JBR - 18/12 to 2/1
Been back 2 days and suffering a very bad holiday hangover, but never mind, back again in 15 weeks :)
It was our first 'family only' holiday, just the four of us, Mum, Dad and 17 and 19 year old girls. We had 2 nights Ubud, 3 nights Candi Dasa and 10 nights Kuta. I thought maybe the girls would get a little bored with the first week, but that was not the case, they loved it.
We flew Air Asia, they were okay, as everyone says, you get what you pay for. Just don't pick row 11, as that has the only seats that don't recline at all, as they are in front of the emergency exit! I wouldn't bother with the food again, I will survive 3 hours without it, and it was very average, actually, it was gross!
Ubud - Santi Mandala
The hotel was absolutely gorgeous. Our villa was a family pavilion with the girls room upstairs and ours downstairs. They had an ensuite toilet and basin, and there was the one large bathroom downstairs. The beds are THE MOST comfortable I have ever had in Asia! We had our own infinity pool overlooking the surrounding jungle and the whole villa was so completely private. We paid $165US for this villa (peak rates), which I think is a bargain! It is quite a hike from the reception to the rooms, and I would not say that the river that runs through the property is very scenic, but I did love the layout of the property, quite different! There is nothing within walking distance of this hotel, but they do provide a shuttle service 4 times a day, although we thought the times could be more suitable (during meal times maybe). Anyway, we really only got one full day in Ubud and have decided it is somewhere we would return and spend more time, but stay centrally. We ate lunch at the Three Monkeys, one of the best meals of our trips (best pizza ever). We had dinner at the Dirty Duck, which is officially the biggest restaurant I have ever been into, I can't remember what we ate, but would recommend it just to witness its size!
Candi Dasa - Bayshore Villas
Wow, this place is stunning. If you check out the reviews on Trip Advisor, you can believe every word! We had 3 wonderful days here (with 17 year old falling in love with Mr D, the resident monkey). The breakfast here is made to order and a lovely way to start the day! I much prefer this to smorgasbord breakfasts. We paid $139AU per night, which I believe is unbelievable value. The room had a large separate bedroom, and the girls were put in beds in the large living area, but they had their own lovely outdoor ensuite. All three dinners were very nice, with special mention to Rendezvous, which was the best meal of the whole trip. Although the Bayshore is not a long walk into town, all the restaurants pick you up from your accommodation and drop you back. It is a good way to meet a driver to take you on any tours you would like also. We did a half day of touring, went to the Water Palace (worth visiting) and White Sand Beach (almost white sand anyway). I could easily spend more time in Candi Dasa and both the girls also loved it!
Kuta - Kuta Puri
That was the end of the peace and quite. The girls wanted to stay in Kuta, but I have to say it will be the last time I bother :) As people have said, the traffic at this time of the year is a nightmare, with taxi drivers cashing in on it big time, if you could get one to agree to take you anywhere, they charge ridiculous amounts! Most of the Blue Bird taxis would not put their metre on 'traffic bad' was all the response you could get LOL (although occasionally we found someone who would use the metre). Perhaps it worked out for the best being so centrally located, as we had to walk pretty much everywhere. The Kuta Puri is a lovely little place, we had a 'Luxury Balinese Villa' which was huge and spotlessly clean. The girls had the standard villa, which was also fine, but they have this very large, ugly concrete wall (looks a little like a prison) backing onto the side of the hotel. It is apparently the corridors of the Seaview Hotel. Our friends were staying there and they said that you could see into the outside toilets of that side of the Kuta Puri from the windows in these corridors... not a nice thought!
We had Christmas at Poppies (one of our favourites). We had friends join us on Boxing day and the rest of the holiday was pretty much relax, shop, drink, eat...you all know how it goes!! We opted for a quiet new year after everyone in the hotel talking about the terrorist threats. I was not terrified or anything, but erred on the side of caution, I did have my children with me. We sat in the hotel bar and watched people packed in like sardines trying to walk down Poppies 1! That was quite entertaining... (I must be getting old, as I kept saying, why can't we just pretend it is 12 o'clock LOL).
If you plan on staying in Kuta during Christmas/New Year, don't plan on getting a good nights sleep. There were fireworks on the beach the whole time we were there, the first time I heard them I thought there was a gunman running through the hotel! It was quite frightening, I guess I got more used to them, but occasionally during the night (yes even up to 5.00 in the morning), you would hear a particularly loud one!! Mind you, our boys were responsible for some, boys will be boys!!
We were getting between 8,200 to 8,350 to the dollar, but mostly 8,250.
One more thing, my daughter (bless her) filled in one of the questionnaires (and you will never guess what, she won a free week in Bali). Anyway, to cut this long story short, we decided we wouldn't mind having a look at Nusa Dua, so we went along to the talk (which really isn't that bad, you just sit with a sales rep and have a nice breakfast). Anyway, we were pretty up front with not wanting to join the holiday club, but I must say it would be great for some people I am sure. Once our rep realised we were not interested, he pretty much dumped us, which was fine. Now I am going to see if we do really get this free week, I will let you know! I have emailed them and it does seem legitimate, so who knows!
Things I learned on this trip;
I don't think I will stay in Kuta ever again.
I will always try and have outside bathrooms (just loved them).
I will refuse to drink cocktails that cost more than the meal I am having!
I wont trust a DVD man to bring me some DVD's the next day that I have paid for!
Jury is out on whether I let my daughter fill out any more questionnaires!
Anyway, that was pretty much it in a nutshell, as I said, we are back again in 15 weeks for a friends 50th, looking forward to trying Nusa Lembongan and Sanur :)