Bali Hotel Reviews
Very far from the city, but very calm. This hotel has private beach, best sunset scenic. If you want to see sunrise, this hotel is very good I think.
There are a few good cafes around and I must recommend Daddy''s cafe which is located right outside Bali Dynasty. The waitresses are very freindly and warm and most important of all they serve reasonable good food. The price was very reasonable as well. We visit the cafe almost every night for dinner.
The extremely low value of the Rupiah, combined with some of the best international class expat chefs in Asia, make Bali currently a gourmands delight.
Ignore the guide books. Kuta is great fun. It has the best beach in Bali. There are some fantastically smart restuarants springing up in the Kuta.Legian Area. Who wants to be stuck out at Nusa Dau and Jimbaran when your can have the best of everything here.
Had an excellent massage at "The Body Work Centre" located at 25 Hanoman Street in Ubud...very reasonable prices....probably 4-5 times less than what you would pay at a comparable place in the Nusa Dua. Had an excellent dinner at the Bumbu Bali restaurant in Tanjung Benoa. The Balinese Rijsttafel is a must try! The Terrance restaurant at the Amanusa hotel was a disappointment. Although the view and setting was nice and the staff service was pleasant, the food was terrible. The Prawn curry, Sumatra style was not fresh. The prawns were soft and mushy...a sure sign that the seafood is not fresh. Upon complaining to the waiter, all he did was smile and apologize....no manager or head chef came out to respond to our complaint.
Bali is a great destination if you like hot weather, beautiful beaches and cheap hotels. Five-star hotels in Bali are considerably cheaper than in the west and the favorable exchange rate makes Indonesia very cheap. Taxis are especially cheap. International political problems have discouraged people from visiting but Bali is Hindu (not Muslim) and has absolutely no problems for the average tourist. I have been to all the major beach resorts in southeast Asia and I would rate Bali the top for value for money, cultural interest, variety and quality of food (esp. international cuisine) and freqeuncy of travel to/from the island.
The hotel is located near a fishing village and in a residential area; it is therefore isolated from traffic and is quiet compared to what we saw elsewhere. Because it is isolated, we used the hotel shuttle to the tourist town of Kuta, 20 minutes away, which departs daily at 1000, 1300 and 1500; from there it is possible to take various types of transportation elsewhere. Because we were unfamiliar with the transportation system, we preferred to book group and individual tours to the numerous attractions through the hotel. <br><br>Jimbaran Beach is located some 400 meters away; there are some 80 eating establishments (warungs) specializing in fresh barbecued fish there. We enjoyed the walks along the beach, which is busy during the day with the small fishing boats; however, the rainy season brought extensive debris back on the beach, so there was little incentive to swim there at this time of year.
Local transport/with drivers easy and cheap. Quite knowledgable about (limited) availability of trips to ubub, temples et. Nothing to faze a reasonably savvy traveller. Sea food good at jimarang? bay, meals by room service adequate, better value at beach restaurants.
Sanur''s fairly quite,but it''s a good place for families with kids.
Legian and Kuta very crowded with severe traffic jams and narrow streets. Very different architecture to Java. People extremely friendly and helpful. The Nusa Dua area is cleaner and more relaxed.
Ubud is definitely worth the trip and is easy to navigate on foot. Kuta was a little disappointing - lots of polution and traffic.
What to say about Bali. It is a beautiful place indeed. The Balinese tradition and culture is best seen in Ubud. If you go there, be sure to take in some traditional Balinese dance. Ubud is also great to go for souvenirs. You can get crafts for cheaper and better quality. I made the mistake of not purchasing some things in Ubud under the assumption that I would just pick them in Sanur - big mistake.
Visited a number of tourist sights during my short stay of 3 days (eg: Ubud, Money forest & temples) with a (privately negotiated) driver & vehicle need to bargain for everything (shopping, tour, etc)& don''t be shy about offering 50% of the asking price, be wary of special prizes/offers in shopping areas as these are from people promoting "time share" holiday units.
We had a car & driver from 9.00am to 8.00pm for 250,000 + 20,000 tip. Only regret was the choice of places the driver brought us to was probably influenced by the commissions he got, and I understand it could be quite high. These places typically charged higher even after discounts (probably to pay for the commissions) when we compared later at other shops on our own.<br><br> We enjoyed Kintamani and Ulu Watu very much. The museum at Denpasar was also very interesting but best be clear with the unsolicited guide about his charges first.<br><br> The best restaurant we enjoyed was an Indonesian one, can''t recall the name, about 100m down from Matahari Dept store on Legian Road, same side. It had a antique furniture shop in the front and the restaurant is further in.
A very cheap place for shopping. Excellent choice of food and restaraunt outlets, in many areas. Taxi travel by the meter is cheap within the city only. Bargaining , is the name of the game, in BALI. Many travel agents to assist you to suit your personal tours.
Great place..the tour of the island is good, but you spend a lot of time in the car (% hours out of 8)
Best way to get around Bali is to make use of the hotel driver/minibus service. Reasonably priced. However, the minibus stops at prearranged "tourist" spots and you are immediately surrounded by street sellers. This begins to get overpowering since a simple "no thankyou" doesn''t seem to work. This is also true on the beach where it is impossible to more than two minutes between "sales visits".