After a wonderful breakfast at La Lucciola, fabulous food , up stairs table gazing out through the palm trees to breaking waves, we checked out of Royal Beach Seminyak for our transfer to The Griya Santrian Sanur.
Initial impressions of Sanur were good, a lot less frenetic as other posters had mentioned, a more easy going beachy feel, we knew we were going to like it.
Checking in , a modern recently decorated foyer, attractive but extremely hot ,we were told that our room wasn't ready so we headed for pool side restaurant for some lunch.
Our first impressions of the pool and beach were lovely , crowded pool but loved how close to the beach it was, you could slip from pool side to beach side in seconds.
An ok spring roll dish to share and back to try to check in. A different receptionist tells us the room is still an hour away, despite the previous lady saying 20 minutes. Mmmmm , we found over the 4 days , the level of Englsh communication by some front office staff to be
quite poor at times. Training here needs attention
When we finally gained access to our beach side room , 112 , we were unimpressed , dark , gloomy and frankly THE worst bathroom , have had in a few years of travelling. It was tiny, chipped stained enamel in bath, shower over the top, tatty shower curtain, not a nice place to be, added insult, the toilet kept blocking ewwwwwwww,
calls to engineering fixing it temporarily
On the plus side , the hotels position is wonderful , and people we chatted to told us that some other rooms were lovely , spacious and modern, wish we had known this and booked them instead
The feel of the place was a bit like a Butlins holiday camp but for German / Dutch retires , not much fun for my daughter 23 , but she enjoyed the whole Sanur feel as I did. We probably wouldn't stay here
again though.
No WI FI in rooms, boo ha, in 2013 this doesn't measure up, if you can't provide it and you should , at least offer some sort of pay for use age , rather than having to go to public areas
Our days here were spent wandering the main streets, market shopping , enjoying reflexology treatments, massages with Mary next
door on the beach at Griya, ear candling , facial at a tiny spa opposite The Mercure, sooo cheap!
Swimming at the Griya, at the beach , warm water , sooo good
We were blessed with great weather, hot of course but no rain .
Found Sarah from Perth to be a a fabulous blow dyer at Glo Day Spa, had pedicures manicures done here, not cheap and not impressed.
We ate at Three Monkeys, fabulous food, lovely ambience, The Village, delicious Italian cuisine in aircon , bliss.
Irish coffee at Wicked Parrot, listening to Balinese band playing dodgy Irish / English folk songs, bizarre but fun.
Warung Pregina , tried their crispy duck, cheap and delish.
The best calamari ever! at Art Kafe , opposite The Mercure.
We weren't keen on the Griyasantrian's breakfast offerings so tried The Porch, very good. We were given breakfast , delicious pancakes
by Irma when we did The Bamboo Shoots cooking school, will review
separately.
For our last 2 days we decided to leave Griya early, and checked in to The Mercure, wish we had have chosen this hotel for our Sanur stay. Our delux room 123 was perfect, bright , spacious, stylishly decorated, large , modern bathroom, with an attached dressing room. Free WI FI in the room , which Griya does not. Hated having to traipse around to
public areas , particularly if you wanted to Skype.
Our room at The Mercure also had a flat screen TV , purpose built tea coffee making area, we loved the space
The room rate was cheaper than Griya and in our opinion far superior.
We paid $105 a night and only $45 more to stay till 6 pm the following night
Two lovely pools, the main one beach front, the other one had the most comfortable lounges plus you didn't have to fight for a lounge like at Griya
The Mercure IS a little out of town , being at the southern end but a $2 car trip isn't a big deal and we loved the quiet aspect and the overall style of this large resort, would definitely return here
Overall we really liked Sanur, Griya Santrian , not for us, look forward to returning with my husband one day soon
Our return flight with Garuda to Melbourne, left on time at 10.40 pm , we spent a couple of hours in Dewa Garuda lounge prior, snacks and wine and relaxing
Again great service on Garuda, 5hours and a bit we were back home in Melbourne
A memorable Mother Daughter Balinese holiday , shared some
wonderful moments together
Thanks for those who shared some of our travels.
Big thanks to those who gave me advice when I was planning our trip
Happy safe travelling to all.