August 8th through to August 18th, Sanur and Legian.
Travellers;
Hubby, me and daughter (11), Dad (72), Sister and son (10), other sister and daughter (13). Hubby and I have been 5 times previously all the others were first timers!
Our Story continued;
While we were at Sanur, hubby & I went to the Jayakarta & met with a contact we had been given. We had been corresponding via email & she agreed to upgrade us and ensure we all got nice rooms. I did this after reading reports on this forum and I was worried. On the Monday she showed us a 2 bedroom apartment, we only needed a one br, but she assured us it would be in the same condition as the one she was showing us, as would the 3 other deluxe rooms she had organised. We could not view these as they were all being used, but we left feeling a bit more comfortable about staying here. The grounds and location of the hotel are very good.
On Thursday afternoon, we bid farewell to Gede, Made and Putu at Pondok Ayu and arrived at the Jayakarta mid afternoon. Out of the 3 deluxe rooms only 2 were ready, the other not till 7.00pm; we had to stay in a 1 br apartment in block B for one night and then move to block A the next day. What could we do, as we walked to block B, my heart sank; block B is situated at the rear of the hotel, the hallway was dingy and smelt, we got the elevator to the 4th floor and entered our room. It was dark, dingy and horrible. I walked through to the bedroom and onto the balcony; we looked straight out to another building. The futon in the living area was not made up for our daughter which we organised. I just wanted to go back to Pondok Ayu or if I had the money I would have just taken us to the Bali Hyatt which is where we normally stay. I horrified my husband by bursting into tears and stating that I just wanted to go home!!!!
He spoke to our contact and explained we were not happy, especially as we had made a 'donation' for her sick and elderly father. We were assured that our room tomorrow would be much better.
The other two rooms in block 500 were ok; the bathrooms were horrible and dirty. On one toilet the cistern lid would lift every time you flushed it.
We decided that we had to get out of these rooms and headed for the pool. After a Bintang and swim we felt better. That night we dined at Zanzibar, a great meal was had by all; the kids loved the pizza, the seafood was delicious and the cocktails were numbing! We headed back to get the 3rd room and have duty free drinks on the balcony. My sisters room was the worst one of all, as soon as you opened the door a waft of sewerage smell hit you in the face, it was so disappointing. I just wanted everyone to fall in love with Bali as I had, I wanted them to enjoy their stay. She was a real trouper; she just said oh well, lit up some incense and got the drinks out!
The next day they showed us a 1 br apartment in Block A, and it stunk of cigarette smell, to a non smoker it was not nice, they said they would air it out all day for us. To cut a long story, we ended up in a deluxe room in block 400. 2 single beds placed together but with sheets made up as singles! If we rolled over we fell down the cracks! We made do and made the most of our holiday with as little time in our rooms as possible.
We had two trips to Waterbom, utilising the cheaper 2nd day. We organised a gazebo the 2nd visit and this made it much more comfortable for my Dad. The kids loved all the slides and claimed it to be better than WetnWild. I loved the cashless thing, just top up the wristband, no need to worry about carrying money around. We bought photos at the end of both days; the Waterbom photographer captured some great shots.
Thanks to the forum we found Jenny's and Dianne's fixed price shops in Kuta. WOW! How easy to shop here, we went to Dianne's first and then to Jenny's. We found Jenny much better to deal with and very down to earth with her 'no bulls**t' prices. Over the week we went back 4 times!
We shopped at Geneva twice, tried to go to Barritz, but it was closed on Sunday. Geneva had some good buys as usual, but I did not find any placemats this time. Good bargains to be had at Mataharis, especially with kids clothes. We bought our daughter 2 pairs of shorts and 3 tees for $24. I got 2 bottles of Revlon foundation & 2 lipsticks for $40. Stocked up on Nevada thongs for $4 each, and hubby got New Balance runners for $45. Saw the feet eating fish but could not bring myself to doing it, the Europeans love it!! Funny to watch! Went to Carrefour, not too excited by this one. I like Hardys at Sanur the best.
Our driver friend David drove us everywhere we need to go. He took us to a garage type place where we bought fake bags and wallets, and also somewhere that had Billabong tees and shorts etc. I think these places stock the stores, but he gets a cut of whatever we purchase.
He took us to Ubud one day, stopping at a silver and wood carving place on the way. Took the kids to the Monkey Forest, lots of baby ones this time. They must have been full as they did not take the bananas. Had a nice lunch at one of the restaurants there.
We ate at Stadium café in Kuta, great Bloody Marys served here. There were a lot of bees around though and as my sister is allergic to them we amused the waiters by shooing them away. They bought over one of those tennis racket things that give an electric shock when you touch them so hubby amused himself by swatting any bee that came close, but daughter still managed to get stung, bathed in dettol hand wash and she was fine.
We lunched at Poppies one day which we all enjoyed, it is a beautiful place. My nephew came out telling us about the big possum in the toilet, we did not tell him it was a rat!
We stuck to the beach strip for eating dinner, ate at Zanzibar's, Lanai and Seaside. Lanai did great Sushi with whatever the kids wanted included. Great views from all these places. Had lunch at Yutz once, very nice and very cheap, no service charges here! The only annoying thing was the guys trying to sell us everything from the street; they always aim for the kids because they can get their attention easily.
We splurged on Sunday night and when to La Lucciola, Ku deTa had some party on, so we could not get in there. La Lucciola was very nice with a great menu; prices for food were similar to Oz. They had granitas in lots of flavours for only 30,000rp which were enjoyable in the hot sun. The beach was so crowded with Balinese families enjoying their time together; it was nice to watch and got some great photos of the sun setting too.
Shopped at Tony Makaroni, got some good dresses here, I am a size 16 but found lots of nice summer stuff this time, will help to pack lightly next time. We had a timber sign made at the shop next to Tony, 2 for 500,000rp. Turned out very well, we had them done in Indonesian and he got the young kid in the café to check our spelling which was good. There is a laundry across the road from the hotel, very cheap and good service. We had our nails redone at the Jayakarta, they wanted 100,000rp but we got the same price as Sanur. Adi did a much better job though.
Us 3 girls had jackets made, 2 suede and 1 leather for $120 each. Mine is red suede it looks great and turned out better than I expected.
On our last day we shopped at Centro, and had lunch at Bali Colada which was nice. Of course at the airport one of our new overnight bags broke as security asked to go though it! We had excess kilos and had to pay $240US, but we did shop well and were expecting this. But next time I will make the time to post a box back. The man upstairs at immigration got a bit cranky when I was looking into his box, scary man. Went to the Dewi lounge 100,000RP each adult, kids were free. A long walk to the gate with sleepy kids though; at midnight Bali time we boarded our plane and bid farewell to Bali feeling sad again. I am glad that my family now see why we love Bali so much, they are now converts and are planning their next trip also.
I apologise to those who like the Jayakarta or to those who are staying there soon, but it was not a pleasant place to stay. Call me a snob, but I do like to be as comfortable away as when I am home. As I mentioned the gardens are well kept, the pools are Ok, and it is in a great location. The breakfast in the restaurant that overlooked the beach seemed better that the pool restaurant; we did not eat any other meals in the hotel. The rooms and some of their staff let the place down and we will not return. Having said that I did talk to a man in the pool that had been there for the last 6 years and enjoyed it, but he said he could not bribe them for a better room this time as it was very full. I also did not enjoy being woken up every morning at 5am by a very drunk Aussie guy whose girlfriend always locked him out of his room. Kuta and Legian seemed very busy compared to Sanur, there are lots Europeans there now. I think that we will stick to accommodation in Sanur though and just do day trips to the other areas for shopping. Traffic was very bad getting in and out of Legian, especially around Independence Day. It took 1.5hours to get from Sanur to the Jayakarta on the way back from Ubud. The Banditos were at the hotel at the same time, there was also a HOG rally on which congested the roads at times. It was interesting to see the Police or the Army clear the way for the bikes to have smooth run, the hum of the Harleys made you know they were coming!
Sometimes I wonder why we go back all the time, Bali is dirty, and there are some real scammers. You have to pay to get in and you have to pay to leave, but it is the beautiful, happy people that make your stay enjoyable and make you want to go back. And the food, and the Bintang and the cocktails. Now we are all heavier and on diets but we had a bloody good time.
We will be back!
Thanks for reading, enjoy Bali.
Jo