Bali - Where we stayed.

Finding a proper accommodation in Bali proved to be a more daunting task than what we imagined. Of course this task would have be much easier if we had a bigger budget. Since we wanted something good and cheap, we spent many hours searching for hotels and comments from the internet. Anyway it’s not that we’ll be cooped up in the hotel room all the time, right? My initial plan was to use dad’s Leisure Holidays membership to get free hotel stays but they didn’t have any rooms available plus the LH service was really bad. Eventually we decided to stay at 2 nights at Kuta and the remaining 2 nights at Ubud, at our own expense. I was glad that we did stay in 2 different places because it was a different experience altogether.

Bakung’s Beach Cottages, Kuta.

Considering that it’s USD30 per night for peak season, and inclusive of attached bathroom, hot bath, air-con and breakfast, we couldn’t complain much. Although the room has seen better days, it was quite clean, the bed was nice and firm and they had a small mini TV. I was a bit geli-fied with the toilet/bathroom though. Looked kinda gross with “age-stains”. As for the hot bath, you’ll really have to pray before you shower. It will fail on you anytime and you’ll have to end up taking cold showers. The water takes a long time to heat up as well. A tip is to turn on the shower the moment you step into the room, hopefully it will be warm by the time you want to shower. When the time harby wants to shower the water became cold again. Haha.. I guess these experiences that make lasting memories! Anyway I have to say that the exterior setting of the hotel is quite nice though. Amenities like bottled water and food are easily available around here. In fact there’s a little grocery store located right in front of the hotel which sells bottled water at reasonable prices. The hotel's location along Jalan Kartika Plaza made it really strategic for shopping. Kuta Square is just a 10 minutes walk away. We shopped for 8 hours straight!!

Our room

Bakung's Beach Cottages - the exterior

Beautiful door carvings is a common sight in Bali

"Paper" effigy made from dried grass

Nick’s Hidden Cottages, Ubud.

We initially booked Nick’s Pension. When we got there, the receptionist told us that the rooms are fully booked and they’ll have to put us at Nick’s Hidden Cottages which is further down the road. Apparently this Nick guy owns 3 lodges in Bali (Nick’s homestay, Nick’s Pension and Nick’s Hidden Cottages, with Nick’s homestay being the lowest range). They are really nice to provide us with free transportation there. Although it was a short distance, the road was dark and bumpy. As I saw 2 guys standing at the side of the road, our car slowed down. I thought the driver just wanted to say hi to his friends. Boy, was I wrong. The driver told us that we reached. I looked around and everywhere was just pitch black and no buildings; just paddy fields! I thought the driver made a mistake. “Erm… di mana hotel-nya Pak?”, I asked. The driver pointed out to a cluster of dim lights a short distance away. The hotel is in the middle of a paddy field!! Now I know where the name Hidden Cottages came from. Sounds from the toads and insects filled the night as we walked down the long and very narrow pathway to the hotel. While trying to keep my balance so that I don't fall into the paddy field, I told Harby that maybe we should request to change to the original hotel the next day. And too bad for us, this hotel only had 1 room left, which was a room with two single beds. The room or for a matter of fact, the entire hotel could use some extra lightings. The room was very dim and it took us a while to get used to it. The room came with a ceiling fan, air-con and hot shower.

Bamboo beds

Our room # 401!

The resident guest at Nick's Hidden Cottages - is a talking bird!
Photo by Harby

Reflections

The beautiful scenary right next to the breakfast area

Me and Harby (acting cool) at breakfast

As we stepped out of our room the next day, my impression of the hotel changed entirely. The place was so beautiful. I totally fell in love with it. The architecture, carvings and the entire Balinese look of the hotel were tastefully done. We took our breakfast whilst enjoying the scenery of the green, green paddy field. After breakfast we were pleasantly surprised when the staff told us that they will change us to a bigger room, and they will help to shift our bags to the new room. Throughout our stay, the staff here was very friendly and helpful. Since this is a small scale lodging business, don’t be surprised if you see the receptionist serving breakfast, doing technical maintenance and doing room service. I certainly loved this hotel over the one in Kuta, not only because of the better room but also for the quality service we enjoyed there.

Weather-battered sign board

The long, long road leading to the hotel

View of the hotel from the "main" road

Even the spiders here are artistic! Look at the beautifully woven web.

Can't help taking a photo in front of our room. Beautiful door isn't it?

Photo by Harby

The stone guardians, which can be found practically everywhere in Bali.

Pool

The "pura" (temple) at the hotel . Another commen structure around Bali,

Upon returning to the hotel that night, Harby and I was pleasantly surprised that they have shifted us into a “suite”. The room was spacious and came with a queen size bed, large tv, dressing table, a large bathroom (with separate shower and bathtub), and a living room as well. Wow.. all that for the price of USD20, which makes it even sweeter.

Our "upgraded" room. Yay! (bed, living room, dressing table)