A belated trip report - Bali and Kuala Lumpur September 2010

Sorry for the belated report, but haven't had much spare time in the last few months; however I wanted to share the experience.

This was a very much DIY holiday, returning to Bali as we just love the place.

We flew MAS via KL, (all flights economy) but unfortunately had a delay on the LHR/KUL leg and missed our onward flight to DPS. MAS were excellent, waiting at the arrivals gate with onward boarding passes on a later flight, which because of our delay meant a wait of about 1 ½ hours. No problem at KLIA as there is sufficient to look at. We took the precaution of phoning the Hyatt (I can hear you groan if you read my previous trip report for Bali, 2009) as we had pre-booked their transport, directly with the hotel.

On arrival at DPS we searched for the Hyatt driver for around 30 minutes and eventually had to phone the hotel on my UK mobile - a lengthy call as I was told that all senior staff were in a meeting and it was only with a supreme effort (and supreme patience) that I managed to get hold of someone who could /would assist. Strangely enough within 5 minutes the Hyatt driver appeared from nowhere, saying he had been tied up with previous passengers.

On arrival we were made very welcome and shown to an ocean view club suite - spacious but rather functional. The club staff at this hotel are excellent and are a credit to Hyatt. The room, however, was tired and the bathroom required a deep clean - a point that took several days to get through to the staff.

Sanur has changed very little, although the coast path between the Hyatt and Sanur main town is in need of repair in several places. The restaurants were still pleasant, but here we had some surprises.

The best food that we found was at the Hyatt's Chinese restaurant and at the Veranda at the Puri Santrian - both were excellent. The worst food was at the Hyatt's "Italian" restaurant - poor service and poor food. Jepun seems to have changed and was no more than OK. We had a couple of meals at CharMing, the first very good, the second indifferent and Ming's itself really lacked atmosphere and that special touch that we found on previous visits. We also ate at Mades a couple of times - simple, inexpensive, reasonable quality, food with good service. We never managed to get a table in Warung Pregina but, judging by the number of people eating there, don't doubt that it is still a great place for a typical meal.

For a quick drink or snack/light meal, the Komilfo which is a couple of hundred metres along the beach path is a very welcoming bar which serves food. Opposite the Komilfo, in the side street is a good, inexpensive indoor massage salon which we used fairly frequently.

The Spa at the Hyatt was excellent, staff and facilities were extremely good and, whilst expensive (for Bali), we would not hesitate to recommend it.

We took our usual trip to Ubud, through the countryside and rice paddies and stayed in the Maya Ubud. Quite an experience and one that we will definitely repeat!

The Maya is a short distance outside of the town and just oozes stylish simplicity with luxury touches. From the moment that you arrive the service is excellent. We had a villa with a private pool overlooking the ravine of the Petanu river. The grounds surrounding the villa were completely enclosed by vegetation, except for the river view and offered complete privacy. The food and service were excellent and we were greeted by the general manager, personally. We had a spa treatment in one of their couples, riverside pavilions and I can only describe our stay as pure bliss! We do like our comforts, but this rated as one of our best experiences in SE Asia http://www.mayaubud.com/ .

Back to the Hyatt for a final few days, more beach and pool (despite, once again, experiencing damp weather and overcast skies).

There is something about Bali, to me, which is like a magnet. I am sure that we will return - please Hyatt, refurbish this hotel. It is in a great location with good staff!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we chose not to take the Hyatt transport to the airport, preferring the services of a local company which had arranged the Maya Ubud for us.

An uneventful trip to KL and then a great transfer to the Shangri-La.

We had never tried the Ekspress train service previously, taking taxi transfers. I noticed a VIP service was advertised on the web and this seemed to be a very reasonable price for a transfer of two people - so we booked! We were met by a young man, just prior to baggage reclaim. This chap collected our luggage, provided our transfer tickets and escorted us to the train, installed us and our cases and accompanied us on the journey to KL central station. There he once again took our cases to a waiting car, loaded our bags and sent us off to the hotel, where our cases were unloaded and taken to reception (the reverse was repeated on the return journey). The bottom line was that at a very reasonable rate (below that charged by some TOs for private transfer by car) we had a fully serviced transfer in a fraction of the time that it normally takes to drive!

Check in at the Shangri-La was fast and efficient. We had a great club room and I can thoroughly recommend the club facilities at this hotel. All staff and facilities were excellent, although the pool area is rather small.

We only had 4 nights at the Shangri-La and we spent our time going up the Menora tower (better views than the Petronas and no queuing for tickets), Bukit Bintang, Petaling street and the usual tourist stuff (shopping - which Janet loves and which I hate).

We had one meal in the Shangri-La's Lafite restaurant, which we found to be indifferent, expensive and lacking atmosphere. We had the good fortune (following a recommendation from a Shangri-la Indian staff member) of also trying the Bombay Palace, Indian restaurant. Great food, great service and sensibly priced - I would not hesitate to recommend.

VIP Ekspress transfer to KLIA for LHR flight was first class and flight by MAS was most acceptable.

An interesting trip, still love Bali but may try Seminyak or Jimbaran next time.

Please note that these are personal opinions and views only, based upon our experience September 2010.

Peter