JBR REPORT
5th April 2009 - 19th April 2009
Bali Garden Beach Resort
On this trip, there were 17 of us as a group booking. 10 adults and 7 kids ages ranging from 16 down to 9. This was a bit of a mixture, 3 generations of our family, myself, husband, 2 kids, my mum and dad, my sister , her 2 boys and a girlfriend, another family, husband, wife, and 2 kids and another family consisting of 2 adults and 1 girl!! There were There were 8 'Bali Virgins' and my parents had not been there for the past 10 years, and my sister not for the past 15 years or so!. I will not give a day to day diary but will give highlights of our holiday.
We left Sydney on Garuda,. On time, no problems and the flight was very smooth. At the airport we were greeted by friends from our trip last year (the dirty dozen x 2 tour) JBR 2008. I thought that it was lovely that they came to see us off but what a great surprise they were actually coming away with us for the week. They couldn't get into the BGH because they had only decided the week before, so they booked into the Kuta Paradiso.
Prior to leaving OZ, I made reservations through Netfare, for the VIP VOA, as everone thought it would be a good idea as a few planes were landing around that time. There were some reservations, however, wondering how they would find all of our bags (we had at least 12 bags)!!. We were greeted as soon as we came of the aircraft and taken straight into a enclosed lounge area. We handed over our luggage tags, tickets, passports and visa money. This will now be the ONLY way to go from now on. It couldn't have gone any easier!! Everyone was so impressed with the service. We had some Bintangs, and finger food and then our luggage was ready and we walked straight past the very hot and bothered passengers who were wondering ' how did they get that special treatment!'
(including our 2 friends from last year!)). They waited for up to 2 hours, we were at the pool bar by that stage!! I cannot give Netfare a bigger wrap!!
The hotel had overbooked 3 rooms upon arrival, which was our 2 deluxe and my parents single deluxe room. We were disappointed until they gave us the 3 bedroom villa for the next 4 nights. Apart from the "dodgy" staircase (which my 2 kids could manage), it was very nice.We thought that the toilets were located upstairs, but very pleasantly surprised to find that they came off the 2 main bedrooms on the bottom floor. The 2 bathrooms each had a huge walk in shower with opposite facing shower heads. We felt quite privileged being there. It is located in the middle of the grounds close to the breakfast restaurant and pool area. When our 4 nights were up, they came and transferred all of our belongings straight to our deluxe rooms 373 and 374.
I still think the BGH has the most comfy beds I have slept in, in bali.
We decided to go to Sanur so the kids could try out the watersports. We are quite a sight whenever we travel as we need 3 vehicles to travel in, much like a convey! We always hire Domy who sits out at the front of the BGH, lovely bloke, always courteous and laughing. We travelled to a group of outdoor restaurants, located near the Puri Santrian. The owner of the first restaurant that we came to took one look at the 17 of us and offered free garlic bread , roasted peanuts and prawn crackers. The garlic bread was delicious. Our lunch was beautiful and the view gorgeous. The kids then went on jet skis and parasailing, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Another beautiful day in paradise! Another fantastic day was to the Bali Hai Beach club cruise on Nusa Lembongen. The cruiser that usually takes you over was being renovated so they offered us the 'Aristocat', which is a large powered catamaran. We were a bit hesitant at first thinking that you would all be sitting on top of it, but reassured that there was indoor/outdoor seating. It was beautiful!! You got a choice of fresh fruits and lovely cakes and pastries, tea and coffee or juice and water. A free beach towel to use at the beach club. The most sumptuous buffet lunch on the island. It had BBQ king prawn skewers, steak, salads, dinner rolls, rice, satay, fish,fresh fruit and an array of different sauces. You could go back as many times as you liked. It was lovely. You also received coupons for a free Bali Hai beer, softdrinnks or water. Also, on the way over you could fish off the back of the boat. They cast out a lure and my husband reeled in a 5 kg tuna!!! Which we gave to the staff on the catamaran. Another of our group on the way back reeled in a 6kg tuna, they were then christened the 'Tuna Twins'! We snorkeled on the reef which was excellent and the kids went on the banana boat ride (which were free) and playing in the infinity pool. We had done this day trip last year, but would chose the Aristocat again. On the way back, they shut down the engines and we sailed. It was beautiful sailing in silence with just the sound of the water , another great day in paradise.
We were lucky enough to be there when the Billabong factory outlet had their sale. We got up to 90% off selected items, and 70% down to 50%. A pair of cossie bottoms I bought last year for $27- were reduced to $4-99. Can't argue with that. We went into Denpasar, the 'Tuna twins' went to the fishing shop and bought rods and reels, because they were turning 'professional', and some of us went to the Tupperware factory again (found this last year) and bought some more goodies. We bought freezer mates for around $17- aussie which are $52- here in Australia. Very happy with purchases. I did bring back the Tupperware catalogue for prices etc, if you want to know.
H**** came and delivered our usual DVDs and DVD players which he did not charge us for because collectively we ordered around 1000 discs off him!!
Eating out: I don't think we had a bad meal, maybe a bad burger at A and W, in the discovery mall, but the kids gave it a big thumbs up.
BUBBA GUMPS, had the baby lobster tail, which looked more like baby yabbie, but nice all the same.
CHI CHI Mexican restaurant, always a good meal.
SEGARA SEAVIEW Restaurant, had the sweet chilli crab, which was messy, especially with the dull lighting, but lovely. Quite expensive though.
THE PUB CARES FOR YOU. Still great, and the magician entertained the kids while the adults ate. Still beautiful satays and cold beer.
UNCLE NORMS, Legian. What can I say, why did I not discover this place in the last 12 trips I have taken! Freezing cold towels on arrival, freezing beer and great food. The satays were beautiful as were the other meals, and good service. We ended up going there 4 days in a row, as we did our shopping at legian markets, though very quiet, but not pushy, unlike Kuta Art markets.
BILLY'S BAR, I think this place has lost it's atmosphere, and probably wouldn't rush back, now that I have found Uncle Norms.
JONI BAR & RESTAURANT. Great satays, cold beer and the kids love the pool in the middle. Your satays are served on the terracotta satay cookers.
POPPIES RESTAURANT, We had booked the bamboo court restaurant , but because we did arrive late, they gave our tables away. I totally understand why they did that, but they seemed very uninterested in finding us any tables, together or not. We ditched that idea and walked up to Poppies, which was even better than last time we ate there. 2 couples ordered the Ristajffel (sp?) It was brought out on a giant platter with a satay cooker full of satays for each couple. The food was delicious and well priced.
PUB BAGUS, had the prawns thermidor which were beautiful and priced at $6-, which was even better.
BOARDWALK Restaurant at the BGH, always nice and well priced.
KAFE BATAN WARU, equally the same as the Boardwalk.
B COUPLE Bar and grill. Great place. We thought it would be expensive as it is quite a big restaurant serving seafood and Chinese. The food was delicious, the band was great and they had a lot of pool tables. I have to mention that the seafood springs rolls are the best anywhere. We had a great night here. It is near the kuta art market.
BALI BEACH SHACK, Came here last year and cannot fault the place. My mum said that she had the best lamb cutlets and mash. The drag show is there from now on, and it was hilarious, my nephews didn't know where to look!!
WATERBOM PARK,Food was great and the day a very enjoyable one, as always.
SAFARI PARK,another great day as usual, the rides were great, nothing like Dodgem cars in Bali!!
I may have missed some, but as I mentioned the food was nice everywhere we ate.
I got a long black leather coat made at Jurassic leather. My mum also had a leather coat made, in camel, colour. We did not even need a fitting as the coats were perfectly fitted. I have to mention them as we were very impressed with their workmanship and they were extremely polite and very honest. I paid $150, which the coat went down to just above my ankle, with invisible pockets and the softest leather. I recommend them highly. They are located at Sahadewa street, No 1, just up from the corner of where the circle K is in Legian, near the markets. Will order again from them. The owner is Made and Rudy is the lovely sales guy. Also in that lane, is Wayan. She will take you to her house, at the back of the markets, and has every size, colour and clothing. Roxy, Billabong, Ripcurl to name a few. The quality of her clothing is the best I have seen and she will bargain with you, and give you the bottom fixed price, if you want. My husband wears 3X shirts and I found some lovely cotton Billabong dress shirts and denim shorts. She has everything, we hardly did any other clothing shopping!!
A couple of handy hints when staying at the BGH, there was always a shortage of towels for the pool. We took our own Aussie flag towels, that you get in the bargain shops and gave them away when we left. The beach sellers were very happy. I also usually buy my watches off David, who is a seller at the back entrance to the hotel. He is a lovely man, who is very honest. If it isn't waterproof he will tell you , and always happy to exchange if you do not want. Our beach bar that also needs a mention is 'Aussie Bar No 1', We named him Jimmy Bintang. He is located on the beach at the bottom of Kuta Art market. I think between us, we bought him a new car!! But he is always happy and we enjoy seeing him every time we go. There is also Rocky, who hires the boards, always friendly and the kids loved surfing. I have also been asked to mention another leather maker, Mr Bob near Matahari, one of our group was very happy with her jacket. We were drinking the Hatten's sparkling wine at nearly 400,000 rupiah a bottle, which became very costly. We found the Hattens Cellar door on the Sanur bypass and bought a dozen bottles at 175,000 rupiah a bottle!
We found prices had gone up, especially beer and food but the dollar did nosedive. We ended up getting around 7700 on average. Another tip, we took over an old esky, filled it with ice everyday from across the road and had the coldest beers. The pool bar must stock their beer each morning, it is usually not that cold, but the bar closest to the beach, had the coldest beer in the resort. My husband went and checked the room renos and wasn't very impressed. Besides a renovated bathroom and flat screen Tv, he didn't feel much had been done. The hotel is trying to go into the 4 star category, but according to one travel agent he spoke to there, they would be unlikely to get that if the rooms were anything to go by. However rates will go up from April next year, and we will be staying in Legian, because it will mean an extra $3000- for the 2 rooms that we book. I do habe photos of the VIP VOA lounge at Denpasar, let me know and I can email them to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read it!!