As promised, here\’s part 2 of the Bali series! This post will cover the hotels we stayed in during our time there. It\’s even better because the hotels nicely fit into three different price points so there\’s really something for everyone! If you missed the first part of the series on what we did, you can find it here.
We began our trip in the Maya Sanur Resort & Spa, this hotel falls into the mid-level price point. We arrived at the Denpasar Airport at about midnight and a hotel taxi picked us up for about $30. It was about a 45 minute drive and we arranged this when we made our reservation, along with opting for breakfast to be included with our room charge for $5 a person. Upon checking in, even though it was so late, we were greeted with warm towels and juice! Overall, the Maya was very beautiful. Each room has a balcony, which from the outside look like bird nests. There are first floor rooms that have patios that directly open onto a pool area. For the room choices I would opt for either the first floor with the pool patio or the fourth floor in order to have a view of the ocean (this is what we had). On the roof level of the hotel is a beautiful garden with spectacular views that you can freely walk through. The location of the hotel was phenomenal; on one side is a private strip of beach right outside the restaurant and bar, on the other is the main street in Sanur with shops and restaurants all within walking distance.
Within the hotel itself there are 4 restaurants; Reef by the beach which is open all day, Graze an urban-deli which also features breakfast options all day, Kuu a Japanese restaurant, and the Tree Bar located between the pool and the beach with happy hour specials from 5pm-7pm & 9pm-10pm every day. If you opt for breakfast at the hotel in the mornings it is a buffet at Graze, served from 7am-10am. We ate there every morning and there were plenty of choices. Typically I had yogurt, toast, fruit, waffles or french toast, and some sort of pastry.
The Tree Bar was our second favorite because they had the yummiest juices. I had a watermelon, mint, lime juice & a lime, mint juice. Both were amazing! Another fun option they have for food is an exotic fire dance performance with a full buffet on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7pm for about $20 per person. Aside from food the hotel has a fitness center with a yoga studio that offers a free class for all levels everyday at 7:30am. It also has a full service spa with wraps, scrubs, and massages. Lastly, they offer a variety of activities like cooking classes, excursions, and roof top picnics.
Our second hotel was the Viceroy Bali in Ubud, which is a 5-star luxury hotel and a very well-known honeymoon spot. It\’s owned by an Australian couple, who we actually were able to meet during our stay. The hotel is situated above the Valley of the Kings just outside of Ubud. This hotel is absolutely stunning, you walk through the lobby to a staircase to the negative edge pool, open air restaurant, and just so much green! We were given super yummy ginger, brown sugar welcome drinks with rum once we were in our room and they kindly explained everything about our room and the hotel. We also had a very nice letter from the owners, along with a keepsake bronze elephant, waiting for us on the bed.
It is a bit of a steep walk to and from some rooms so they offer a cart service you can call for, but we rarely used it. We easily walked to and from the one restaurant, Cascades, for breakfast each morning. Again we opted for this to be included in our room charge and it was well worth it. It isn\’t served buffet style, but you can choose anything from the menu between 7am-10am. I had yogurt, french toast, and eggs and toast while we were there. We only ate dinner at the restaurant one night, it happened to be the night they had a traditional dance performance, but it was very yummy with a good variety of options.
Along with the restaurant, just next door to it is the Lembah Spa. I had a Balinese body scrub & flower bath, both treatments were lovely! The flower bath was almost too pretty to get in, I tried my best to not mess it up but it\’s more difficult than I expected. These were my first ever spa treatments and they did a great job, I felt very comfortable and relaxed. We opted to have the services done in the spa, but they also have the option to do them in your room.
They also offer many excursions you can choose from like learning to make tradition offering baskets, helicopter tours, and trekking tours. The thing we really used the most was the free shuttle they had from the hotel to Ubud center. It runs from 7am-11pm and had two drop-off points; one near Ubud Market (which is what we did) and one near the Monkey Forest. This saved us a ton on taxi fares! We did end up hiring a car through the hotel for one hour to take us to the rice terraces, it was reasonably priced and very comfortable. Plus, he found the terraces that hadn\’t been cut yet!
Our villa was the Vice Regal. It had the prettiest bathroom, a gorgeous view of the river valley, and a private pool. It was situated at the end of a corridor with beautiful wall carvings of elephants. My favorite part was the little monkey that walked across the wall past our pool!
Our last hotel was GrandMas Plus in Seminyak, Bali. It\’s about 45 minutes from the Denpasar airport, and 1 hour 45 minutes from Ubud. This is a super cost-effective option, especially considering it\’s an easy 5 minute walk to Seminyak Beach and 20 minute walk to Seminyak Square. We were only here for one night so we didn\’t experience a lot within the hotel, but the location you just can\’t pass up!
The hotel has a super cute open-air lobby, right across from the restaurant and pool. Our room was simple, but comfortable. There is an option to have breakfast included in your room charge, but we opted to just find breakfast at one of the cafes nearby. They also offer free morning yoga as well.
I hope this shows that no matter your budget, there really is a place for you in Bali! One last point to mention is all three hotels had free wifi, which was really great. I would comfortably recommend staying with any of them if you venture to Bali soon!
xoxocierra.com 