Departed Melbourne, at a very civilised time of 9.40 am on a Garuda flight, no queues , while Air Asia and Virgin queues were huge.
Travelling with my daughter after a years absence while she has been in US, special holiday. Second time to Bali for me, daughter's first.
Have to say I now know why our tickets were more costly than competitors, fabulous service, couldn't fault it. 30ks luggage, 2 seats together, great entertainment system, smooth take off and landing. Service for an almost 6 hr flight , very impressive, every 30 minutes, drinks, cool towels, snacks, a more than acceptable airline lunch. The ladies opposite enjoyed what seemed like endless g and t's all served with a smile, not just at designated drink stops., they were generous with spirit measures too, those ladies floated off :)
I now would choose Garuda always.
Will accept the groans now, but our VOA agent met us immediately off the escalator and did what he does in seconds, bags collected , money changed and in 6 mins, I timed it, out the door ( looked behind and those enormous queues in visa lines , 3 arrivals ) in an un conditioned tin shed made me realise why we are happy to pay for this service
Taken to our Chedi Club driver and on our way. Traffic was pretty good for Friday 1pm, daughter loved her first sights as drove direct to Ubud. I so love this place and know my daughter will also.
Won't wax too lyrical about The Chedi Club , this being our blow out part of the trip but WOW!
Entering the property as the gates opened we both nearly wept, approx 5 hectares of magical views , brilliantly green rice fields , ponds filled with lotus flowers of every colour, incredible statues , lakes with swans, a paradise!
Our private butler , yep , just for us , arrived in a buggy to collect us from the car to take us on tour of the property en route to our suite.
The open air restaurant with 360 degree views across the rice fields, the most beautiful main pool . The villas only 20 on this enormous site
He then swung open these enormous timber carved doors to our home for the next 4 days, huge oohs and ahhs, beautifully designed and decorated, artworks, antiques, stunning out door bathroom , complimentary, everything you could imagine, spirits, wine, drinks , snacks, 8 loose tea varieties , whizz bang coffee maker, bottled water, glass , not plastic, and the list goes on.
We headed straight to the pool, fantastic sun lounges and the pool attendant brought our pool tray chilled face towels, face spray, sun protection cream, chilled lime water and into the water we went. A tad too warm but still beautiful,
Changed and headed to the restaurant for complimentary afternoon tea at 4 , the tiered stand with exquisite tiny cakes and sandwiches , perfectly made tea and two very happy ladies.
A rest in our suite , another change and off to complimentary cocktail hour where we tried the hotel signature cocktail, Purple Basil Mohito, gorgeous so we had two ! Tasty savoury treats accompanied it
Decided after our long day to eat in the restaurant following
So beautiful to sit overlooking the sun setting and candles strewed throughout the rice fields as far the eye can see.
We shared Gado Gado, a modern take , very impressed, the vegetables were made into patty type shapes , loved it, then we shared House special Nasi Campur, variation again, crispy duck, lobster, Waygu beef and the usual accompaniments. Sensational!
Black rice pudding with coconut and sweet orange completed our first dinner together in beautiful Ubud at this magical hotel.
Tomorrow to discover more of Ubud
Re reading this, guess I did wax lyrically after all but truly its hard not to :)