ACCOMMODATION
We stayed the first 3 nights at Club Bali Mirage at Tanjung Benoa, 2 nights at the Safari Park, 14 nights at the Jayakarta in a privately owned unit and the last 9 nights at Kuta Townhouses. Will write a few comments on each hotel.
Club Bali Mirage - have never stayed down in this part of Bali so i enjoyed our 3 nights here. The location was great with plenty of restaurants close by. The pools were nice, deck chairs were taken very early, of course the guests then go out for the day. The breakfast was the best buffet we have had in Bali at any of the hotels we have stayed in. The room was a good size, just the deluxe room, but fit a king size bed, single and cot comfortably. I booked with Expedia, have never used before but had no problems. Had a free kids club also which my son visited a few times. This hotel was full of Europeans and Japanese, i think we were the only Aussies. They are an all inclusive hotel so had buffet meals in all restaurants. We didn't pay for this option, just had breakfast included. Our room was close to the main restaurant so was a bit noisy when they have live shows on.
Safari Park - really enjoyed staying here, mainly made it easier with a baby to have somewhere to go and have a rest. Two nights was plenty to do everything in the park as well as swimming and resting. The breakfast was great, could watch the lions through the windows. Lovely restaurant, i thought it was a bit pricey for dinner but it is the only one open at night. It is called Tsavo. The other restaurant in the park called Uma was cheap and has heaps to choose from. Our room was called a Swala Room, once again easily fit a king, single and cot. Really nice room with a fantastic outlook to the zebras. They provide a bucket of carrots in the room to feed them from your balcony. The first afternoon we saw all the animals, the following day we did all the shows and visited the Water Park and Rides section. Did the safari journey 3 times during the days. Didn't try the night one as we spoke to some people who said it wasn't worth it, they hardly saw any animals. I loved being able to stay here, especially for my 5 year old son, he enjoyed it. Would recommend this to anyone. Two nights was enough for us, one would not have been.
Only problem here was check out. We rang for a porter at 1145, at 12 i decided to go and check out. Big line of people checking out and only one staff member. No one ever came to collect bags so my partner did that. Then you have to wait for a shuttle to take you back to the main entrance. Was not impressed as this took about an hour, very hot waiting with a baby. That was the only problem we had here.
Jayakarta - we had a one bedroom privately owned unit. Took a little while of wondering around the hotel to find where i had to check in as i had not been here before. The privately owned apartments were seperate to the hotel owned ones. I also didn't have our room number so i wasn't able to check in until i did. So had to get online to find the phone number of the owner and call him in Australia. Once i had the number i was given the key to find that our room had not been cleaned from the previous guests. Another call to the owner so he could organise the room to be cleaned. This took over an hour. After the late check out at the Safari Park i was so annoyed to get stuffed around again. We went and sat in a restarant to wait, drinks were terrible and my food never arrived, so went back to the room and waited outside. The owner was great getting things organised as quick as he could from Australia, also had a follow up sms to make sure we were all settled.
I ended up using the laundry at the post office opposite the Jayakarta. Very cheap, per kilo and ready next morning.
The unit was well located, close to the street, bit of a hike to the pool so didn't swim as much as we normally would, air con was great and the unit was well stocked. The kitchen had a microwave, large water cylinder that was replaced when empty, blender, toaster, sandwich maker, heaps of crockery/cutlery, containers and a large fridge. I didn't plan to cook at all but having a kitchen was great with a baby, i cooked him vegies and was able to heat his bottles and baby food. Also loved having a large fridge. The unit had recently been refurbished and had a comfotable king size bed, 2 tvs, 2 dvd players, portable cot. The bed sheets and towels were good as were the pillows, best pillows i have used. Room was serviced daily. The kids and I had breakfasts at the room each day, good break from restaurants and hot meals. I brought weetbix from home and bought bread and cereals etc from Carrefour. Has always been a dream of mine to shop in Carrefour with a trolley and load it up. I love that shop.
We only used the quieter pool, always got a deck chair. If i didn't have the kids would probably have used the other pool and pool bar. The hotel has lovely grounds and a great location to restaurants, spas, shops etc.
KTH - We used a driver we found outside the Jayakarta. He hadn't heard of KTH. When i explained the best i could he said no i can't drive there. So as we were driving along in the pouring rain with tonnes of luggage i was imagining us trying to get taxis in the rain. But he perservered and we got there, i don't think it was that dramatic afterall. I had checked this hotel out a couple years ago after reading about it on here. When i say checked it out we arrived at the entrance and i felt i was in the middle of nowhere so we kept walking and didn't even go inside. I decided then and there i hated the location. What a mistake that turned out to be. This time we had kids so i wanted a kitchen, find these are hard to come by at a reasonable price. When i walked into the room i literally said WOW!. My partner was in heaven, all that space, Aussie tv channels. We had a 2 bedroom, one bathroom apartment. Takes a lot to impress him. I just loved the apartment, the space, the cleanliness, it was so modern. Only one tv and no dvd player but my son had his portable dvd player and his own room so he waas fine. I have a Bali dvd player which i bought at Carrefour years ago. There were 3 air cons which all worked well. The power points were the same as we have here which was great, no adaptors burning out on my appliances again. The fridge was large. Only things i would have liked would have been a microwave (for heating baby milk and foods) and a water cylinder thing. But who cares when you have such a beautiful apartment. My 5 year old soon had a job of going to the restaurant to heat up baby food.
The pools were lovely and clean, but so cold. Bit noisy from your room but i was fine with that. Breakfast wasn't a buffet but you could choose off a menu of about 8 items. I loved that as i tend to over eat at buffets and then can't fit more food in at lunch time. Food was all nice. We ordered room service once and that was good, also had a few vodka slushies - yum!
The room has loads of storage which i like as i could fully unpack and also put all our shopping away. Has a room safe which i used with no problems. Apartment was cleaned daily and very well cleaned i might add. The fridge contained a huge mini bar selection, however i prefer to buy our own stuff so put those items in the cupboard.
Lots of restaurants close by, all of which are so cheap. I had no idea so many were in this area. I have been to Poppies 2 many times but never really checked out Poppies 1. I used Eva laundry next door which was great and cheap. I ended up loving the location, once you learn which way to walk it was so easy. Close to Legian Street and Jl Pantai. I will stay here in the future providing i get the chance to book well ahead. We loved our stay here. I would never stay in a hotel room again, especially with kids. Even if my partner and i go alone i think i would still get an apartment. I love the extra space and the prices were great for what you get.
Anyway if you have questions please ask away. I am back at work now after having 12 months maternity leave but hope to get to Bali again this year. We enjoyed spending a month there this time, maybe one day i will get to stay for even longer.
Thanks for reading,
Vanessa