In Reply to: So more advice posted by the_wilkos on Tuesday, 7. August 2007 at 19:44 Bali Time:
We stayed in 2 adjoining pool view rooms at Jayakarta recently and loved them; being so close to the pool was a real bonus. There are several great restaurants going north along the beach front; our favourites were out the front of Jayakarta and then right and left up the 'bendy' street (Jalan Werduka or something). Flying Piano very good, Yut'z have sensational steaks and across the road at Sawasdeekha you can get a wonderful 1 hour massage for Rp50,000.
Regards shopping, every direction you go you'll find shops! The Jayakarta have a free shuttle bus leaving 9:30, 11:30, 1:30 etc into Kuta or grab a Bluebird taxi to wherever you want to go, they are very cheap; always ask to put the meter on.
We watched the Eagles versus Swans game on the big screens at Warung Rama in Padma Street and highly recommend the venue; the lounge area up the back was our pick.
If you hire a driver for the day and head up to Ubud you can go to the Taro Elephant Park for a great experience with the elephants (pay at the gate is cheapest); there is also white-water rafting on the Ayung River which is fantastic; pick up a brochure for Bali Adventure Tours and give them a ring, we received a 15% discount off the listed price without even asking! We took our two kids, 10 and 12 and we all had a ball. One word of warning if you're a bit unfit or patially lame is the steep stairs you have to climb down to get to the water; it caned our calf muscles for a day or two afterwards but was well worth it.