Bali recommendations

[PhillT]

Greetings all. My other half and I are looking to plan a holiday at the start of October, and Bali has been recommended by several. We'd like a chilled out beach-type experience with a couple of days of sightseeing chucked in, and a minimal amount of loud drunken imbeciles. For that reason we've been told to stay away from Kuta. I'm planning to get through several books, see some monkeys and maybe go waterskiiing or something similar.

Has anyone been that could share experiences and recommendations? Our hotel budget would be an absolute max of £1000 for a week.
Cheers.

[Du1point8]

PhillT said:

Greetings all. My other half and I are looking to plan a holiday at the start of October, and Bali has been recommended by several. We'd like a chilled out beach-type experience with a couple of days of sightseeing chucked in, and a minimal amount of loud drunken imbeciles. For that reason we've been told to stay away from Kuta. I'm planning to get through several books, see some monkeys and maybe go waterskiiing or something similar.

Has anyone been that could share experiences and recommendations? Our hotel budget would be an absolute max of £1000 for a week.
Cheers.

Im just trying to remember it all now...

We did a bali homestay for 2 days:

http://bali-homestay.com/accommodation.html

Then went off to the islands for 3 days or so go to gili trawangan, its a 2 hour speed boat journey and is a dive resort and quite cheap if you want it to be.

http://www.gilitrawangan.org/

I stayed at this place:

http://www.manta-dive.com/diving-accommodation-gil...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g6646...

dived with these guys:

http://www.bluemarlindive.com/blue-marlin-dive-cen...

however you can do better.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g664666-A...

possibly get both at the same place and get it all cheaper.

you can book with:

http://www.asiarooms.com/en/indonesia/gili_trawang...

http://www.laterooms.com/en/p1301/pv503825s/hotel-...

however we just walked up the beach and got these for circa £30 a night for the bungalow.

Very nice if you like party life and diving for only a couple of days

And then came back to ubud for a bit of luxury:
http://www.alampurivilla.com/
2 days at this place http://www.alampurivilla.com/villaarka.asp

Then wandered round to find another apartment in Ubud for £10 a night

You must go watch the fire dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXkGf-0UsqM

legong dance at ubud palace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuFwqZ7QUec

Go see as many temples as possible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKtrzrTNg9g (ignore crap music)

When doing the monkey forest it will get boring quickly and make sure everything is nailed down otherwise they will have the lens cap and quite possibly the camera too.

We stayed away from the south of the island as its basically the australian's version of ibiza and not for me at all.

[white90]

We went for a month
left after a week to go to Malaysia as Bali was a stinking cesspit
vowed never ever to return in this life or any other.

[madazrx7]

Bali is where the young Aussie yobs go for a dirt cheap drunken holiday. That is the only reason for going there. I went once, never again, I go on holiday to enjoy myself, not to get drunk as cheaply as possible.

[XJSJohn]

As Madaz says .... bali is Australia's Ibiza ... lots of kids drinking till they puke and clubbing.

Just like Ibiza however, there are very nice bits away from all of this. Avoid the cheapo options, west side of the Island is also very quiet and unspoiled!

[mcbook]

I spent a week of my honeymoon in Ubud and thoroughly enjoyed it. We stayed at the Chedi Club which was absolutely fantastic and easily the best hotel I have ever stayed in. Massive grounds and very few guests (only 20 villas I think).

It might be possible to stay there for a week for a grand but you'll probably need to try for a discount. We went in May so it was low season.

Ok, so Ubud isn't on the beach but there's still lots to do in the area.

I would agree with some of the other comments about the general tatiness of the country. The poverty is very obvious and the place is a little messy so I'd recommend you stay in the best hotel you can afford to aleviate this issue.

The people are fantastic and will help you in any way they can! Enjoy!

[jbudgie]

Some of these posts are a bit negative.

Try Sanur for a relaxed scene.

Nusa Dua is an (slightly expensive compared to say Thailand) good place.

Take a trip to Kintamani for nice view of the Volcano.

Book a local taxi driver to take you out for the day (about £25 )--will take you where you want and will fit in with your plans and make recommendations--ie Barong Dancing theatre.

Very many good points to this Island--dont listen to the people who have knocked it.

Speak to the locals, its a marvellous place.

Edited by jbudgie on Monday 29th August 17:04

[jbudgie]

Just seen that you were looking for a beach type holiday---try the 'Melia Bali' hotel at Nusa Dua.

Very nice place.

You will have loads left over from your £1000/week.

Edited by jbudgie on Monday 29th August 17:05

[sussexjob]

English guy Kevin runs this bliss and was a knowledgable guide to Bali only US$108 plus tax per night, I will be surprised and interested if you can find better as I been travelling to bali for years and only discovered this by word of mouth, good luck and keep us posted.

http://www.watergardenhotel.com/

Edited by sussexjob on Tuesday 30th August 07:28

[sussexjob]

PhillT said:

Greetings all. My other half and I are looking to plan a holiday at the start of October, and Bali has been recommended by several. We'd like a chilled out beach-type experience with a couple of days of sightseeing chucked in, and a minimal amount of loud drunken imbeciles. For that reason we've been told to stay away from Kuta. I'm planning to get through several books, see some monkeys and maybe go waterskiiing or something similar.

Has anyone been that could share experiences and recommendations? Our hotel budget would be an absolute max of £1000 for a week.
Cheers.

One of those PH users who does not acknowledge replies

[PhillT]

sussexjob said:

One of those PH users who does not acknowledge replies

Sorry peeps, I've been diligently collecting info and checking out the recommendations - was planning on responding with one big thank you when we decide what to do, rather than continually filling the thread with individual thanks.
So far we like the look of Nusa Dua as a base, then heading off to Ubud. Might do a stopover in Singapore too. Rest assured I'm very grateful for all the replies, and if you're ever in Dubai I will buy you all doughnuts of your choice.

[Justices]

Got to recommend my friend's place. Completely surreal. They even have a room built into the cliff face.

Kuta is where you will find the booze-fest. Not too bad to drop in but if you want serenity.. not the place to be.

http://www.mu-bali.com/

[Du1point8]

Justices said:

Got to recommend my friend's place. Completely surreal. They even have a room built into the cliff face.

Kuta is where you will find the booze-fest. Not too bad to drop in but if you want serenity.. not the place to be.

http://www.mu-bali.com/

I like that one a lot...

Cliff for 100 Euros a night is cheap in anyones books

[Justices]

I nice French chap owns it. Sitting in that pool on the edge of the cliff when the sun sets is something very, very special indeed. Highly recommended if only for a few days before staying elsewhere in Bali.

[PhillT]

Justices said:

Got to recommend my friend's place. Completely surreal. They even have a room built into the cliff face.

Kuta is where you will find the booze-fest. Not too bad to drop in but if you want serenity.. not the place to be.

http://www.mu-bali.com/

That actually looks awesome. Any drawbacks that we should know about?

Cheers!

[Du1point8]

PhillT said:

Justices said:

Got to recommend my friend's place. Completely surreal. They even have a room built into the cliff face.

Kuta is where you will find the booze-fest. Not too bad to drop in but if you want serenity.. not the place to be.

http://www.mu-bali.com/

That actually looks awesome. Any drawbacks that we should know about?

Cheers!

I would say it looks good, but I would still want to experience the whole island... if you want to stay there all the time fine, but remember there is so much more to see so I would say for a few days go for it but keep moving around for the experience that is bali.

[dave0010]

http://www.tropicalcollection.co.uk/Bali.aspx

This is the website I booked a holiday through 2 years ago to bali. Myself and 2 mates went there for 2 weeks. The reason I used this site was that the prices included flights and accommodation and was just simple and easy to use.

We had a 4 star hotel in Sanur which was amazing and seemed like a palace. Agree totally with everything everyone says about Katu. Go there in the day time and maybe once in the evening but if your not up for a late night clubbing and lots of drinks and every taxi driver trying to get you to go to a brothel stay away.

We made friends with a restaurant owner opposite our hotel and spoke to him about every excursion that we had seen advertised around the island, he then rang them and spoke local to them and got us a large discount on everything from river rapids and island visits to elephant rides.

[garreth64]

Justices said:

Got to recommend my friend's place. Completely surreal. They even have a room built into the cliff face.

Kuta is where you will find the booze-fest. Not too bad to drop in but if you want serenity.. not the place to be.

http://www.mu-bali.com/

hey look Amazing! We are looking for somewhere to go next year for our Honeymoon and Bali is on the list. Do you know any more about the area, beaches, local towns, restaurants etc. We don't want to keep moving around, but don't want to be completely in the middle of nowhere.

[brissleboy]

We went June 2008 for 10 days having stopped off in KL for a few nights. I can honestly say Bali was one of the best holidays I have ever had, sure Kuta is a hole but worth a few hours there to see the bomb memorial and just the general madness of the place!

We stayed at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and upgraded to Club, it was fantastic! Don't eat in the hotels all the time, go just outside the resort grounds and you will find some gems of restaurants and bars at ridiculously cheap prices!

As has been said already, hire a driver for the day and go see the island... Ubud is breathtaking, as is the sunset at Jimbaran Bay (have a sunset seafood dinner there); we also enjoyed the zoo but this may not be to your taste...

Good luck and enjoy!

[Mr E]

We're looking for inspiration and Bali may be right up our street.

Many thanks for the links (the Cliff Bungalow looks wonderful)