This a summary of the wonderful time we had in Bali. As I suspect it may be long, I will divide it into sections and post a bit at a time. So here goes....
Who went:
On 26th July, I (A, 50, mother) left with my two younger children aged 14, boy and 13 girl. We left Melbourne at 6.45 pm with Jetstar and had an uneventful trip, arriving in Bali at 10.45pm local time. A highlight for the kids was sighting Sigrid Thornton in the Qantas Club before we left and then seeing her walk to right down the back of the Jetstar plane we were on to sit in cattle class like the rest of us!
Jetstar was fine. We did not order food and ate up well in the lounge before we left. On arrival we paid the VOA in Australian dollars, and the man tried to ask for $105 Aus. When I queried the rate and his maths, he retracted this and said he was asking for more, to give me change! Anyway, he gave me what I think was about the right change, and off we headed in a taxi to Kuta Townhouses. I'll write more about this in a section on accommodations separately.
On Saturday 30th June we were joined by my partner (A also) in 50s and my oldest son aged 17. (also A, very confusing!!) They both said they couldn't leave when we did as one was doing VCE and one had to contend with the end of the financial year with work. (You can work out which was which...) We met them at the airport as my partner had never been to Bali before and was skeptical about coming, so I wanted to ease the arrival for him. My kids were on their second trip and this was my sixth time to Bali. I organized transport with little Johnny, recommended on this forum, who charged only 50,000 to take us to the airport, wait and return us to our accommodation. Unfortunately we could not get on to him to use him again. He would be great for running around locally, but we felt his van may be a bit uncomfortable for longer trips.
Where we Stayed:
Kuta Townhouses
First stop for the first six nights was Kuta Townhouses. We enjoyed staying here and only paid $60 US a night for a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. When the others arrived we had to pay another 150,000 Rp for an extra bed, which turned out to only be a mattress, but quite comfortable. Both rates included breakfast, which was a very nice continental breakfast with great brown bread toast (or white if you prefer) This bread did not taste like the usual Bali tasteless bread, but we never did get around to finding out where it came from. Alternatively you could order very good nasi goreng or mie goreng. Breakfast came with a fruit plate or juice. Plenty for us most mornings.
Whilst the apartment was very good, spacious and well equipped, I am not so fond of this area as I found it busy and hard to get to by taxi if you have been out for a long day. We would end up getting out of the taxi in a traffic jam and walking. These apartments are located midway between Poppies 1 and Poppies 2. Not many taxi drivers know them so at night we would name other nearby hotels such as Secret Garden. There is a nice pool, overlooked by the meals dining area, which doubles as the sports bar when AFL or other sport is being shown. As such the Townhouses attract a certain clientele, who enjoy watching sport. Whilst we never encountered any difficulty as described by other forumites, I am not sure whether I would stay again. Having said that, the staff were great, especially Scottie was friendly and great with my kids.
Ubud Village hotel
After six nights we went to Ubud, where we had two rooms at this hotel. This worked out more expensive then Kuta, but we had been offered a good rate at the suggestion of Colleen that we ask for a discount. WE had two superior rooms which had outdoor bathrooms, which the kids found a great novelty. The showers were great with plenty of hot strong pressure water! After being very water conscious in a drought, I really enjoyed this! The pool area was nice although the pool was a little cool in the slight cooler climate. There were not a lot of people staying here and we only encountered one other family with teenagers. We spent three nights at this hotel and found this was about the right amount of time. Plenty of time was spent just relaxing and reading.
Rambutan Cottages
After organizing transport to Lovina (paid 350,000 Rp after hard bargaining) in a newish 7 seater van with good air conditioning (as my kids can be inclined to travel sickness) we arrived for a late lunch at Lovina. We were booked in Rambutan Cottages where again we had negotiated a good rate. This really is a lovely hotel. The setting is a tropical paradise with lots of garden and seating around two separate pools areas and play equipment if you have younger children. The hosts, Richard and his Balinese wife have two daughters and live on site, so it really is family friendly.
The restaurant is next to the pool and you can have food served to the poolside of you wish. The rooms here (we had deluxe rooms) are huge. Our kids had a room with a double bed, to which they added another two single beds and there was plenty of room for them to move and spread their stuff about. (which they did with great ease.... Oh well. ) We did need to move rooms because the aircon in the first room was a bit dodgy. However, Richard attended to this immediately and organized the staff to move suitcases, bed etc with efficiency and ease. WE saw the electrician attending to this room the next day. Again this was a hotel where we relaxed and spent plenty of time by the pool. We had two lunches and one dinner in this hotel. The food was good, but not particularly exciting. However the staff again were great and we were happy to chill out by the pool and eat there, especially after a 5.30 am start to get up to see the dolphins. We spent two nights in Lovina, then off to Legian for a the last week of our holiday.
Beach Melati Apartments, Jl Padma Utara, Legian
WE stayed for a week here in the three bedroom penthouse, as it was described. Whilst I don't think it really made penthouse standard, it was very large and spacious, tastefully decorated and furnished and had a balcony on three sides with seating on all sides to catch a breeze or shelter, as you wished. The apartment has three double bedrooms, so we got an extra single bed put in as none of the kids were interested in sharing a double bed!
One aspect about this apartment which was a bit disappointing was although it did have a full kitchen, there was no microwave or pots or pans in the kitchen, so there was no way of cooking or making much use of the kitchen! However, much credit to Tracey (Tnt) who organised both a microwave and some cooking utensils for us! The apartments are individually owned and this one was not as well set up as the much smaller one bedroom we spent our last half day in. I think most of the others would not have this difficulty about equipment.
The apartments do not have a garden as such but do have a pool and courtyard which is very pleasant to sit out in. You can order food from the Coffee Shop at the front to be served in the courtyard or in your apartment. The location is fantastic, being close to the beach and plenty of good restaurants. The apartments have only about 10 in the group so the atmosphere is intimate and friendly without being claustrophobic.
I have given plenty of detail as I hope this may be helpful for people trying to decide where to stay.
Next Installment: Where we ate.