Hi all,
We have just returned from our first trip to Bali and loved it! We will be going back next year for sure. We stayed at the Bali Dynasty which was fantastic. All the staff are so friendly and speak English very well. The resort is kept immaculately and has just been renovated. There is plenty of restaurants in the resort and everynight there is a theme dinner - Sunday is roast night.....YUM!
The kids club was fantasic for our 5 year old. They are so good with the children there and take great care of them. The childrens pool has a 50m waterslide which is great!
The bar has happy hour from 12 - 1pm and 5pm - 6pm. Get the "buckets" of cocktails at happy hour. Half price and the bucket holds about 5 or 6 classes of cocktail.
The streets from Dynasty up to Matahari shopping centre are great. Quite clean and the people on the street don't follow you when you say no. Good tip is to learn some basic indonesion for thankyou, no, yes and don't. When you say no in their language they leave you alone I found.
Buying from the streets is the best for prices. Have fun haggling. Just work out what you would pay in AUS$$ for the cheap rip offs before you buy. Don't vary from your price very much and make sure you walk out of the store. They WILL follow you and give it to you at your cheap price. Remember they need the sale and you can buy the same thing at another shop.
Shops are all open until 10pm. Streets around dynasty felt very safe at night. We walked around late at night with our son and felt very safe - much safer than in Australia.
We ventured up to Kuta and were very glad we didn't stay in Kuta. Streets were quite dirty and the people in the shops are more agressive and follow you.
Taxis are easy and cheap if you need to get somewhere. Use the Bluebird taxis as they have metres in them and work out cheaper.
I had no problems with any money changers - just make sure you count the money they give you BEFORE you leave the store. If you stay near the Dynasty there is a Kodak shop right beside it that have a fantastic rate and no commission.
The Security at the Dynasty is fantastic the check all bags both visually and with metal detector and also every vehicle that enters.
Waterbom park is about 400m down from the dynasty and is FANTASTIC fun for the kids......and adults too.
We also walked past Kartika Plaza Resort which is just down the road and it looked really good too.
Sorry if that was too long - we had a great time and will be back again. Remember - you can never have too many cocktails or bintangs!