Went to Bali for 8 nights Oct25 - Nov2 for honeymoon.
Australian Airlines/QF flight over full to the brim but ontime and good service.
Arrived at Sofitel and had been upgraded to a luxury 2bedroom villa. It was absolutely sensational.
Staff always friendly and attentive. The gardens are always immaculate and there was a strong security presence. Meals at the hotel were expensive compared to Bali standards but still reasonable. Great Mojito cocktails by the pool.
Spent most of the time just sitting by the pool or down on the beach. Be wary of the sellers on the beach. They are persistent and once you buy one thing they all seem to congregate. Take it for what it is and laugh and barter. Some people were getting annoyed but they are desperate and we actually got some good bargains.
We sampled most of the basic restaurants that are close to the Sofitel and thoroughly enjoyed every meal we had. Cin Cin, Benny's Bistro and Warung 96 all for both breakfast, lunch and dinner were all great and fantastically priced. We also walked to Legian a few times along the beach and once to Kuta which was about 35mins. We also got great service at the money changer at the little convenience store next to Contiki resort. Always honest and always a good rate.
Had a great seafood platter at a place I can't remember the name of opposite New Paddys. It was $30 and we couldn't finish it! Watch out for the dynamite cocktails in the jam jars up at the Bounty. They went down easy but that 1litre of alcoholic drink really hits you after a few! haha
Bagus pub is excellent. Got many taxi's of all different colours and never had a problem. Some want to barter a fare others are happy to run the meter. Fares from Seminyak to Kuta were at most $4 Aus so whether it was 20thousand or 30thousand Rupiah didn't really bother us. We usually gave them $50 thousand ($7Aus) wherever they took us.
Went to Waterbom and it was expensive but fun and worth it. Food there was resonably priced and although at first confused with the no money wristband system it actually worked quite well. We got a driver just near the Sofitel to take us up to Ubud for the day. We went to the monkey forest and the markets. Just a short trip to see the sights. The monkey handlers in the park were very helpful and helped us get just the right photo's we wanted with monkeys on our heads, shoulders etc. It's well worth the visit. It was 200,000 rupiah. We were quoted 350,000 a few times for whole day trips but were not really into a full day excursion.
Did the typical Jimbaran dinner. We just got a blue taxi and they took us to a restaurant of their choice and back again for 80,000 from Seminyak. We had a great seat right at the front but the sellers can get quite annoying especially considering you are trying to have a romantic dinner! Expensive and the seafood really was no better than anywhere else we ate but its a good atmosphere and still cheap compared to Aus.
This was my second trip to Bali and my wife's first. I had read some things on this forum and had some memories from my recent football trip in 2005. I can recommend just going there and take it as it comes. We had no supplements, ate everywhere in restaurants and off stalls and never got sick. We tried to bargain a little but basically just work out what you think is a fair price and make sure you know your 7 times tables. Being a honeymoon obviously we were in great spirits and nothing would really bother us but Bali is really a great place. The security everywhere is present and friendly and the security at the airport is probably more thorough than Sydney especially on the Qantas flights.
The Sofitel is expensive but you do get what you pay for. It is luxurious, right on the beach and private. We are converts and are now trying to organise work so we can go back for our anniversary.