In Reply to: Padma?? posted by rclarke on Wednesday, 29. June 2005 at 09:03 Bali Time:
Arrived back June 10th. Stayed at Padma Bali for first 8 days of our 16 day trip and thought it was fantastic. For starters, it must have the best breakfast in the world. So much variety and so well presented. Our room was upgraded on arrival because the type we were booked in for was unavailable. We would stay in the upgraded version every time - worth the extra. Yes, it is an upmarket resort, but worth it. We met lots of people there who said they always stay there. The pool area is fantastic - there is a kiddies pool and also a Kid's Club which is very well run (our 2yo grand daughter loved it). We went to the indonesian night (held once a week, with other types of special nights through the week as well) with wonderful Indonesian dancing, food by the tonne, once again, wonderfully prepared, and even with drinks a very reasonably priced night out under the stars. We found the staff charming and helpful. There is a lovely upmarket shop in the resort where we bought shirts and a couple of very nice wall hangings of the quality we didn't see elsewhere. Just outside the resort you are right in the middle of typical Bali shopping strips and a clothing market area, with many restaurants of all types within 5 minutes walk. We often caught a taxi to Mata Hari square in Kuta and walked back. If you do it the other way round, the taxi takes you via the beach, which is pretty. The walk back from Kuta used to take 2-3 hours because of all the stops to look at clothing, watches, dvd,s etc. A staight no stops walk would be perhaps 25 minutes. For Poppies, it would be a 20 minute walk (we used taxis - they are so cheap and plentiful). When it came time to leave we felt very sad - until we arrived at Waka di Ume in Ubud, but that's another story.