In Reply to: dewi sri cottages posted by cameron86 on Tuesday, 11. January 2005 at 10:47 Bali Time:
The room I had was pretty ordinary. It was clean and the bed was big. The bathroom was very basic, with just a shower hose and a drain for the water. It takes a while to get the hang of not spraying water all over the toilet.
I had a ground floor room and the gap under the door was about two inches, which let in the chicaks and frogs. That was fine with me, coz they eat the mosquitos, but I heard a few yelp from the lady in the next room who wasn't into the local wildlife so much.
Breakfast was fine. Buffet style with a range of food including fried rice, bacon, eggs, toast, fruit, vegetables, salad, tea, coffee, juice... All you can eat. But don't eat too much because after a big meal on a hot day, you'll just feel tired and want to go back to bed.
I had no problems with the staff, but while I was staying there, some money did go missing from one of my bags. It may have happened while my bag was in my room, or it may have happened elsewhere. My camera was in the same bag and wasn't touched.
It is a pain in the butt running the gauntlet between the shops on both sides of the lane every time you want to leave the hotel. It's about 100 meters to Legian Street, and you can see all the shopkeepers converging in front of you as you approach. There is a side gate that leads to a much quieter lane, which is handy for escaping the hotel.
The most pro-active sellers in the lane are right outside the hotel. On the right (as you leave) you should find Lena, Suzi and Miki, who are always good fun and will give you a smile even if you don't buy anything from them. They do have cheap cigarettes and cold drinks, though, so you may as well buy something and stop for a chat. On the left is a shop run by Paula, who always looks pissed-off, and a small silver stand run by (I think) her husband, who is totally lazy and more interested in getting you to buy him a beer than in selling you his wares. Further up the street on the right is a guy called Norm (I think) who sells bead jewellery and is a good source of information. And there's a satpam or parking dude outside Troppozone who always wants people to go to a karaoke bar with him. I guess he gets a payoff for every customer he brings.
Anyway... have fun.