Sorry but i've no time for a complete jbr, anyway i'd like to share with you some impressions.
Hotels:
- Inna kuta: beautifull ground, great location (more than great) but the rooms show their age (not adeguate for the price).
- 14 roses beach: is located in melasti and it's a branch of the one in legian. The hotel is new, room were nice and clean (much much better than inna kuta). According to me a great hotel! They ask 400.000 a night for a triple but we finish paying 350.000. The only thing we can complain was the breakfast that was really poor, but anyway you can always go out and have breakfast for a ridicolous price.
Restaurant (I'm italian, so i know what good cooking is! Anyway i've noticed that there are some differences concerning tastes of people from different countries......i saw some australians guys enjoy a pizza that i wouldn't judge as edible, maybe you are more severe as far as a steak is concerned).
- Papa's: the only italian restaurant we visited. It was the first night, we were tired and not so adventurous, so we opted for Papa's. Nice atmosphere, probably the best italian food i've tasted abroad, even if it wasn't that great. 550.000 Rp for 3 made it the most expensive dinner of the holiday. good but not worthing the price.
- Lanay: next to zanzibar, GREAT GREAT food. Killer nachos was good, the tenderloin steak was the best i've ever tasted. Great location, directly on the beach. 350.000Rp for 3.
- Made's warung: cheap and good, great for lunch.
- Etnik cafè: maybe we were a bit tired but the dinner was nothing special (anyway good reports on this forum).
I usually like to taste local food when i travell but this time i've tried also some ethnic restaurants since in Italy they are very expensive:
-Gateway to India: great food but terrible location, directly on the street. Maybe the one in Semyniak is a better option. Anyway promoted! 250.000 for 3.
-Yut'z: Switzerland is not that famous for cooking, anyway this is a good choice if you want a good steak or try a good sausage. Guess 350.000 for 3.
-TJ: Great great mexican in Poppies. A must, even if the margaritas was really bad.450.000 for 3.
-Kahima: The atmosphere was great, so the food. Finishing the day smoking a narghile on a sofà is priceless! In the top 3! 450.000 for 3.
- Pica tapas bar & churrasqueria: probably it pays a bad position (in the Istan kuta galleria centre) but it's the best restaurant i've tried in Bali. I've been to Spain several times and the Sangria was the best i've ever tasted. Tapas were great and the paella superb. The staff is the most professional we met during this holiday. You're always welcomed with a free bruschetta, and the second time we went we were offered a 15% discount and a glass (the bottle was on the table so.....) of limoncello (an italian lemon liqueur. Both time they offered us to call a taxi.
Places:
-Ubud: i've heard a lot of people say "Dont go to kuta, go to Ubud"....well, according to me they are a bit posh! Don't take me wrong, Ubud is nice, but it seems to me like a smaller Kuta with different sorroundings. These, to tell the truth, are really nice, but the town itself is nothing special (Personal opinion!!!) and mask and wood carving are the same that you can find in kuta.
-Tanah lot: really nice but too much crowded at sunset.
-dreamland: Great beach, even if there were too many italian guy (girls are always welcomed) for my taste.
- uluwatu temple: nice but i was a bit disapponted, maybe i was expecting too much.
- Gili Trawangan: 11hr to go, 11 to come back for stayng there only 2 days.....would i do it again? OF COURSE! The trip is long but we opted for the Perama shuttle bus (340.000 gone and return, you can have the same for 200.000 in Poppies ) in order to see a part of Bali and Lombok we wouldn't have seen otherwise. We slept at the Irish pub for 300.000 a night. The room was nice and clean. Shower with salt water. Villa Ombak was really great but they asked 100 USD for the room....too much for 3 students!
The 2 weeks were absolutly fantastic, shopping is so cheap that i've spent all my money....you say that the prices in surf shops are the same as in Australia....well, as far as Europe is concerned, here the prices for surf brands are from 2 to 3 time more expensive! This forum helped me so much, the lonely planet was almost unusefull. I hope someone will find my suggestions usefull.
Now I understand why a lot of australians go to bali every year...i would do it myself if Bali wasn't so far from Italy and if there weren't so many places to see in the world!
Thanx to everyone
Paolo