Bali

Headed to Bali in Dec., landing in Denspaire. Anyone have any good hotel recommendations, not too expensive?-Steve

We'll be staying here in the next few weeks..supposed to be nice..

http://www.santrian.com/sc-index.htm

M.

Steve, I stayed at the Patra Bali. Just a short (minutes) cab ride from the airport. Huge property right on the beach. Several pools, bars restuarnts. Hardly anyone there at the time I stayed in December. Large rooms, very clean.

Had room service dinner, breakfast, laundry done and it was less than $60 for the night as I recall. The prices quoted are pretty high so maybe a call to your travel agent would help. Went through one that was in Bali although the savings weren't worth the hair pulling trying to communicate with them for the Hotel stay and my airline reservation to Manado.

http://baliwww.com/index/hotel_detail/overview/71.html

Rand

Not cheap in absolute terms, but for relative value, an amazing place, is the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua. I've stayed there four separate times, and I think the last time it was $110/night, but it is a 5-star luxury resort that would cost $250-350/night almost anywhere else in the world. Better yet, if you're a Starwood Preferred Guest member, it only costs 3,000 Starwood points a night, which is (if you figure points are worth 2c ea) only the equivalent of $60/night! The nice thing about it is that they have private grounds and you feel safe, and the food is excellent (especially their cheeseburgers, which -- after a few weeks diving -- taste like heaven ).

I stayed at the Grand Mirage Hotel in Nusa Dua (about 20min from the airport), it is a very nice hotel, and I paid about $40/night, but this was back in 2000, I am sure it will be more expensive now.

Just returned from my month in Bali and Komodo, and I have a fabulous hotel to tell you about. It is called the Parigata Resort and Spa, and it is in Sanur. It is absolutely charming, quiet, clean, right on the beach next to some great restaurants and around $50 to $60 depending on the season, and include a cooked to order buffet breakfast. Do not confuse it with the Parigata Villas, which are also marvelous, but decided more upscale. It's 20 minutes from the airport, at most. You do not want to stay in Denpasar...noisy, traffic, etc.

They do have a website which you can find via Google.

Cheers,

Marli