Us
A family of 4 comprising 2 adults + 2 older teenagers where accompanied by another family of 2 adults & 1 older teenager. We are long term visitors to Bali & the other family have been a couple of times previously but not for some time.
Hotel
We have stayed at Besakih in Sanur a number of times, for us it is in the perfect location at the best possible price with fantastic staff. I have no doubt that if you are used to 5 star holiday accommodation you can pick holes in this hotel, but all rooms are clean & well serviced with a good mix of clientele making it a nice place to stay. I would like to say again that for us this is the perfect location on the beach with the best pool to watch the passing traffic on the pathway.
Breakfast was included in the cost of the hotel, it has changed from last year with everything but the eggs being pre prepared buffet style & then you can order your eggs as required, not the most spectacular but quite adequate & considering the outlook fantastic, some morning we sat there for up to 90 minutes as we just relaxed & watch the morning start.
Flights
When we booked the best cost was with Garuda, it was nice to travel full service after a couple of times on Jet* & it was also nice to have a bit more room on board. I would like to compliment the Garuda staff on their friendliness & attention to the customers.
Shopping
We have always gone to the fixed price shops of Jenny in Sindu markets & Tootsies a bit further up the beach to gauge prices before we go to other shops, they also seem to have a much better range of items available & will get in whatever you want with enough notice. The normal desperation still exists within the markets & we tried to share our business around as much as possible but those that pestered and abused us as we walked along the beach got no visits, we know well enough by now never to say we come later always reply with a maybe. Some of the shops now on the main road offer some different goods & we also visited the top 2 floors at Hardys , there is a lot of the same goods here but all in 1 place with less hassle, whilst they will not bargain ask for a discount & more often than not it will be forthcoming.
Eating
We ate extensively around the hotel & as for us the food experience is an important part of the trip so being disappointed is a big negative, comments below:
Bonsai - one of our favourites from previous visits, service can be a bit hit & miss here, they seem to have lots of staff but on some visits they just seem to be crowded around the desk talking, very good sates.
Bennos - Great location for lunch, good service & pretty good food, burgers for lunch a favourite.
Anjani - Had some very good food here, smaller but good service & none of our party had a bad meal here; don't let the size fool you well worth the visit.
Beach Café - we visited this restaurant when it originally opened, very sad to say that the quality of the service & food have dropped significantly, for the price they charge compared to other restaurants don't bother, staff where disinterested & had no idea when asked of what was on the menu & the special board.
Tootsies -No complaints from any or our party, service & food quite good.
Rib -Surprisingly, the favourite here was Nasi Campur, but ribs where enjoyed as well, good service & very good food, this was the big change from our last visit, we had eaten here previously but really found this to be our favourite of this trip.
Warung Pregina - good service but food was a bit hit & miss
3 Monkeys - Unfortunately not as good as in Ubud, expensive compared to others & service was ott & unfortunately the majority of our group did not enjoy the meals.
Ratatouille - Some of the other guests in the hotel raved about this restaurant, our experience was very poor, waited almost 90 minutes for our meal & staff could not tell us what the problem was & when delivered majority did not enjoy.
The Porch - meal here was very good & we dropped in for coffee one morning & that was good as well, put it on the visit list.
Ducks Nutz - Went here on a Wednesday night for the live music, food & service was good.
Barbs Sports Warung - Visited every day the crickets tests where on, had the pies & the rissoles, if you need a reminder of home good food.
Linga Longa Bar - Made the trip on a Sunday night for the Babi Guling, this is a must for every visitor to Sanur, best pork I have ever eaten in a very friendly atmosphere at a very good price.
Mades - Just 100 metres up the road from Besakih, quite nice Indonesian food, but if you have a big party you will have to book as relatively small.
Activities:
We hired bikes for 20, 000 RP a day & rode the majority of mornings, the path in Sanur is perfectly suited for this & I would recommend that everyone do this to get the best view of Sanur.
Bali Dolphins - Worth every RP we paid, swimming with dolphins in such a controlled manner was fantastic, we had a lot of trouble contacting them but in the end I am very glad I persevered.
Day Trip to Ubud - We organised a driver from the Hotel to take us up to Ubud for the day on our itinerary, started at the Monkey Forest , a walk through the markets, then to Murnis for morning tea, Blancos museum, Lotus Pond for lunch & finished off at 3 monkeys for a drink. All in all a good day & for us as frequent visitors a good way to see the most in a day, certainly next time we go to Bali a couple of days in Ubud will be on the agenda.
During out bike trips previously we had noticed the old Taman festival in northern Sanur, this time we went in to have a look & it is quite fascinating to see what has happened to this quite expensive park since it has been abandoned, if you are up that way, do a bit of research & pop in for a look.
Bamboo Shoots Cooking Class - we have previously done a cooking class in Ubud but this was conveniently located in Sanur, starting off in the local markets & going down to southern Sanur to cook a No of dishes, well run & the group we had doing the class where all good fun, I am looking forward to trying to replicate the recipes at home, would highly recommend.
Watersports - We have always used the services of Yogi in boat 34 right outside Besakih Hotel, he is a wealth of knowledge about Sanur plus his boat is always well maintained.
Bali Zoo
Good day out here, the favourite part has to be the session with animals after lunch, some great photos of our party with a great range of animals.
Pampering
The girls went across the road to Chic salon, for all their needs, from all accounts a really well run establishment at quite reasonable prices