some nights and one wet day but lovely sea breeze in the evening. We all bought loads of stuff home its so much fun shopping.Took everyone a while to get used to money think we were paying the right prices by the end but we weren't too worried about that. We had a ball and already thinking about next time. Even though Bali itself had changed the people were exactly how I remembered just beautiful! We had plenty of negativaty from those around us before we left, we were so glad we went and didn't let that put us off. Never did we feel unsafe. Hope I didn't bore you all and thanks for some great advice I picked up on this forum it really did help.