In Reply to: Candi dasa hotels ????? posted by Landcare on Thursday, 20. March 2014 at 10:25 Bali Time:
First up, thanks gary and gecko, you make me blush (lol).
I'm just lucky enough to be able to live here in Candidasa.
Bali Palms Resort ... hmm, I just posted something a few min ago to someone else asking about the Bali Palms ... its ok ... big pool, and at least you are only just out of town (only just, taking the Candidasa Welcome Arch as the start). Candidasa is just 1.2 Km from end to end, so easy to walk to everything, and only one long steet (no side streets).
Padang Bai Beach ... as noted by Gecko, it's not in CD, so cross that one off (Panang Bai is ok to stay at for a night before heading off to Lombok / Gili's).
Rama ... this is a nice place, nice pool area, nice rooms. We stayed there once before we moved to CD. It is a bit out of town, you can walk it, but there are sections with no footpath, and the road has trucks that are full of black sand and stone that is taken from further north then (through CD) down to the south areas (where it is used to build more hotels we DON'T need ... but that's another story !). Back to the Rama, you really would most days need to get transport in and out each day you wanted to go into town. The hotel may run a shuttle now (not 100% sure), but there are drivers out front.
There are other options IN TOWN ... Ashyana, Alam Asmara (they use to be sister / brother hotels, by have now split - both are nice). We actually just went into the Ashyana today to look at their family room. We have some guests wanting to stay at our villa, and another family close by, we suggested another villa next door to us (but their price is around double what we charge), so they were interested in the hotel on the other side of us for the other family. 2 separate rooms, one with king, the other with 2 singles, one bathroom. You would only want the room to sleep in - no lounge area as such, but if family 2 stay there, and family 1 at out place, then family 2 can spend all day here ... so that should work. Both Ashyana and Alama Asmara have nice restaurants ... Ashyana maybe has the edge.
Another place - IN TOWN - is the Watergarden ... again we have stayed there before we moved here. You can get nice bungalow rooms up the back which look over a very large fish pond - just small old style Balinese rooms, but they are nice, and they are clean - they have a nice pool area, and a good restaurant.
These 3 places would easy fit with your budget (if just 2 of you).
There is some other cheaper places, but I can see you would like something nice, so ... if I was to pick one ... from your list, and my list ... (apart from staying at our villa - lol) ... I would go the Watergarden - in your price bracket - nice place - good restaurant - has a spa on site - nice pool - and in town (no transport needed, walk to everything ~ very easy).
If you want any other info, I'll look out for any replies you post.
Regards, Geoff