Bali

[angelic8]

Hi,
I'm so confused. There's kuta, ubud,sanur,legian,seminyak areas in bali. Which is best? Looking for easy access to restaurants, shopping, supermarket, beach, nightclubs. Which area is nearest to kuta just in case we go to kuta @ nite & need to back to our hotel which is nt at kuta. How do I go abt for booking day tours? Is it better to hire a vehicle with driver or go abt booking day tours?

I heard kuta is overcrowded. Advise needed

 

[babyfifi]

Hello,

Kuta/Legian (next to each other) is a tourist beach area. You will find nightspots and shopping there.

Seminyak is next to Legian and has the more upmarket shopping & spas. There is also nightlife. Its where you will find more expats hanging out.

Ubud is Bali's cultural centre. Go there to find more dances, paintings, etc.

Book a driver for a customised day tour. Its affordable.

 

[plasterbride]

i am confused too reading all the posts...the names are so difficult to rem...

is it easier to book package tour or free and easy for bali ???
considering to go there for my honeymoon....

 

[angelic8]

Tour agencies r offering Hard rock cake, mecure hotel & Padma Bali hotel. Which is better 4 honeymooners?

 

[babyfifi]

Angelic,

What most of my friends & I do/did is

-> Flights: book from www.singaporeair.com
-> Rooms: book online
-> Car & Driver: book a local driver to bring you around. When you have confirmed what you want, you can either try the one who has been advertising here, or contact one of us for our contact.

 

[babyfifi]

Oh yah, Hard Rock is happening but quite ex. Mercure reviews aint that good. There are better hotels around too... just less known by our travel agents.

 

[midas]

ehh....Hard rock cafe, mecure hotel & Padma Bali hotel ain't tat romantic...why dun u go tripadvisor.com n look for a more private/romantic style villas? there r lots to choose from

 

[midas]

nini,
i've sent ur regards to Dewa(not the dewa who posted here..) liao...he told me abt ur 'ghost' story too hehehe...

 

[truffles__pearls]

hi midas,

can u pls email me @ [email protected]?
I have questions to ask u abt castle stays in italy.
or u can leave me ur email addy instead
thanks!

 

[midas]

hello T&P,
long time no hear from u...hw are u doing? going to italy?

my email is:
[email protected]

 

[truffles__pearls]

hey midas,

ya..didn't get to go last yr cos got pregnant soon after my Bali trip. planning to go coming jun and wanna book myself a castle stay.
Gg to email u!

 

[nini2]

Hi midas,

Did you manage to try the babi guling? So sorry, didn't upload the photo cuz i was busy with my new house these few weeks.

How your trip? Manage to do any spa?

 

[midas]

hi nini,
ya tried...i ordered the Babi Guling 'Pisah'..got extra liau..rp35k

i went to two spas...one in Ubud n one in Kuta..

Ubud one better hee..

 

[m57]

midas, which spas in Ubud and Kuta did you visit?
Can u name them? I been to Bali Wis (I think) which is about 10-15min drive from the resort I stayed in in Ubud, Melia Bali Resort & Spa. Quite a nice Spa..that the hot stones and herbal Spa. So shiok~!

 

[midas]

SK,

Ubud - Alam Wangi Spa, its near monkey forest.

Kuta - Galuh Bali Spa, abt 15mins drive from Kuta ctr (tis one is recommended by my driver Dewa, he got us a half price deal)

i personaly preferred the treatment, service n the environment of the Ubud Spa. i tried their Aroma herbal pkg...the massage very shiok n the burning sensation from the Boreh scrub is first time i experinced...really burning hot on my skin leh..after scrub off liao my skin is silky smooth hee.

 

[nini2]

Wow, Midas, looking at the photo make me want to go back to Bali again

Your roast pork skin alot, mine only one piece.

Next time if got chance to go back to Bali again, will try the spa at Ubud that you recommend. Look nice in the picture. Can reveal how much the spa package cost?

 

[midas]

nini,
Alam Wangi Aroma Herbal pkg - rp700k per couple.

nxt time try the babi guling 'pisah' lah...only rp10k more but they gv alot of liau..tats why the rice is served seperately..the 'special' only hv smaller portion of pork n vege served together with rice..

 

[nini2]

Hi Midas,

Thanks. Next time will try the babi guling pisah

 

[cjs]

Hi Dewa, Im thinking of spending 4 days in Bali.2 days most probably staying in Kuta area. Can you recommend another nice area to stay in Bali?

 

[cjs]

Hi Villahaven,

I would sure like to stay in a villa. But the price is a bit steep. Im looking for some in the range of US$80~90 per nite. Unless you can provide some special promotion?

You cab email me at [email protected]

 

[lawcoolz]

Hi anyone know if we have to pay for the driver's meals when we engage their services?

 

[tingshen]

anybody stayed in Villa Seminyak Estate & Spa b4? thinking of getting the lagoon room.....about USD95 only inclusive of tax.

http://www.villaseminyak.net/

 

[lawcoolz]

juz came back from a short 5 day trip to bali with my fiancee. a quick summary to share

tour driver - i decided to engage dewa for our 2nd day after some initial miscommunication. muz say that he is pretty good and helpful. only downside is that his english is not that fluent, but good enough. thanks dewa

hotel - we booked harris resort and found it a value for $ venue located right along kuta beach and very near attractions like hard rock and kuta square

attractions - must visit kintamani to view the volcano and rice fields in the north. try the babi guling at a local eatery (dewa brought us) at cheap price. must visit jimbaran bay and uluwatu for the beautiful sunset and spectacular views.

shopping - go to tanah lot for the great view of the temple by the sea and their cheap cheap shopping (like pasar malam).

eat - other than the expensive jimbaran seafood dinner (which is nice actually) and the lousy lunch buffet at kintamani while taking in the spectacular view of the volcano, we stick to local food at their food court and restaurants at the shopping malls. the expensive looking restaurants-cum-bar places along kuta beach actually offer ok-priced western food that is quite nice.

spa - many many spas to choose from. but anything more than 300,000RP per pax is a rip off. personally prefer javanese style than balinese style massage which i can get in singapore for only S$40+

cheers

 

[tingshen]

hi lawcoolz, may I know which dewa you're engaging? It seems to me that there are multiple dewa.....is it the one using hotmail or yahoo mail?

Thanks!

 

[natsy]

Hello there
reading about all your experiences in Bali is fantastic. Can anyone give any POV about staying at Nusa Dua? I understand that its about 30 min drive to Kuta (the "happening" area), but at the same time is romantic for honeymoon. Am intending to visit Bali from 16 June - 19 / 20 June.

Advice much appreciated
BTW, am also thinking if we shld stay stay in Ubud for a night or two as well. Understand that its quite far and located on a mountain?!

 

[lawcoolz]

Hi TS, the Dewa I engaged has the below contacts:

MOBILE PHONE : +6281 246 709 16
EMAIL : [email protected]

 

[tingshen]

OMG, now it's getting more and more confusing.....

 

[lawcoolz]

Hmmm why would it be confusing leh? How abt u specify ur driver/guide needs than see if he can meet it or help. If you don't like, theres other guides to be found from internet. Alternatively if you have airport transfer given free to you by your hotel, that driver can probably be another choice to be your guide. But i would not advise that u get a guide from those roadside stalls as i heard from my friend that they pay almost twice what i paid. Even though the payment include free entry to some places that require tickets and come with free meals, i think its still to ex.

 

[tingshen]

the confusing part is....Dewa seems to be a very common name and there are more than 1 Dewa appear in this forums. Price are quite competitive, I am quite surprised when you tell me you have friends paid double of SGD$50-60.

I do have Indonesian colleagues, they told me SGD$50 per day is very reasonable. So with the petrol price hike coming, a few dollars extra is acceptable to me.

lawcoolz, do you need to cover their meals? or they will settle their own breakfast/lunch/dinner?

 

[lawcoolz]

yap that name seems common. and after reading lonely planet on bali, it seems that the name used for royalty?! heh i also surprised my friend pay so much but he was lazy too plan before hand, so maybe thats the price to pay for laziness haha.

anyway this dewa i engaged seems like a nice guy so at least u noe he's not a total newbie. only downside is comms wise not very fluent.

they cover their own meals so no big issue. but if u like can invite them to eat with you. but i was on budget so didnt heh heh. quite nice they will wait for u to finish ur meals even if u take 1 hours plus. but do be reasonable also lor.

 

[sunqian]

Hi all,

I just came back from Bali, the trip was pretty short, just to share with all of you our itinerary.

day 1- arrive Bali at night, reach our villa The Sanyas Suite (www.sanyas-suite.com), very nice!! R&R.

day 2 - Sicilia spa owner picked us up at our hotel in the morning, brought us to Murano spa cos there were some construction project going on opposite Sicilia spa so quite noisy. Did 1hr 45mins Milk bath (massage, scrub with milk spread, flower bath), 110000 RP per person (need to add 10% tax). He charged us the Sicilia spa rate although this doesn't include transport cos we actually booked our spa at Sicilia, not Murano. Murano will cost 150000 RP. He then sent us back to hotel. 1230pm, make up artist arrived at our villa, 145pm photographer & his assistant arrived, we started our photoshoot at 2pm. Went to Nusa Dua & Canggu, took lots of pics till 7pm. Had dinner at a restaurant near Sanyas Suite.

day 3 - Our tour guide met us at our villa 930am, we went ahead to Tanah Lot. It's low tide and we can walk across to the temple, not too many tourists cos' the crowd will only come in before sunset and ppl like us who are not professional can't take good pics cos the sun is in the background. We are happy that we went in the morning, all the stores selling souvenirs are open and you can spend sometime shopping there as well. From Tanah Lot, we headed towards Ubud, had lunch at Dewi Cafe at Tegallalang, the cafe is at the hillside overlooking magnificent rice terrace. Went back to Ubud, shopped at the Ubud market and Monkey Forest Rd, then went to Verona Spa, did the Javanese Lulur at 115000 RP and hair creme bath at 70000 RP per person. Dinner at Indus, it's a more upmarket restaurant, we only saw Caucasians there, the ambience is very romantic. Our tour guide sent us back to hotel after dinner. His charges is around S$70 per full day, he is a tour guide therefore more expensive, his English is fluent, most of his client are from US. I engaged him 3 years ago so going back to him.

Day 4 - R&R, swim in our priviate pool, requested for breakfast in villa then prepare to go to the airport.

Received our album, canvas print, photo print-outs, CD-ROM yesterday, all very well done. So happy!

 

[tingshen]

wow sunqian, thanks for sharing, that's pretty comprehensive summary!

got go dreamland beach boh? You engaged the photography located at Bali?

do you need to pay cash for all those spas and restaurants? do they accept credit cards? damn lazy to carry a bunch of cash along.....

 

[sunqian]

Hi TS, we didn't go to dreamland beach lei, where is that? The 2 beaches we went, one in Nusa Dua, the other at Canggu.

Yup, we engaged the photographer locally, he is an Austrian living in Bali, speaks fluent English and Bahasa Indonesia. He has been staying in different places in Indonesia for more than 20 years liao. PM me if you want to view the pictures he took for us.

We paid cash for all the spending in Bali, not much anyway. The milk bath 110000 RP is like S$17 only, am not sure if they accept credit cards but Indus restaurant definitely yes.

 

[tingshen]

Cool! Sent you PM liao. We are going Bali tomorrow with our photographer and make up artist This is his first time to Bali but our make up artist has been there for many times.

Thanks for the info! They are very helpful!

 

[sunqian]

Hi TS, emailed the photo link to you liao.

Wa, going to Bali tomorrow, so I guess my post just in time =) Another romantic restaurant in Ubud is call "Dirty Duck", it's built on top of a rice field. I dined there 3 years ago.

Enjoy the trip and photoshoot, I am sure the photos will turn out well, Bali is a very scenic place.

 

[tingshen]

Cool! I'm compiling a list of places we would like to go and then pass to one of the "dewa" we engaged to see how we want to enjoy this trip hehe.....

nice pictures you have! Is that your pre-wedding photo?

 

[sunqian]

Thanks for your compliment, it's our pre-wedding "addon" photos, we have a pre-wedding package in Singapore with Sophia. Because we are visiting Bali, so thought of taking some pics there as well lor.

 

[ngfifi]

Dear all,

I've got 2 SQ tix to Bali to let go

Departure date is 28/9 till 01/10

Shld u be interested, im willing to let go at $300/tix

Hwever, i will nt b able to subsidise for the amendment fee on the name change in e-tix which im still waiting for the travel agency to revert on the charges

Pls email me at [email protected] if u wld like to take over

 

[tingshen]

woohoo! just back from our Bali trip. I would say Dewa is a damn nice guy and really very patient and responsible driver! We went to a lot of nice places for our photo taking. The fun part is nobody been there b4, even Dewa himself, for certain places, eg, the padi fields. It's not easy to find the right spot to capture photo most of the time.

The most fun one should be the Beratan lake located in the moutain! Poor dewa......think he got cold because of helping our photographer to carry the lens and camaras lol.

Jen, I am quite interested actually. Coz this trip was too rushed, we are planning to go Bali again for a celebration Let me know the ammendment fees then, damn scared about Garuda already....I won't want to take that airline anymore....

 

[joannapht]

Hi everyone!

My hubby and I just got back from Bali. Want to thank everybody here for all the advise and information about Bali and most importantly, for recommending Dewa.

We engaged his service with a guide for a full day and we visited quite a number of interesting places. On our second day we only engage Dewa for half a day as we wanted some time to shop around our resort..... He was very obliging and nice. Would definitely use him again if we go Bali again and recommend him to friends who plans to go to Bali.

Once again, thank you guys for your advise! = )

 

[plasterbride]

hihi

this is my first time to Bali, will be going as honeymoon but not staying in villa, i will be staying at Alila, Ubud.

how is everyone experience in Bali ???
did you stay in private villa or just normal deluxe room ??
was thinking of going for those day tours, so we were thinking like not worth to upgrade to villa.
mind sharing what you think based on your experience ?

btw which airline you take?
i will be taking garuda Indo. is it ok ??

greatly appreciate. =)

 

[tingshen]

try not to take garuda or even lower grade airlines. And try to take the afternoon flight instead of evening flight. The service is really not worth the money, suggest you go straight to budget or SIA.

If you're going to spend a lot of time touring around, get a decent hotel will do, budget SGD$90+- should be the guideline, but I also heard my friends staying at $10-20 per night kind of motel, some even provides breakfast!

Please get your own driver, or pre-plan your route nicely if not you may waste a lot of time traveling.

 

[pikachu_77]

Hi All,
My friend intend go Bali to do her pre wedding shoot, me helping here to info now. Can anyone to shared with me your pre wedding photo link & recommend attractive place for shooting.

pls PM me, thanks.

 

[hayoki]

hi everyone,

i intend to go Bali, but there are many resorts, dont know which one to chose, can advise? tks.

 

[tingshen]

state your budget, then it will narrow down your options. From there you can pick hotels that's located near kuta, or near airport, or near the beach etc.

Hotels located within kuta area is more convenient lor....but no much scenery lar....

 

[tomatostyler]

TS, why not garuda? i'm planning my trip in dec and i can only choose between garuda and sq

 

[tingshen]

it's worse than budget besides the timing. On our trip back it was very packed and they didn't turn on aircon until they plane is about to take off.....so smelly!!!

 

[hayoki]

hi TS,

any hotels can recommend that is with good scenery and convenient . price around $1000 plus for 2.

 

[tingshen]

er...ur budget of $1000 is for how many nights? I can't recommend much, only stayed in Patra which is just beside the airport, 5mins drive to Kuta center.

 

[tomatostyler]

hayoki,

if you want to stay in 1 hotel only, i suggest harris resort in kuta. it's called Harris Kuta, 4 star hotel. go check octopustravel or asiarooms to check prices. for me, i chose octopus as it's cheaper for my dates (SGD162 for 2 nights)

kuta is the happening place in bali so it's very convenient. can take cab everywhere as it's near the middle of sanur/seminyak/djimbaran.

the map is found on http://www.maplandia.com/indonesia/bali/badung/denpasar/

but if you want to look at the paddyfields or volcanoes, it's a bit far