WHO WE ARE:
Family of 4 - Mum (my 6th trip), Dad (2nd trip - 1st was a 10 week stint 20 years ago for work), 13yo stepdaughter & 3yo daughter (1st visit for both kids)
WHERE WE STAYED:
Days 1 to 4 - Beach Melati Apartments, Padma Utara No. 10, Legian in room 201. 2BR apartment on 1st floor booked directly through apartments website.
THE PROS: Fantastic apartment - very clean, comfortable, extremely spacious inside & out (large balcony), well furnished & nicely decorated. Apartments in a great location, very handy to everything.
THE CONS: Beds were hard, a bit uncomfortable & there was sometimes a foul smell coming from the drain in the bathroom & kitchen.
WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Hell yeah! The Pros far outweighed the Cons :o) We loved having a full sized fridge, a comfy lounge, big TV & DVD player for the kids & plenty of room for the 3yo to play inside when she'd had enough of the pool. Being able to order meals home-delivered, get takeaway or have food from the coffee shop brought up was also a big bonus when our 3yo was too tired & ratty to be taken out in public LOL.
Day 5 - Mara River Lodge, within the grounds of the Bali Safari & Marine Park, Gianyar (can't remember room No. - sorry!). Kifaru family suite booked through Wotif.
THE PROS: Fantastic 2BR suite - very clean, 2 bathrooms, great service from the staff, peaceful & quiet. Pool was large and quite warm which my little one loved. Unique location within the Safari Park & great to be able to visit the animals in the morning before the crowds arrive.
THE CONS: None really apart from the dinner we had in the Tsavo Lion Restaurant. Food was ordinary & expensive by Bali standards. A lot of items on the menu were unavailable - 'sorry we no have yet' was what we were told more than once. Worst Pina Colada I have had anywhere (still managed to gag it down though LOL)
WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Yes, perhaps not on the next trip but would definitely stay again sometime.
Day 6 - Blue Moon Villas, Selang Beach, Amed. Blue Star Penthouse (only sleeps 2 but we also had 2 single mattresses on the floor in the BR) booked directly through villas website.
THE PROS: OMG what can I say about this place, it is a little piece of paradise. Everything about it was BEAUTIFUL - the room, the bed adorned with flowers, the balcony with it's 2 daybeds & ocean views, the outdoor stone bathroom, the flowers literally everywhere in the suite, the views, the gardens, the 2 pools, and did I mention the views?? I LOVED this place, thought I'd died and gone to heaven!! The restaurant served great food & had a few bales here & there with comfy seat/cushions & our 3yo fell asleep there at dinner & at lunch the next day - she napped & I ate, read my book & just sat blissed out gazing at the views.
THE CONS: There are some cons despite how much I loved it here. It is not particularly child-friendly due to being set into the hillside, there are a lot of steep stone steps & stairs & our 3yo took a tumble more than once (nothing serious though). My husband & stepdaughter complained of the noise during the night - dogs barking, roosters crowing etc - and so did other guests the next morning. As for me, I slept like a baby for the 1st night in nearly a week!! Beach access is not very easy either - you cross the road & go down a very steep set of steps (without benefit of a handrail). We went down that way but returned the long way - through some bungalows & along the road.
WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Yes but perhaps not until our 3yo is a bit older, or in the highly unlikely event that we take a holiday alone LOL
Day 7 - Puri Wirata Resort & Spa, Bunutan, Amed. Master Villa (only sleeps 2 but we also had 2 single mattresses on the floor in the BR)
THE PROS: HUGE, HUGE villa if it's only meant for 2 people! It was massive, very large verandah on 2 sides of the villa, big bathroom with double vanity, spa & shower, king size bed with mosquito netting (my little one said 'Mummy can I sleep in the big Princess bed with you & Daddy will sleep on the floor?' How could we refuse :o) Very clean & well equipped. Lovely resort, so reasonably priced it's ridiculous & great location right on the beach with great snorkelling. It was a great find - we owe our driver big time for directing us here! (Also checked out the Onl You villas up the road a bit - they could only accommodate 2 ppl so we couldn't stay but the rooms looked very nice)
THE CONS: None whatsoever
WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Yes we'll definitely be returning to Puri Wirata without a doubt
Day 8 - see Days 1 to 4 (we returned to Beach Melati & apartment 201)
Days 9 & 10 - we changed our flights & extended our stay by 2 days so we moved downstairs to apartment 102 at Beach Melati, another 2BR apartment this time on the ground floor next to the pool.
Pros: Spacious, clean, comfortably furnished, no odour from drains
Cons: Apartment smelt like mothballs (I assume the owner uses them when storing the gear they leave in the apartment), layout was not as good as the upstairs apartment & it was not as well decorated (not that that's important but I really hate artificial flowers & they were everywhere LOL). It was also quite dark & there was some noise from construction next door which we did not hear in the upstairs apartment.
WOULD WE STAY HERE AGAIN? Definite yes to the Beach Melati but probably not in apartment 102 (unless of course we were desperate for a Bali fix & couldn't get another apartment here!)
Well that's the run down of where we stayed, I'll be back with more of what we did, where we shopped, where we ate later :o)