Hi Kisetsu (& Monica, just to let u know how my trip went)
Hope I'm not too late in replying u.
Back from Bali just this week after spending 11 days there. My hubby booked a hotel at Bali Matahari Hotel at Kuta. It's a relatively new hotel.. only opened last Apr. The room comes with a 4-poster bed! very romantic!) & we only paid US$20 nett per nite, incl. daily BF & a free dinner. Not too bad a deal as it's within walking distance to Kuta beach & also Matahari Supermarket where we get water, munchies, etc. We booked our hotel accomodation at
www.indo.com. They are quite reliable & in fact they do advertise on our ST classified ad as well.
Kuta is a more commercialised with all the rows of Polo Ralph Lauren shops, Prada, etc (but very sure they are fake!). Only been to Kuta beach ONCE 'cos couldn't stand the hassling! My hubby went surfing & I rented a deck chair to read. For that 1 hr I was sitting there, SO MANY pple came up to me to ask whether I wanted a manicure, tattoo, whether do I want to buy drinks etc. NON-STOP &they couldn't take no for an answer! It was really very frustrating.. but then again times are really bad for these pple so they are pushing very hard. Also, if you are walking near Kuta Square area.. be prepared by ALOT of pple who's persistent to hand out some time share brochure (which promised some free gift or something). Just walk on & apologised! Though some actually followed us & pestered us to take part in whichever survey,etc. After the 1st few days, we acted smart & pretended that we are japanese & don't understand English.
Kuta beach is not so bad but seriously it's rainy season now.. it rained every other day!
We went for massage (35,000RP), manicure & pedicure (20,000RP each) at a hair salon near the hotel. I even forced my hubby to go for both manicure & pedicure! We spent alot of time there.. usually on rainy days. We even had a haircut(20,000RP = abt S$4 each!) & highlighted our hair (35,000RP = abt S$7 each!)
On other days we hired a driver to take us to Ubud where all the warehouses are & bought LOTZ of candles (huge big cake type.. very cheap), aroma therapy incense, floor lamp (huge tall one for our living room), stone carving, etc etc. We changed S$600 for our 11-day trip & charged bill to credit cards whenever we can (at the restaurants). U don't have to bring too much money.. can always change there (always change at PT Central moneychanger.. they are more reliable).
Went Sanur beach as well.. it's rather quite there compared to Kuta beach.
Well anyway we had a very good holiday in Bali.. hope u & your hubby will have a great time there too!
Monica.. wondering how was your trip there?
estella