Firstly let me share some small and interesting facts with you with you. Bali is NOT its own country, It is an island of Indonesia or a Province of Indonesia … but it is not its own country!  Also, whilst Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, this island has Hindu faith.

We arrived in Bali on a hot Saturday evening, full of excitement and ready to explore this island.

We have booked what looks to be a lovely little quaint ‘Hindu architecturally inspired’ hotel.

On the way here, we’ve met (and made friends with) a lady in the Adelaide Airport whose son has the same name as mine, and who are traveling to, and returning back, on the same days as us.  We have the same sense of humor and we ‘hit it off’.  And we seem to keep crossing paths, and end up having our driver at the Denpasar Airport, give them a lift to their hotel.

But when we arrive at the supposedly 4-star hotel I’ve rung to reserve, it looks hardly anything like what we have verbally arranged / or seen on the website (good photoshopping and angles maybe?), and when we are shown the musty smelling back-corner room; and then see the clientele, we don’t want to stay. In Fact, Explorason insists we leave – he doesn’t like it one bit, and won’t even stay one night.  And as a parent, I’m responsible to ensure we stay in a safe and nice location.

So we use our good friend ‘Uncle Google’ and find a better deal ‘price-wise’ for a different hotel in the area.

The staff is just lovely and they apologize it isn’t what we wanted.  Most would be angry that we are canceling, but not the Balinese, they are delightful and most understanding.

One of the staff calls us a taxi, and the taxi driver takes us to the Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak, and we know we have made the right choice as soon as we arrive and walk into the lobby.

I pay without checking the room this time, just happy to be here as I am now overtired.

When we get to our room it looks quite chic and fine.

I’d recommend to others to stay overlooking the pool area, which looks just divine.

However, our room had brilliant air-conditioning (a must in Bali) and was modern; plus it had a fridge and hot beverage making area, and supplied bottled water.

We also had a nice view of a lush green field next to us, so that was lovely to wake to.

The pool was definitely the best feature of Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak.

It was lovely having our breakfast right at the water’s edge!

And not only was the property lovely but so were the staff.  I was impressed that the staff lady (sadly I don’t remember her name) at breakfast greeted me by my name each morning – she was stunningly beautiful and ever so sweet, and lovely.  Equally was I really impressed with Yuni, the lady on reception, that seemed to help us with directions, and any other needs we had.

Explorason seemed to be racing from one side of the buffet breakfast at Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak to the other most days, as it was vastly spread out.

He was quite impressed with the bacon, and I really liked the fresh fruits and yogurts. Each day the hot breakfast was different, and homemade baked beans, and also the deep fried banana were two of my personal favorites.

We had a little wander around theRamada Encore Bali Seminyak hotel property after breakfast and found a nice side garden with hanging chairs and stands.

In front of this were games tables, and an internet computer area for guests, but we never used it, because the free wi-fi was excellent in our room.

On several occasions we headed into Seminyak shopping area – either by using the Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak complimentary shuttle bus (this had to be booked in advance), or taxi.

But taxis in Bali are very inexpensive, so we usually used them.  You just need to be aware they are more expensive if you use the ones the hotel calls that are unmarked, and way cheaper if you use a taxi with a meter.  But then check the meter only starts when you get in, and is accurate.

We found we got lost several times in Seminyak, but Seminyak Square with the ‘I LOVE BALI’ sign is a great place to start.

Apparently, there is a good clothing market down the street to the right, but we missed finding that too – the ones in Seminyak Square seemed more expensive.

Directly opposite and up the street are some great homewares stores that we loved.

Nothing beats coming back for a relaxing swim at Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak in the tepid water (I only like warm pools -not cold ones) especially after breaking out in a sweat from ‘pounding the pavement’ shopping.

We dined in, and enjoyed their ‘buy one pizza and get the 2nd at half price’ deal as well, and also ate down the road on the same street at a traditional Balinese hotel with an upstairs open restaurant, and there were other places to eat a couple of streets away also I believe.

We even caught the hotel shutter bus into Kuta (getting off at the Discovery Shopping Centre opposite) and went to Waterbom Park – Explorason thought that was brilliant (we’ll write about our fun day separately).

All in all Ramada Encore Bali Seminyak turned out to be a great place to start our time in Bali, and we were very happy, and would definitely recommend it. In fact, we can’t wait to return and stay again next time we visit Bali, because from start to finish they were just perfect.

Location: Jl. Dewi Saraswati III No.51, 80361 Seminyak, Indonesia

 

 

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