Well - another one over and what a great time.

Flew Singapore Airlines economy (first time for 5 years) to Bali with a 3 day 'stopover' deal in Singapore.

Firstly, I must say that SIA appear to be getting their act together again. The flights, food and service couldn't be faulted. All flights arrived, on all sectors, slightly ahead of schedule. The only let down was the 'officious' little man at Heathrow, who held us back for check-in even though we had already checked in on line. We were held back in the normal queue despite the fact that there was no-one in the 'internet check-in' queue, so any gains made expecting a fast bag drop were not realised. Not surprisingly the internet check-in queue remained relatively quiet as no one could get to it!

Singapore had changed in the 5 years since we last visited. Taking advantage of the SIA stopover deals package, we took a cheap (30% off) "City Experience" tour which took in the main sights and areas and included the Botanic Gardens. We already had vouchers from SIA for free entrance to the Orchid Gardens - so this worked out very well. In addition to the 30% discount on the City Experience tour, SIA provided a free lunch voucher. We therefore terminated the tour at Clarke Quay, rather than our hotel, had lunch in Hooters and then took a bumboat ride down the river (also FOC as part of the stopover package). The tour did not introduce anything new to us, in fact the time constraints were rather frustrating. If you have never been to Singapore before and are on a tight schedule, however, this could be an ideal way to locate the main areas of interest enabling a follow up visit to be made.

We had three nights in Singapore and ate in Bugis Village (Hawker Centre) Arab Street (Halal Indian) and Chinatown. As usual the food was excellent.

SIA stopovers provide low cost hotel accommodation. Unfortunately we were not able to get rooms in the first 4 (yes four) hotels of our choice and we therefore opted for a hotel near Raffles and the Carlton - the Allson.

It was typical of many stopover hotels - probably 3 star. The rooms were on the small side, but well furnished, comfortable with good, quiet air-conditioned, in-room safe, tea / coffee / kettle etc. No free water was provided in the room however (the first time we have encountered this). There is a 7-11 almost next door, so this presented no problem. Indeed, we could have bought water from the mini-bar in the room, but as a point of principle we did not intend to pay mini-bar prices. I will do a review of the hotel, but as we were never there - apart from sleeping - we found it perfectly adequate for 3 nights.

The SIA stopover provides complementary transfers from / to Changi airport. We upgraded to a private transfer (at modest cost) and this worked out well. Once again we used internet check-in and arrived at Changi about 1.5 hours before our flight was due to depart for Bali. We checked in and were in the Duty Free area within about 10 minutes of arriving at the airport - if only Heathrow were so efficient.

Flight to Bali absolutely first rate and arrival and formalities in Bali (including Visa on arrival) was relatively painless compared to the security queues at Heathrow! We had pre-arranged transfers and were met and transported to the Puri Santrian without problems.

On checking in we tried to arrange a Spa package two days later, on Janet's birthday. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that we were not going to receive the Singapore Airlines 50% discount on Spa treatments http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/microsites/promotions/boardingpass_R3/bali/bali-lifestyle02.html as we had obtained a discount or our room rate, rather than pay the rack rate or from the hotel directly. This was of course nonsense - the discount was for SIA boarding pass privileges and nothing to do where we were staying and how much we had paid!

We decided that we would try to find another Spa, locally, before booking. Unfortunately we were unable to find one and we were then too late to book for Janet's birthday. We did book later in our holiday (fairly expensive at between US $120 and $150 plus 21% Service and Tax per couple) and we could not fault this Spa. Massage is available on the beach at around 50,000 rupiah per hour (less than £3) so we had a massage almost every day.

We had booked club rooms which give access to the private pool, free afternoon tea and cake and continental breakfast. I will write a proper review of the hotel when I get time, but suffice it to say that whilst we enjoyed Sanur and the Puri Santrian (and would, perhaps stay there in future) we were dissatisfied with the 'Club' setup.

Our room was 'tired' - needing a good coat of paint. The club pool had no pool bar or drinks service, was surrounded by high buildings and therefore had little cooling breeze (or afternoon sun). Continental breakfast was provided in the main beach restaurant (a short trek from the club pool) as was the afternoon tea. Hardly the anticipated club facilities as far as I am concerned.

Forum member GEC was also staying at the PS, in a bungalow, and after viewing their accommodation we would probably opt for bungalow accommodation, should we return to the PS.

Whilst we have been to Bali before, this was our first visit to Sanur. We were impressed by the village and the restaurants, but singularly unimpressed by the beach at the PS. Whilst it is a fact that Balinese beaches are not the best, the nearest major hotels (Hyatt to the North and Sanur Beach and Mercure to the South / West) had nicer beaches which were cleaned and raked over daily. The breach at the PS is smaller, not kept as clean and tidy and certainly not as good as the beaches at Nusa Dua.

Whilst mentioning the Hyatt, the accommodation appears to be in 3 'barrack' style blocks - vaguely reminiscent of the old 16 Para Brigade barracks in Aldershot. We were told by people staying there that the rooms were not up to the same standard as those at the PS.

There are some good local beachfront restaurants a couple of minutes towards the Sanur beach hotel - we preferred Donalds and Cemara Beach which were handy at lunch time. GEC will probably have other recommendations further along the beach.

Restaurants in the village were very good. We ate at the hotel's Mezzanine restaurant - very good (3 visits, but beware - the 20% residents discount at this restaurant applies to food only, not to drinks with the meal); Ming's (where we had Janet's birthday meal) - very good; Double Dutch (we had a rib-eye steak here that can only be described as excellent), Casa Luna, Jepun (visited this one twice so can't have been bad) plus others.

We also took advantage of a Bali theme night at the PS. The dancing was very good (probably the best we have seen at a hotel) and the food reasonable - although better food may be found locally. All in all, an enjoyable evening

Street traders in both the village and on the seafront can be persistent and a nuisance. In most cases a polite but firm 'no, thank you' seemed to do the trick.

We decided that we would go to Ubud for a couple of days, anticipating that we would have no problem with accommodation. Never take anything for granted! We were unable to get into our first choice hotel, Alam Shanti (I blame the good reviews on the internet) or sister hotels Alan Indah or Alam Jiwa. We stayed, instead at the Ananda Cottages which was an excellent choice. There are 26 cottages / suites and 3 pools! We had a double aspect upstairs room with views over paddy fields (behind) and one of the small pools (side). The Ananda also has its own Spa (aptly named 'Bliss'). This was once again excellent and phenomenal value. 2 hour treatment for a couple worked out at less than £25 plus 10% tax and service! We looked at temples, dances, carvers, painters, silversmiths etc., and had a most relaxing couple of days. We will certainly go back to Ubud for 2 or 3 nights (and probably to Ananda) on our next visit.

Rather than return directly from Ubud to Sanur, we hired a vehicle with an English speaking guide, to go to Lake Batur and the volcano, visiting the temple of the water god and a spice garden (free entry, free Balinese coffee to drink and no hard sell of anything). A thoroughly great day out, getting back to Sanur at dusk, for about £25.

All too soon our holiday was over. We used the internet to check in for our flights 48 hours before we left the hotel. This was an excellent move as there was no queuing at all at the airport despite there being a long tail back for normal check-in. We were unaware of (or had forgotten about) the 100,000 Rp per person 'passenger service charge' levied when leaving Bali. We were able to pay this in GBP at an extortionate £7.50 per person, losing almost £2 pp on the deal! This one is worth remembering in the future!

Great flight from Bali to Singapore; a bit of rush to get our connecting flight (50 minutes - long hike between gates) and then 13 further hours of travel to Heathrow, landing approx 10 minutes early.

Will we go back to Bali? - Probably
Will we fly SIA? - Probably
Will we stopover en-route in Singapore? - Probably
Will we stay at the Puri Santrian? - Possibly

Note to GEC.
It was good meeting up. We wish you both all the very best and hope that our paths cross again. We also hope that the people in your fish restaurant will not be kept up half the night by our successors! Thank you for your company,
Peter & Janet