tour? can you say what that involves? It is VERY cheap to hire a guide/driver once there- infact embarrassingly cheap. We are going in August and doing a twin centre in Bali- Ubud and Sanur. Ubud giving a totally different experience from Sanur. Bali is small enough to get anywhere during the day.

The tour is with Kuoni. It starts with 1 or 2 days relaxing at your choice of hotel (we may go for the Puri Santrian) then travel to Ulundanu temple, Candikuning market and gardens, 2 nights at Lovina in a choice of hotels then on to Kintamani village, Mount Batur, Sebatu village. 2 nights in Ubud (choice of hotels). On to Batu balan village, Bali bird park, Celuk village, Mas village. Next day temple of Besakih, Mount Agung, Elephant cave, salak plantations,Teneganan. 1 night in Candidasa then visit to bat caves and on for 8 nights in choice of beach hotel. I like doing the organised tour thing as if it's up to me I find it hard to motivate myself to do anything when I'm on hols. If it's a set itinery I'll just get on with it and enjoy it. We were looking at the Bali Hyatt for the last 8 days. It seems pretty central and I've read some good reviews about it. They do upgrades to regency club rooms and that includes breakfast, early evening cocktails and all day tea and cofffee. It sounds like it's near restaurants etc. I'm just thinking , in one of your previous posts did you mention it was a bit srtange looking from the outside or was that a different hotel?

Bali Hyatt doesn't look pretty from the outside but it does get good reviews and it certainly has bigger grounds than PS. Sanur- you can eat at 10pm but things really wind up by midnight. we just adjusted to that and came back and sat outside on the verandah and had a drink or two or three......
Re shacks- yes some did have loungers and we plan to use them this time round. Food is fab!
I'm sure the tour will be good

Hi GEC,

Like yourself we had difficulty in choosing a hotel in Sanur (unfortunately we willnot be ther until 1 Oct , so we will not be able to offer much advice). We chose the Puri Santrian, club rooms, but are still uncertain about the choice.

We found a reasonable (but old) photo of the Hyatt here http://pages.interlog.com/~wwhite/indones.html . (Choose Bali - Sanur Beach link)

Hope that this helps.

All the best

Peter

Peter, thanks for the link. It looks ok to me. I enjoyed reading the report too. I checked out wwww.bali.resort.hyatt.com. as well. They have a virtual tour and the rooms look really lovely. I also rang Hayes and Jarvis to price a similar tour and stay. It cost around the same but their tour was only 3 days. I THINK my mind's made up. I will go with the Kuoni tour staying the first night in the Puri Santrian, then the Hyatt for the last 8 days. All I have to do now is convince my OH that this is the right choice for us. He usually trusts my judgement as he won't spend the time with all the initial searching and reading etc. (can't be bothered with the packing either - but we'll not dwell on that!!)
Fiona , the beach shacks sound good to me. I love Goa so I hope they're similar. It will be no problem eating a wee bit earlier and retiring to our verandah for night caps. We're not looking for much night life, just good food and drinks. Sounds like bliss!!!
Peter, we'll be there when you are, so who knows, our paths may cross at some stage.
Thank you all for the help. Will let you know if I book it and no doubt I will have a few more questions.
Gail & Ray

the shacks will not be the same as Goa as they concentrate on the restaurant part and not sunbeds. But there are sunbeds to be had. Bali is pretty spectacular. Have you looked at the photos here?

Lovely photos. The sunset with the locals is beautiful. It's been a while since we've been to the Far East but I can't wait to return. Still haven't spoken to my OH re booking. He's been away on business and his flight home was cancelled, so not a good time to talk to him about holidays to Bali, considering the flight time. I've been looking at some more hotels and am considering the Resor Seminayak. It sounds like it's close to a lot of good restaurants and we really enjoy food. Reviews I've read are ok. Another one I'm looking at is Bumas hotel. Small but friendly.

We're stayin at the Sri Phala when we go in October- small, and looks lovely.

Well after much consideration and discussion with my other half we have finally decided on the H & J tour with Malaysia Airlines via KL. Then we're going to a bungalow in the Puri Santrian for 9 days. Really looking forward to it now that it's booked.
Thanks for your help.
Gail & Ray

we were in a bungalow in PS- lovely!

Hi GEC (Gail and Ray),

We are travelling via Singapore and arrive Bali 1 Oct. At the PS Club, departing 13 Oct - so indeed our paths may cross.

My photo is on my Avatar - you shouldn't miss us! (unfortunately - the Avatar has more hair than I do)

Regards

Peter & Janet

Peter & Janet, we'll look out for you. We have 2 nights at the PS on the 29th & 30th Sept. Then 4 days away on the tour and back on 4th to 13th Oct. We're from N. Ireland so you can listen out for the accents. Fiona, the bungalows look lovely. The photo of the verandah is very impressive. I can just imagine sitting there with a drink or 2 in the evenings. I hope we get an outside bathroom. We stayed in a hotel in Sri Lanka with an open air bathroom with a palm tree growing in it and I loved it. I'm not too worried about creepy crawlies. Do you know if there are many mossies around in Sept/ Oct? I was hoping there wouldn't be as it's the dry season.

We pretty much have the same dates as well, arrive in Bali on 3rd October and leave 13th via KL

we didn't get an outdoor bathroom. if sitting out at dusk- watch out for the bats

Hi again GEC

Do you know if there are many mossies around in Sept/ Oct? I was hoping there wouldn't be as it's the dry season.

Last time we stayed in Bali we were in Benoa (early October). There were mossies around (not too many). I would imagine that Sanur won't be so very different.

Fiona - at least you can see the bats!

Cheers

Peter

There were definitely mossies in August but we weren't bothered by them. A good tip- garlic capsules starting a month before you go- I used to get bitten hundreds of time( and I'm not joking here!) but only ever get a rogue bite now.

Fiona - what's the difference between PS bungalows and club rooms ? Thanks

we had to think about whether to go for the clubrooms as we liked our bungalow so much. The clubrooms are more spacious and have a seperate dressing area. There is also a pool which is exclusively for club rooms. Not sure what its like as we couldn't access the first time.
I hope we have made the right decision!

Fiona, I'll try your tip about the garlic capsules. I have quite a bad reaction to mossie bites and normally use loads of insect repellant. I'll look forward to seeing the bats. We have lots of them round our house and they're amazing to watch flying around at night. We considered the club rooms too. They look really nice. We eventually opted for the bungalows but I don't know if this was the right choice or not. I'm sure we'll have a great time anyway.