Bali Accommodation

Bali Indonesia has an extraordinary range of accommodations, much of it good value. Most cities have a number of hotels offering air-conditioned rooms with TV, mini bar, hot water, swimming pool, etc. for $100 / night and up. At the other end of the scale, you can stay in a $15 / night losmen with communal squat toilet (bring your own toilet paper), a tub of cold water with ladle for a bath, and a bunk with no towel or clean linen (provide your own). And there's just about everything in between: from decrepit colonial hill stations to luxurious new thatchedroof huts in the middle of rice fields. A hierarchy of lodgings and official terminology has been set by the government. A “hotel” is an up-market establishment catering to businessmen, middle-to upper-class travelers and tourists. A star-rating (one to five stars) is applied according to the range of facilities. Smaller places with no stars and basic facilities are not referred to as hotels but as losmen, wisma (guesthouse) or penginapan (accommodation) and cater to the traveling masses and budget tourists.

Prices and quality very enormously. In the major cities that don't have many tourists, such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan, there is little choice in the middle ranges and you have to either pay a lot or settle for a room in a losmen. In areas where there are a lot of tourists, such as Bali, you can get clean and very comfortable rooms with fan or air-conditioning for less than $50 a night. In small towns and remote areas, you don't have much choice and all accommodations tend to be very basic. It's common to ask to see the room before checking in. shop around before deciding, particularly if the hotel offers different rooms at different rates. Avoid carpeted rooms, especially without air-conditioning, as usually they are damp and this makes the room smell.

Advance booking are necessary during peak tourist seasons (July to August, Christmas and New Year and the Muslim Lebaran holidays). Popular resorts are always packed on weekends, and prices often double, so travel instead during the week when it's cheaper and quieter. In many hotels, discounts of up to 10%-15% off published rates are to be had for the asking. Booking in advance through the Internet, travel agencies or hotel association counters at airports can also result in a lower rate. Larger hotel invariably add 21% tax and service to the bill.

An increasingly busy area with many hotels and resorts of all categories right on or near the beach (powerful waves, strong currents). Many restaurants and shops along the main road. Located between Kuta and Bali's international airport. Crowded beach many vendors, masseuses, beach boys, etc, high waves, strong currents lined by numerous hotels and resorts, mostly in the 2- to 4-star categories. Legian grown into one township during the past decade and spreading further north every month are the centers of Bali's night life with a great number of restaurants, pubs, open bars, discos, and all kinds of super markets, department stores, and shops selling casual wear and beach fashions, antiques, handicrafts and souvenirs. Daily traffic jams and many, sometimes quite insistent hawkers have made this very untypical and rather ugly part of Bali a nightmare for many visitors.

Bali's southern peninsula is where you find today most of the island's international 4- and 5-star Bali Hotels and Resorts - set in Nusa Dua's manicured and not very Balinese garden environment. Nice beach with shallow water, no high waves. All kinds of water sports, 18-hole golf course. Nusa Dua Galleria center with a variety of rather expensive restaurants, shops, and department stores. Some more reasonably priced restaurants are located in adjacent Tanjung Benoa and Bualu village. No night life to speak of. About 12 km/7.5 miles from the airport. An increasing number of private villas is being built on the Bukit, the hill South of the airport. Many of these offer spectacular views of the sea, Kuta, Denpasar, Sanur and Bali's mountains. The climate is much cooler and much more dry – even if it rains in most parts of Bali you can expect sunny days here.

Bali's best beach with decent hotels and accommodation: nearly white sand, waves not too high for swimming, wind surfing, and sailing. With fantastic ocean and sunsets scenery Jimbaran area become most chosen place for International hotels and resorts such as Ritz Carlton, Four Season and Bvlgari Resorts & villas. Just for information Bvlgari only built 2 hotels which is in Milan and Bali. A few up-market hotels and resorts, and a fast increasing number of unpretentious but good seafood restaurants right on the water front. Highly recommended for watching Bali's famous sunsets.

Ubud is where most accomplished painters, dancers, musicians, carvers and weavers live and work, and there are a number of very good museums and art galleries. Because of its location at the base of the mountains (about 19 miles or 30 kilometers north of Denpasar) temperatures are slightly lower than in the lowlands, and year-round rain showers help to grow lush tropical vegetation. The town itself has developed rapidly during the past decade, and today the main roads are lined with art shops, handicraft and souvenir shops, as well as many restaurants and cafes. Until late afternoon tourist groups and other day-visitors are roaming shops and eateries. After sunset, Ubud becomes more quiet. Accommodation ranges from very cheap, very basic "losmens", quite expensive but equally basic "losmens", to some of Bali's best-known and most expensive boutique hotels and beautiful private villas. Most of these are located in Sayan a few miles away overlooking the picturesque Ayung river valley.