Travelling out from europe to these parts for the first time we were not sure what to expect.
A great holiday in every way except we couldn't go on the beach due to the eternal pestering from sellers of every conceivable thing. No matter how polite and patient one is they persist to the point of annoyance. No sooner does that one finally give up but they are replaced by another then another, ad infinitum. At least when walking around you can walk on but it would have been nice to relax on the beach, glad our hotel had a nice pool. Are these touts present everywhere on the islands beaches or was it just the Kuta region?
For the more mature budget travellers we would highly recommend The Secret Garden Inn, off Poppies Lane 11, very quiet location, clean accommodation, nice pool and friendly and helpful staff, just Google for their website.
All the best.