Indonesia Hotel Reviews
Melia Hotel is situated in Nusa Dua. You can find restaurants and shops outside the complex of Nusa Dua but these are limited. To travel elsewhere means taking a taxi. We booked a car and guide (via the hotel - Bali Taksu) and visited the Volcano Batur as well as the Barong Dance, Celuk village , Batuan painters, and Sebatu rice terraces. The guide - Made - was really a great source of info but allowed us to do change the itinerary if we wanted. This is a great way to see Bali if you do not know where to go or what to see. It can be more expensive than hiring your own car but was good for us as we had not been to Bali before.
We strongly recommend Gado Gado restaurant on Seminyak beach. Wonderful food, very friendly and helpful staff and a dramatic view of high seas at night.
The hotel is near the National Museum which is very informative about the Indonesian history, also for shopping Plaza Indonesia is just 5 minutes away by car. But of course you need to be careful, not to forget to lock the car anywhere you go as crime rate is quite high in Jakarta.
For beautiful sunset, go to Tanah Lot, see the sunset from Le Meridien Nirwana lounge. For a nice restaurant of local food, you can go to Bumbu Bali in Benoa. To go around you can rent a car with a driver, it''s easier if you know which places to go although your driver can recommend you also. And don''t forget to take the Bali Hai dinner cruise, it''s unforgettable.
I would definitely advise you to eat at a Jazz restaurant across the road from the hotel. The food is absolutely fantastic, the drinks are great and they also have a band who come on at 10pm every night and they rock. We loved this place so much that we went back twice. The food and drink are excellent value. I would definitely recommend this place - quite the little gem that we stumbled across.
Don''t forget to have a look on the chinese district. Zoo is ok althought maintenance could be improved. Surabaya is not a touristic place as Yogyakarta or somme other places on Java.
The hotel location is strategic as there are many shops around the hotel. It is just few minutes walk to reach the shops and Legian Beach. There are many taxi just outside the hotel. You can easily get taxi to the place you like. At night, you can have dinner at Joni Restaurant, just 5 minutes walk from Balisani Padma Hotel. It is a pool side restaurant and they have a life band. Therefore, you are having dinner and enjoying the performance of life band at the same time. It is very nice!!!! Tanah Lot Temple and Uluwatu Temple are 2 temples must go to visit. Dreamland beach is nice for surfers. Kintamani Volcano scenery is really really GREAT! Do not forget to try Crispy Duck and Babi Guling (pork). For people who likes to shop, Denpasar and Ubud pasar are a must! Things there are really cheap (don''t forget to bargain)!!! The shops along the road on the way to Kintamani have lots of nice and cheap stuff.
Take the Full Day car rental (included driver) at the hotel. The driver is well trained and could take you from Borobudur to Prambanan to Traditional dances and shopping. For US$50 net it was well worth it. For a local tour near the hotel area, take the becak outside the hotel with the "Melia Purosani" painted on the side. Very friendly and helpful.
Would recommend Lana thai restaurant in CBD near Mandarin Oriential and Cafe Batavia on Kota, both good food and atmosphere.
Lombok looks like it has seen better days. Many buildings in the Senggigi area look vacant and are a bit run down and there seems to be a growing problem with the amount of trash scattered around. Having said that, Lombok is a big island and once you get away from the "touristy" areas, you will find beautiful beaches and lovely scenery. We stayed at a great little hotel, Qunci Villas. If you are looking for white sand and a beautiful beach, this is not the place for you as the beach is small in front of the hotel, has darker lava sand, and has been overtaken by some fairly aggressive beach hawkers. But if you enjoy sipping two-for-one priced happy hour drinks at the pool while watching the sun set behind Bali''s Mount Agung, you might want to reconsider! Good trade-off would be to stay there and then take some day trips to more secluded beaches and islands. A visit to snorkel around the Gilis is a must, and we heard from other travelers that mountain biking the island''s interior was a great experience.
Bali is a nice place for leisure. When we were in Bali we visited Turtle Island, went fishing at Tanjung Benoa Nusa Dua. We also visited Ubud, saw the Barongs one of the Balinese dances, to the Monkey Forest, go shopping. There are many restaurants around where we stayed and a newly shopping mall called Discovery Mall with lots of shops, play game for the children, and from there you can visit Celcius Cafe/Starbucks with its delicious coffee or go direct to Kuta beach, just at the back from Discovery Shopping Mall. You can also go surfing by the beach if you like surfing at Kuta Beach or Sanur Beach. Or just relax at Kuta Beach. Or take photos in front of the Monuments to commemorate the Bali bombings. Sometimes there are Balinese dancers standing in front of this Monument. Not far from Kartika Plaza street you can also visit Matahari Dept. Store, McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and lots of cafes, shops which surrounds the area. Along the Kartika Plaza street you can find Pizza Hut, the Sling shot for excitement, Jumping Play, Waterboom, Go Kart, Mexican Restaurant, 24 hours K Mart, small shops which sells CDs, DVDs, clothes, surfing boards, jeans, souvenirs or eating out at the well known Warung Made Restaurant, Kuta Chinese Restaurant, Wet Cafe, and many other cafes or restaurants. There are lots of tourists now coming from Australia as well as from other parts of the world. You can choose any tours you like including city tour or sailing which suits your budget and there are some that you can bargain too. But when you want a more quiet place you can also visit Lombok. Lombok is also a nice place to visit for your next trip to Indonesia besides Bali, Jakarta or any other places in Indonesia. In Lombok you can take a tour to 3 islends, Gili Island, Gili Meno and Gili Air. Or you can walk along the beach as there are small shops too or take a tour to visit the water fountain in Lombok.
The Hotel is very well centralized and within walking distance to the Sportsman''s Bar (Wester Pub and Restaurant) and many other places to eat and entertainments. The Pasaraya Mall is located accross the street for shopping, banking and eating facilities.
Must have a meal at either of the Made Warungs as well as Bambu Bali restaurant in Nusa Dua. Jimbaran is a must visit for atmosphere ambience and food - in that order.
Ibis Kemayoran is close to the central banking complex (Bank Indonesia) and a very short taxi ride to a reasonable shopping complex and food court. It is also close to one of the cities clothing and computer shopping areas (manga dua). A favourite trick by taxi drivers is to say the road ahead is traffic jam and then proceed to travel around which will take longer (and more costly) then the "normal" direct route.
The hotel has easy access to Borobudur, Prambanan, Mt. Merapi, etc.. On the other hand, people in this part of Java are very friendly and helpful. The scenary around Borobudur, Merapi is spectacular and stunning. Definetely, if you are thinking of visiting Indonesia, you should come to this area.
Bali is getting westernized little by little with all of the bad habits. Recommend that newbies only use Blue Bird cabs and learn the real price before negotiating with street cabs. Also go to Matahari or Hardy''s and check the max price for art goods then you are prepared for the markets like Sukawati.
The Hotel is across the street from the Pasaraya Shopping Mall where you can walk and buy anything and get any service desired. The Pub is also very good and offers western food if desired. The night club has a different band playing different types of music.
I would say that there''s nothing much to shop and walk around there. It''s pretty secluded from the rest. But it''s still a walking distance to a small town for the pasar malam tingy. Liked the bargaining process though when negotiating with them for the price. Kuta Square is a more crowded and popular shopping attraction if you want to go out. But the transport is quite steep for the journey.
Found the palace disappointing. Lots of batik, silver etc but should always try to bargain. The highlight was the temple at Borobudor -- we took the Sunrise tour the hotel offered....although it seems more expensive than what one would find outside, they provide torches so you can see clearly as you climb. Worth getting up early for ! Also do visit the nearby Amanjiro hotel, its unique !
Best restaurants - Made''s Warung (reasonably priced local food), Kafe Warisan (great but dearer French food) and goto KuDeTa for the sunsets and make reservations for dinner (very expensive). Bebek Bengil (The Dirty Duck) in Ubud would also be a great place for food.