In Reply to: Bali Agung Village posted by balihoneymoon on Thursday, 9. June 2005 at 09:57 Bali Time:
The following is from our story, "A Rushed Trip to Bali, 2003" which you can find at the link below if you're interested. There is a more detailed review on Mic's site I think.
In simple terms its not somewhere I would want to remember for the rest of my life as the place I honeymooned.
Our, well perhaps I should say my, first impressions of the Bali Agung Village were not too good, frankly. I should not have expected more, knowing that it was on the lower end of cheap, but you always hope to be pleasantly surprised. In fairness at this point I should say that by the end of our four days much of the initial disappointment had been dispelled and we really felt quite comfortable about the place. It is a close collection of Balinese style buildings, red brick and carved grey stone, with those dinky little double wooden doors, carved and painted, secured by a padlock between two iron rings on the outside and by a drop-in wooden rail on the inside. This is cute, but the head of the doorway is always too close to the ground for my head and they're no barrier to any blood-lusting mosquitoes.
Our room was on the ground floor in a two storey block of four. As the others were not occupied while we were there I can't comment on what the sound transference between the rooms might be.
There is a largish bedroom with two single beds and barely adequate storage places and a shower/bath/toilet off one corner.
Looking for somewhere to hang damp clothes, towels, night gear, hats and so on was a fruitless task.
There is mini-bar (Damn! These things are small.) which worked well except that the ice making compartment was mainly frosted up and there was only one small tray for making ice blocks. Ice for drinks however was available from Room Service and the service was prompt.
There was reliable hot water and a good air conditioning unit, the beds were large, flat, and comfortable and had clean sheets every day, with little flower arrangements on the pillows when you returned from dinner each night. The grounds were well planted with shrubs and flowers, perhaps too well planted as, with the walled enclosures around the central bungalows, it restricted your outlook too much for me. The lack of a view, unless you stood on tip toe and peered over the side wall of the property into the neighbouring rice fields, was a lasting impression, along with a pool that needed a good scrub and some repairs to the sharp edges around the tiles. The grounds were well maintained however, with gardeners out first thing every morning.
If I were in a position to change anything it would be the level of lighting. There were lights at each side of the bed, one over the dressing table mirror and one over the bathroom mirror. They were however not only dim but very low, in the case of the bed lights, or shrouded inside pelmets so the light only went down over the mirrors. Showers at night were consequently in the dark almost and shaving or make-up in the mirrors except during the day with the door and solid wooden window shutter open was a risky business. The wiring outside really did not inspire any confidence that the lighting levels could be upgraded without some major work.
Because it was part of the package deal, inseparably mixed in with the air fares, I really don't know how much each night there costs. I'd guess that it might be around A$35-45 per night, and if I'm right it was a bargain compared with similar accommodation we were to turn down later at around $75-90 a night.
The acid test of any place however, is would I stay there again?
If I'm right about the price the answer is yes, without a lot of hesitation, and so would Herself I think, but then we spend little time in our rooms, they are places to sleep and shower only.