Recently returned after 11 days in bali/Lombok with a quick description as follows:
Flew out on Perth on Thursday 23rd April on Garuda at 7.15am. No dramas with the flight or check in at Bali. We stayed the night at the Patra next to the airport as we had an 8am flight to Lombok the next day.
Patra - Nice hotel although very quiet and a fair way from the heartbeat of Kuta but i suppose it depends on what you are looking for?
Dinner - Pantei restaurant was superb. Excellent meals, great service and cold drinks - definately a favourite of ours when in Bali and they didn't dissapoint.
5.30am wake up on day 2 was a little hard to take but knowing what was in store made it a little easier. Easy 25 min flight from Bali to Lombok and with transfers we were at the Pool villa club at the Sengiggi beach hotel checked in by 9.30am.
The Sengiggi beach hotel has seaside bungalows for accomodation or for a little extra you can stay at the Pool Villa club which has 16 private bungalows which i will describe in detail a little later.
We stayed in the bungalows last year but upgraded this year to the pool villa club which was superb
Each bungalow is 2 storey with upstairs being the living area (King size bed, own lounge area, bathroom and vanity area as well as your own balcony overlooking the resort.
Downstairs contained another bathroom, lounge and dining area as well as a walk out balcony which contained a couple of banana lounges, a 6 seater spa bath as well as direct access to the lap pool which surrounds each villa. Their was only 3 villas being used so we had pretty much permanent use of the pool to ouselves (as well as 2 other families who were staying in the seaside bungalows!!)
Sengiggi beach hotel is right on the beach and we watched the sunset each day over Kintamani volcano which was fantastic.
Restaurants:
Cafe Alberto - Very nice italian restaurant right on the beach about 5 mins from the hotel. Excellent range and quick service as well as picking you up and dropping you off
Taman restaurant - Again a 5 min walk from the hotel and again couldn't be faulted. Excellent range and very cold drinks.
The Square - The best restaurant in Lombok in my opinion. We ate their 3 times and each meal was better tha before. Very modern facilities and excellent staff make for a great night out.
Highlights:
Gili Air- Day trip which we will definately turn into an overnighter next year. Fantastic beachside bungalows and snorkelling amongst the coral as well as turtles and a huge array of fish made for a magic day. $20 Australian to be picked up from the hotel, 45 min drive to the port followed by a 20 min boat ride and return trip. Magical day!!
Playing wiffle ball baseball on the beach with the locals. We had everyone from security guards to hawkers as well as the local kids joining in our game each day which was fantastic.
On Thursday 30th April we flew back from Lombok to Bali (flight was originally 8am but was changed to 12.15pm which was good after a night out singing with the local band playing Aussie covers at the Cafe next to the hotel) and checked into the Hard rock hotel where we stayed last year.
We like the Hard rock because it's central to Kuta and has a great pool with Cabanas to hire poolside.Because we were only staying 3 days the put us in a room closer to the centre stage but it didn't worry us at all even though you could here the faint sounds of the band each night.
Restaurants:
Uncle Norms - Best restaurant in Bali in my opinion. We have been going their for years now and the service, food, drinks are excellent. As Norm's motto say's: Arrive as a guest and leave as a friend!!!
TJ's Mexican - Again a great feed with a good variety. Was very full the night we went but the service was still very good.
The rupiah average $7650 the whole trip
Shopping:
Prices we paid were as follows:
Shirts/Tank Tops 25000 - 30000
Sunglasses 20000
Handbags (ashion labels) 150000
cd's/dvd's 10000 (the usual buy 10 get 4 free etc)
Didn't buy a lot this time as we still have stuff from last year in plastic!!!!
Weather was muggy with an average max of 32 and a min of 26
Rained once in Lombok for about 20 mins.
Flew home Sunday avo to Perth and had to sit on the plane for an hour once we landed whilst Quarantine checked out a couple of passengers. It also took 30 mins for the bags to come through which meant that Bali airport was alot more efficent than Perth airport but that's a different story altogether!!!!
I definately recommend Lombok for a few days to chill out as well as spending time in Kuta as a combined holiday.
Regards,
Arod