I've really been enjoying putting our recent Bali adventure into a story form and appreciate all the kind remarks that keep nudging me on to do more. One thing I realize is that some information just does not fit into a story format, but is still valuable to those seeking information. In a style different from the JBR's I've been doing, I wanted to give a quick run down on the hotels, drivers, and restaurants that our family experienced. Hope it proves to be beneficial for those of you still planning to go to Bali. This review will be just on Hotels. I'll try to do the other topics later.
I'll give my personal rating of the hotels below, based on a 10 point scale.
Taman Harum Cottages (7)
This establishment is located in Mas, which is a wood carver's village just outside of Ubud. We stayed in the Ubud area for 5 days due to so many activities that are in close distance from there. This was our first hotel and the one we spent the most time at. We made reservations here based on the recommendations of others who have stayed here with families. The cottages offer nice rooms, quite gardens, a clean pool, free transport anywhere in Ubud or surrounding area, and one of the best morning meals we had anywhere. The family room is huge and should be considered a house. It had 5 beds in 4 bedrooms, two baths, and a wonderful balcony overlooking the rice field to the front and the pool to the side. The only negative thing about the hotel was the portion given with meals, not included in the room rate. We ate one supper there, and were disappointed by the small portions and quality of meat. To their credit, they never pressured us to eat there again and were glad to provide us free transport to all the other restaurants that we tried. I'd recommend this cottage for anyone who needs lots of room, does not feel a need to be in walking distance from all the Ubud action, and does not need 5 star luxuries. Run the name on an internet search and you will find their web-site.
Puri Dajuma (10+)
Puri Dajuma is located in south western Bali, in an area close to Medewi. This place was the hidden gem that we were lucky to find while on Bali. We were planning to go from Ubud clear over to Pemuteran (on the north west side of Bali) in just one day. A week or two before leaving I found out just how long of a trip that would be and decided to break it up with a stop in between. I sent out emails to the few places in western Bali that have web-sites and gave them my budget requirements. The staff at Puri Dajuma quickly responded and welcomed us at a nice discount. While I could not find much information about Puri Dajuma, I was none the less excited due to the knock out pictures I was seeing on their web-site. The pictures on the web-site, as nice as they are, do not do this place justice. This was the most fabulous place we stayed during our whole trip to Bali. This is not just a hotel. It is like a private resort for anyone lucky enough to find it. It was so great that we ended up canceling the following night in Pemuteran, just to stay another day and night at Puri Dajuma.
The cottages are located on the most picture perfect location that is on a slight hill that overlooks the incredible landscaping and black sandy beach below. The pool is wonderful and the restaurant is divine. I'm not making any of this up. This is a place for honeymooners! My wife and I would get remarried just to go back there! It is also a great place for a family that wants to get away from crowds and see the real Bali. To meet our budget, the kids stayed in a fancy tree house room called a rice barn, and absolutely loved it. The kids loved the pool, the badminton court, huge cinema room, body boarding with no other tourists in site, and playing soccer in the afternoons with the local children. Note: I'm talking about kids that are 10 years old and up.
Did I mention the restaurant?? This place gets a 10+ rating for the food. I was thinking we would pay out our noses to eat here and had originally planned to find a cheap diner somewhere else. Our mouth dropped as we saw that the prices in the menu were better than any place we had previously eaten at in Ubud. My next thought was that the portions had to be small for the price. How wrong I was. We were pigging out on fillet minion pepper steak, chicken cordon blue, and host of other incredible meals for less than US $4 a meal. Most meals were in the US $2-$4 range. Since we had the place basically to ourselves, the chefs were cooking just for us at most meals. At my wife's request, the chef even took her into their super fancy kitchen and showed her how to make one of her favorite dishes! The chefs and waiters at Puri Dajuma made each meal a truly pleasurable experience.
Don't think because this place is miles away from the Kuta crowd that it might not have modern conveniences. They have internet access, the most modern rooms we stayed in, and top notch service. The European owner of this resort has spared no expense and has found a fantastic staff. From the facilities to the attitudes of the staff, Puri Dajuma is a class act!
None of us wanted to leave this resort. At the end of our trip I individually asked the children where their favorite hotel was. They all listed Puri Dajuma as their favorite. Our whole family highly recommends Puri Dajuma. You may be cheating yourself if you don't spend at least a couple days here. Normally, a hotel / resort should have to pay for a review like this one. In this case they earned by giving us the best stay on Bali. You can find them in an internet search. By the way, not one person ever approached us on the beach or in the area, who was trying to sell us something.
PURI LUMBUNG COTTAGES (8)
Puri Lumbung is cottage type resort located high in Bali's mountains, in a village called Munduk. Coming from a warm climate, I wanted to spend a few nights in a place where a long sleeve shirt and extra blanket feel good. This is a true hiking paradise. I wish we would have had more time for exploring the pristine area and abundant waterfalls of Munduk. What hiking we did do only wet my appetite for more. The rooms were just fine for a mountain resort. If you need perfect luxury and shopping, you may want to stay down south. If you're not too prissy and want the most incredible views down to the ocean, with sunset included, Muduk is the place to go. When booking make sure you specify that you want a cottage with a view down to the ocean. It will be worth your time. A note for families: You will be let down if you allow them to put you in their official family room. The house is fine but it is stuck on the other side of the property next to the road and offers no view. The number of this room is #16. Ask them to give you #14. It has two bedrooms and three beds. It also has two bathrooms. The view from the balcony is breathtaking.
The resort has neat little fish ponds at each cottage and some nice landscaping. The restaurant was really nice. Since it was cool in Munduk, we really enjoyed the soups. A nice touch was a man playing the gamelan, in a jacket, while we had one of our evening meals.
The only other Americans we met on our two week trip were at Puri Lumbung. They got a great deal on the villa, which sits on the best location on the mountain. If you have a bigger budget than ours, you might want to wheel and deal on the villa. This hotel can also be found in an internet search.
Lumbung Bali Cottages (7)
These newly built themed cottages are located just up the road from Puri Lumbung, in Munduk. I first saw them while hiking with the children. The wonderful architecture and landscaping caught my eye and caused me to drop in for a look around. While we did not stay here, I would give it a stay if I ever went back. They have several double cottages and three family rooms. They get an A for landscaping and their fish ponds. Every cottage has a different Balinese style. It might be best to just drop in here, look at all the rooms and pick the one that suits you the best. The biggest downfall of this place is that it has a terrible marketing plan. They currently have no website or email address. They rely on word of mouth or customers passing by, which can't be many. They had no one staying there on the day I looked over the place. I took pictures, promised to mention them, and highly recommended they get a website and email address. PH # 62-362-92818.
Paradise Plaza Suites (6)
Most families have probably heard of the Paradise Plaza Suites in Sanur. In all my research, they appeared to be a tried and true family favorite in Sanur. The two bedroom family suite was huge. Glad I did not go with the three room suite. The suite comes with two bathrooms, a large family room, and a small kitchen. The kids enjoyed the pool and play area but they were on the line of being to big for the kid's club area. Small kids would be a perfect fit for this place. My kids were more the age for the big water rides at Waterbom Park. This would be a great place if you planned on spending a lot of time just hanging around the hotel and enjoying the facilities with small kids. This hotel gets only a 6 rating due to its non-Bali prices for food. As a hotel that touts its family friendliness, its food prices were higher than this family was willing to pay. We ate out or got McDonalds delivery. You can find this hotel in an internet search.
Hotel Karthi Kuta (3)
This is a budget hotel in Kuta, across the road from Pizza Hut and Bubba Gumps. If all you are concerned about is budget, location, and a big TV, this is a good choice. If you are looking for nice rooms, quiet nights, and a clean pool, you may want to pass on this one. We only picked this hotel because we wanted a cheap place next to Waterbom Park, knowing we'd spend the day at the park and not the hotel. It served its purpose for one night and one night only. You can find this hotel in an internet search.
Note: We did not use an travel agents for any of these hotels. We had direct and personal contact with each of the hotels I have mentioned. Every one of them worked with us on rates. You won't find any hotel in our review that did not allow negotiations on rates and services, because we didn't stay with them.
I have pictures of most of the hotels above and will send them by email on request. micronesianhunters@yahoo.com