Here's a quick summary coz i know there's stacks of JBR's around.
We just got back this morning.
FLIGHTS
Virgin Pacific was great. No issues whatsoever with service in fact, we even got our 2nd stroller on for free both ways (we were told we'd have to check one of them in because the 2nd one belonged to our 2yr old who is a paying guest with own seat so stroller needs to be included in her checked luggage). 3 x 3 seating on plane. Food choice extremely limited but for 5hrs was ok. Also had a 9mth old baby with us - travelling on plane holding a wriggly baby aint fun thats for sure!!!! Especially 1am flights!!
VOA
Well we had ENQUIRED about VIP VOA through Hadi a number of months ago but when the service was cancelled recently we thought that was that. Hadi emailed us saying the service was again up and running a few weeks ago but the price had gone up. We declined to proceed based on this. Well when we touched down i saw a guy holding up a sign board with my name - i thought that was our driver because we have free airport transfers with our accomodation package. He proceeded to escort us past this long queue of people waiting to get their VOA. I thought it was a little strange so i stopped and asked him, "are you from the hotel - are you our driver" and he said YES! We were very impressed we just waltzed past all these people and within 5mins was in the luggage area waiting for our luggage to come out on the carosel. Again i found it too good to be true and asked him about whether he was our driver to the hotel and he kept saying Yes so i left it at that thinking hotel people also have special ways of getting their guests through immigration etc quickly. When we got our luggage and proceeded to exit he brought us to this gentleman who introduced himself as HADI! I knew this would be a problem....he said would we like to finalise our payment for the VIP VOA? I said excuse me? I was clearly not impressed and he said that he's provided us with the VIP service already but in my mind i didn't go ahead because the price had gone up to something like 225,000RP!! I would rather spend that money on food or massages! He wasn't impressed but he said do whatever makes you happy....anyway long story short we gave him a tip of $25AUD. That was all i was willing to pay for a service i specifically did not ask for and checked that i wasn't getting on several occasions!
HOTEL
Stayed at Green Garden Beach Resort and Spa (opposite Holiday Inn). I had no idea about Bali but fluked it with this hotel. Location was perfect! It was soooo close to the beach (could see water from hotel) and it was only a 5mins walk to JL Kartika (the main strip) so it wasn't noisy or anything. The pool was clean and big enough. The rooms were clean, bigger than average hotel room fridge (about double the height of a mini bar fridge). Brekky was basic but did the job. Bathroom had big tub but i would say it needs regrouting and a good scrub (staining in bath tub). Minimal mozzies but 2yr old still got bitten like crazy (she was the only one!). Spa/Massage services amazing! I realise you can get cheaper elsewhere but for their spa/massage services are hard to beat in value. We had a 1.5hr full body massage & foot scrub every second day for 132,000 (including tax/service charge). If you stay 7 + nights you get free 1hr massage included! Airport transfers are complimentary which is a bonus. It was literally only a 5min drive to airport so even if there was a traffic jam you wouldn't be too worried about being late. Noticed many other non-hotel guests arriving to use their spa/massage services.
FOOD
a little disappoiting. We found most local places had the same kinda menu...your typical nasi goreng, mie goreng etc. Was thinking they had a much larger variety of food. Not complaining though coz it was tasty and all that but compared to Malayisa i'd say Malaysia had a greater variety at much the same price.
We visited a number of places recommeded on this forum.
-Warung Made (also highly recommended by taxi drivers for good food at local prices) - was very disappoiting. one of the not so nice tasting nasi gorengs and soup noodles. Prices were not that cheap by bali standards and compared to other places we'd eaten. i think the nasi goreng was about 40,000 (yes not expensive but expensive compared to other places in bali).
-Black Canyon (Discovery) - this was one of the highlights. Fresh, great tasting food at very reasonable prices. We had the pad thai (29,000), chicken stir fried rice noodles (25,000), nasi goreng which was sooo tasty (can't remember price but around 25,000), club sandwich (29,000), iced mocha (25,000), choc frappe (32,000), and some other rice dishes which were beautiful!
-Indo National - great tasting food at reasonable prices! Highly recommeneded. much better than warung mades (average 30,000 for typical meals but they can go up to 70,000 + for steaks etc)
-Zanzibar - food was fanstastic. very generous servings and reasonably priced. seafood pasta was 49,000. Only thing that would stop me from coming back next time would be on service. Noone was smiling, they all seemed grumpy and unwilling to help! I wanted to change my spaghetti marinara to penne marinara but this was apparenlty impossible (a first for me!)...also 2yr old is allergic to seafood so asked for nasi goreng without seafood and this was also appreantly impossible. Had to call someone over to take order and drinks. Wasn't happy about the crap service but food was great so if we wanted to come back we'd just not expect much service wise.
-Lias (Jimbaran Bay). After much tooing and froeing we decided we'd go just so we know. We went to Lia's which is in that small group of restaurants which aren't too touristy in their prices and we were so glad we went. The beachfront was set up with about 100 tables and chairs and this is where we had our meal...on the sand. Couldn't see much of the water as it was dark but the atmosphere was great. We had about 8 jumbo prawns, 20 clams, 1 mud crab, 700g squid, nasi goreng (actually quite tasty), as well as the accompaniments that came with the meal, a large bintang and a sprite. Total bill was $68AUD. Not cheap cheap but reasonable and we were quite happy to pay that. Oh we found a driver who drove us there in his new a/c van for 40,000! bargain we thought.
BABY STUFF
-Spent first day or so washing bottles with boiling water etc and it was all too hard. Went to carrefours to find an electric sterliser but couldn't so hired one from bali baby hire. Well worth it. So easy to use and convenient. $50AUD depsoite required.
-Took 2 strollers with us. A Maclaren which we absolutely love because its so damn light! and also a cheapy Babylove one. Well it was a surprise because the Babylove one was so much better! The Maclaren felt like the wheels were about to fall off. Foothpaths are terrible regardless of pram or stroller but stroller certainly did the job for us...especially when you have to carry the thing up a huge flight of stairs to get into places like Discovery!
-Holding a wriggly 9mth old in a taxi for any extended period of time was a nightmare so for long trips well worth finding a driver with a baby car seat. Search forum for contacts.
-Bought a large number of baby foods (Raffertys range) with us for 9mth old which was a lifesaver. Looked at baby food prices there yesterday and it was like $4AUD for a jar of the HEINZ stuff. Better to bring your own.
WATERBOM PARK
Cabanas 23-26 we found were the best. We had 23 and that was positioned perfectly. Right in front of kiddy pook but also right next to the Macaroni so perfect if you have kids.
Food wasn't that tasty. We ordered stuff but didn't eat it so went back out to Discovery to have a meal at Black Canyon.
SARARI PARK
Bought tickets from one of the touristy stands for $35AUD. Apparenlty normally $35USD. Includes free shuttle bus transfers but we opted to hire our own driver because apparenlty with shuttle buses they leave really early so you don't actually get a full day there. We hired Putu who had a baby car seat (essential for wriggly babies like ours :-)). He was 300,000 for 8hrs.
GENERAL STUFF
I've always had diarhoea at least once any time i travel overseas...well this time we found out about Travelan through this forum....dont know if it works but neither of us had diarhoea which was a great relief as it can really put a damper on things. Kids took Travel Bug and they were ok too.
DEPARTURE TAX/LOUNGE
Paid departure tax yesterday for our 2yr old but not our 9mth old. Asked the lady and she said over 2yrs and you have to pay.
Went to Dewa Lounge but it looked kinda small and dark so went to prada and it was brighter but busier. Only 4 lounge chairs available and they were all occupied by single persons (1 on each) with all their luggage beside them on the lounge so noone else can sit down. I was a little annoyed coz we had a 9mth old (strollers all checked in) who was so tired and just wanted to lie down to sleep but couldn't because these people didn't want to share their lounge. THese people werne't even lying down (if they were i wouldn't be annoyed) but they were sitting reading newspapers etc. Lounge was kinda crap to be honest. Yes free drinks (alcohol, juices etc) but there was only really noodles and rice available. Then some finger food really not worth eating at all. Not sure if Dewa lounge is better but would try Dewa next time...still beats sitting in outside area anyway. Didn't have to bargain them down to 100,000, they just told us the price was 100,000 each. Kids free.
I hope this helps a little!!! Feel free to ask questions!