Our trip to Bali was very much a last minute choice and governed by local weather, availability of flights and accommodation. Following the death of Janet's father and the cancellation of our trip to Thailand, in March we really were much in need of a break - especially Janet.
We were able to get flights with SIA, via Singapore, and a club room at the Bali Hyatt. We were also able to get a package deal from Hays & Jarvis, at a lower price than booking directly with SIA and the Hyatt.
Our outbound flight to Singapore on an A380 was excellent - the seats, food and service were all better than anticipated in economy class. We had a 2 1/2 hour transfer in Singapore, so there was not too much time spent at Changi and our B777-300 flight down to Denpasar was very good.
The immigration process was faster than we have ever known. Visa on Arrival is still USD 25 per person but we were at the front of the queue and we were soon on our way to our hotel.
We checked in at the Hyatt club lounge where we were recognised by some of the staff and treated like old friends. The reception was exceptional. . The process was both efficient and welcoming. Our club room, whilst by no means new, was very clean with all necessary amenities (including separate bath and shower), plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, and fresh fruit and flowers. Tea, coffee, water were in plentiful supply as were all supplies in the bathroom. Although we were tired, we unpacked, showered and went down to the club lounge for early evening complimentary drinks and canapes. We got our second wind and relaxed - we were on vacation! We had a room-service evening meal, however, and were in bed shortly after 10:00 pm.
The intention was just to take a relaxing 2 week break. Having visited Bali several times before, we concentrated on the beach during the day, the restaurants and village in the evening and an occasional (no, frequent) glass of alcoholic beverage. The beach was great, the sunbeds well attended and well served and the weather was excellent (only two, light, showers in the early evening which never inconvenienced us).
This was, by far, our best experience at the Hyatt and in Sanur. I will post a hotel review in the next few days.
Sanur Restaurants.
Including our in-room meal, on the first first night, we ate in the Hyatt no less than 6 times. Twice in the Talaga Naga, Chinese Restaurant which was absolutely first class, twice in the Omang Omang grill which served a selection of good grilled meats and fish and we also had a good buffet Indonesian meal as part of an Indonesian themed night. This theme night was a most enjoyable evening with Balinese dancing.
We also ate in CharMing, which we found lacking in atmosphere. The menu / food were, we thought, unexceptional and poor value for money. Resto Ming has now disappeared totally - we wish that it would return (in its old form). Jepun (lower cost) lacked any quality. We ate twice at Mades warung, which serves low cost and reasonable food, and once at an "Italian" style restaurant, La BaRacca, which had good food, good service and was very good value.
The best meal, setting aside the Hyatt, was at the Mezzanine in the Puri Santrian hotel. As on previous visits we had good food and excellent service in nice surroundings. Although rather expensive,it was real taste of civilisation.
Sanur Village
Sanur is changing with more western style shops and outlets. It is not yet spoiled, but the Balinese "feel" is lessening. Progress is inevitable and the Balinese people seem to have the ability to absorb change very well. I hope that the change is not too rapid and Westernisation does not overtake the local culture.
Regent has just opened a new hotel a few hundred yards South of the Hyatt. Upmarket and expensive it will be interesting to see if this hotel makes an impact on the Hyatt. My impression, from the outside only, is that it looked to be a stylish hotel, not particularly Balinese, that could have been built anywhere.
Ubud
We took our usual trip to Ubud, and this we found to be rather a disappointment. Ubud is always busy but this time it was jam packed. If Westernisation is taking place in Sanur, Ubud has been hit even harder. With an influx of "designer" shops, quasi-sophisticated bars and restaurants - ostensibly catering for every artistic, spiritual and bodily requirement - this was not the Ubud that we remembered. We booked in to an old favourite, Ananda Cottages, and obtained our preferred room. Unfortunately there were air-conditioning problems and a rather noisy Australian family with young children staying in the next villa. This rather spoiled the peace and tranquility that we had known previously and for which Ubud is renowned.
We arranged a two hour package at Bliss Spa, which we frequently use when in Ubud. Bliss is a sister property to Ananda Cottages and, as with most places, it had changed. Despite having a booking, we were made to wait 30 minutes on arrival. We were then shown to an ageing, upper floor treatment room and given a very poor treatment which ended with us being told that the booked jacuzzi session was not available. Yes Ubud is changing. We wished that we had booked into the Maya Ubud, where we had stayed on our last visit. Expensive, yes, but with top class self-contained facilities - the only drawback being its rather remote location.
Ubud did not live up to expectations, but neither did it spoil our holiday.
Time on this holiday really flew past. This was, almost certainly, because of the wonderful service and staff at the Bali Hyatt, where had to do little for ourselves. Indeed the most stressful (and extremely enjoyable) part of the break was when I was asked to be the guest judge in a Hyatt Staff and children's painting competition - "Celebrating our People". An excellent day where the painting skills of the very enthusiastic participants, using bamboo "brushes" and acrylic paints were displayed, showing their amazing talent.
Return to UK
It is worth noting that Denpasar has re-introduced a 150,000 IDR, per person, departure tax. This seemed to have diasappeared a few years ago and was tax inclusive within the airline ticket price - now it is back!
Our flight to Singapore by SIA by 777-300 was, once again excellent and we had precisely 1 hour to transfer onto our UK flight.
The UK leg, however, was one of the poorest long-haul, scheduled, flights that we have ever taken. Initially delayed by almost 1 hour, the A380 was packed. The first meal service was without hot drinks, due to turbulence - cold drinks were served until the turbulence was passed. Unfortunately, our side of the aircraft never received the hot drink service. Indeed, it was difficult to get any drinks for the majority of the flight. The regular juice and water service never really appeared. Similarly the mid-flight snack service, of sandwiches and rolls, never materialised. The two toilets in our section went unchecked. The floor in one toilet became awash with urine and the other became plastered with excrement. Not even a re-supply of paper hand towels had been made. Following my complaint this was rectified.
For some reason the pre-landing meal was served approximately 5 hours prior to arrival in London. Fortunately various complaints were obviously listened to and, at least, we could subsequently get refreshments.
Singapore Airlines badly need to ensure a consistently good service is provided. We will certainly think twice about flying SIA when there are other airline "hubs" to use.
Peter
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Edited by
PeteB
2013-07-03 21:53:13
