Before we left Oz, I pre-booked a spa full day 4-5 hours at Secilia Spa in Seminyak. About a week before we left, I emailed them again to confirm our booking, as there was five of us. No reply again. So on our first day in Bali, we jumped into a taxi, and eventually found the spa. They had our booking, no problems. We used this spa, on recommendations. It wasn't awful, but certainly not the best we have had, for the cost involved( $250 for 3 x people). During the facial, they used what flet like a metal scraper to remove impurities in our skin, not that I thought I had any...It hurt! Not pleasureable at all.
We had lots of differant treatments at Carla Spa on melasti, near garlic lane. Cheap, and great!
Made drove us all out to the Safari Park. Nice drive, good to see some of the country side. Major road works on the way out there, thanks to the Aust Gov. We stayed in the Tandala Suites. Lovely rooms overlooking the zebras and rhinos. One thing though, make sure you use the mozzie nets over your bed, and mozzie spray. The doors don't all close securely, and mozzie out there are huge! The night safari was awesome! You get to feed the zebras and the lions! Well worth staying the night. We did a lot of the activities in the morning, before the park opened. My youngest ( we'll call her her Bali knickname "Spice Girl")really enjoyed feeding the mother elephant and her calf, then going on a ride. It was a real buzz seeing "Ëffie" again (the baby orangutan that I held two years ago) now a lot bigger, which Spice Girl and DD got to cuddle.
When we got back to Kuta, we all moved to the Hard Rock Hotel. I know people rave about this place, but I thought it was way over priced for what it was, and for what you can get at other nicer hotels in bali for the same price. I am almost 40, and didn't have a problem with the loud music, you can't really hear it at all when you are in your room. Our room on the 4th floor overlooked a lovely construction site, that had a mini farm of some sort near it, so all night, and early in the morning, we were woken to three roosters and a goose making a racket. Whoever said that roosters only crow in the morning are liars!
The pool area is awesome! It has a beach in the middle of the pool, with sand under your feet! I have a bad leg, and can't climb stairs very well, and found getting down to the pool level was very hard for someone with mobility issues. There are three sets of stairs just to get down to where the pool is, and no ramp. After struggling down the stairs with help from SG, a friendly staff member told me that behind the temple (up the back of the complex) was a ramp, however it was locked, and I would have to get a security guard to unlock it, so I could go out the gate. Only problem was, it put me at the bottom of the driveway, for the hotel, and then I had to walk, wet, up the steep hill,to get back through the hotel. Food and drink are rediculously expensive though. It cost us $35au for three icecreams, 2 x ice coffes, and a milo drink! Breakfast is good, plenty of variety for everyone. The guys near the resturant in the hotel, that sold market items were great, quite cheap, and you didn't have to haggle much at all. we bought some great minature guitars and bongos, sarongs and dresses from them.
There is a laundry matt for you to use downstairs, but you have to spend about $13 to get two loads clean and dry. Another alternative if you don't want your frillies out there on the street with a local laundry person, is the hotels Bag Wash. 150'000rp for up to 17 items, washed folded and wrapped in paper, left on your bed the same day!
The recording studio at the hotel is a lot of fun! The girls also broke the bank in the HRH gift shop, cool clothes etc. Plus the hotel gives you a 20% discount voucher to use in the shop.
The girls did the Canyon Tubing thing on their own. They loved it, a long drive though to get out there 2.5 hours. They said it was relaxing, and fun, but not as scary as white water rafting. They said they would do it again. There are a lot of stairs at the beginning, and quite a steep slippery walk, but if you are careful, most people would be fine. Its small groups that go, and its a whole day, incl lunch.