Went to Bali earlier this year. Stayed at Conrad Bali in Tanjung Benoa (just a little north of Nusa Dua), for USD120/night (nett). Be aware that hotels in Bali add about 21% tax (10+11) to the offer rates that you usually see. I managed to get a special nett rate at the Conrad that was about 30% lower than normal nett rates.
So if you are sharing with a friend, then the cost is only USD60/night. Plus because I stayed for 4 nights during a promotion, I got a free one-night stay in any Hilton/Conrad hotel worldwide . Will probably use that in Europe, where a 1-night stay in a Hilton is about 150-200 euros... not bad value eh?


I think if you are going to Bali, you should either go for the really cheap accomodations (coz it's so cheap there) or go for the high-end places (also coz its so cheap there!). IMHO, Bali is the best place within 3 hours flight of KL to go splurging coz it's cheaper to splurge in Bali in luxury than it would be to travel mid-range in Malaysia.

Comparatively... a 6-hour spa treatment package in Conrad is about RM330/pax (incl. dinner), while at Pangkor Laut, it is RM1k/pax (no dinner). So from here alone, you can see the relative values.

I recently went to Bali on a budget DIY trip. RM600/pax for 5D/4N (flight + hotel, including tax). Bought Air Asia tickets 6 months in advance (RM120 for ticket, about RM170 for tax) and booked a cheap hotel in Ubud (USD40/night for 2 persons). Hotel was nice, big room (chalet style) with aircon, swimming pool, breakfast (tasty) included, and a simple barebones spa. Near to Monkey Forest Reserve in Ubud, about 10-15 mins walk from Ubud market along the main shopping street.

Other major expenses are Rp170k for taxi to Ubud from airport, Rp100k departure airport tax (per pax, payable at airport), Rp350k/day for van+driver (anywhere and everywhere, fuel included). Shopping is cheap, how much you spend depends on what you want to buy...

Just came back from 10 days in Bali. Have some tips for anyone going there soon:

1. In Kuta/Seminyak, if you want to change money do so in small amounts, and count your rupiah properly. Apparently some money changers there like to advertise very good rates and then with some sleight-of-hand they will give you less rupiah, usually in small denominations so you have too many rupiah notes that you lose count and don't notice you are being short-changed. I was given this warning by the local driver I hired. Also when I changed money in Seminyak, this money changer guy gave me a whole big stack of RP20k notes, when he had a big stack of 50k notes. The way he gave me the notes was also very suspicious, so I made sure to count my notes closely. Lucky for me.

2. In Ubud, best rate to change money is inside the Post Office as well as in one or two money changers very near to the Post Office. When the Monkey Forest Road money changers were offering RM1=RP2600, I was getting RM1=2780 at the post office!

3. Rafting on the Ayung river was kinda fun. Had a PRC tourist from another raft fall in the river, and our guide had to rescue her onto our boat!.

4. The monkeys in Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud (and in the other areas) are very aggressive. I told one of my friends to hide the bag of bananas but my friend degil and don't want to listen, so less than a minute later, a monkey came and grabbed the entire bag and ran away! Also the monkeys were grabbing mineral water bottles (both the small ones and the 1.5L bottles) from tourists.

5. If you are tempted to buy the cheap "aromatherapy" soaps (around RP10k for a big bar) in Ubud market or elsewhere, I have bought and used many of them and found that:
- generally the scents don't last for long and after a while, all you have is a fast-dissolving bar of natural soap with no scents!
- If you want to buy the soaps, I would recommend either Kou (in Jalan Dewi Sita, in Ubud) whose soaps are about RP35k each, or the Bali Flower range (around RP10k) whose soaps may not smell as nice as Kou but at least the scents last longer than the other cheap ones, or the brown-paper wrapped soap you can find at one particular trader in Ubud market (ground level near where a lot of wooden plates/bowls are sold).
- Avoid the brightly coloured (pink, light blue, dark blue, etc) paper-wrapped soaps you can find all over Ubud market, the scents don't last.
- And if you have any illusions that local Balinese use these soaps... they don't! Only silly tourists like you and me buy them. Locals use the regular commercial soaps like we do at home.

6. Having seafood dinner on Jimbaran beach is amazing! Get a local to recommend you a place unless you already know of a good place from a good guidebook.

My 2 most favourite Balinese temples/religious places to visit is Tanah Lot and Gunung Kawi

I went on Bali Adventure Tours or Bali Hai or something like that. It's owned by the same Aussie who owns the Elephant Safari Park not far from Ubud. It felt safe, each boat had a guide, we all had life jackets and helmets, and we had like 10 rafts set off together, so there were always people around. There was another company that set off nearby as well, also around 10 rafts. Can't be sure how much it was just for rafting as I paid for a whole day package deal with the Elephant Safari park and it was over USD70/pax, which was probably too much but it included transport (our own private driver, since we went in a group) and lunch.

No photos/contact. Sorry la. Was too wet to bring my camera.

Wow! That's all I can say. An excellent travel report with great pictures. Looks like you had a great time there. Am glad you were cautious when changing money, but sorry to hear your friends lost some.

I love Bali too, and intend to spend a few days there every year. So I pace myself, and go to different places each time. Seeing Gunung Batur from Kintamani is not easy, and depends on your luck. I went up to Kintamani this year and finally got to see the mountain clearly, and this was my 3rd try in 3 years!

Personally I like going to Bali in Jan/Feb, despite the rains. I usually go during the CNY holidays so I don't have to take so much leave. Also when it rains, I usually head for the spa for a nice long massage. It's usually quite cooling and with the sound of the rain falling down, easy to fall asleep also.

I try to stay at different places each time I go to Bali. First time was Sanur, 2nd time was Nusa Dua, 3rd time was Ubud, and this most recent 4th visit was Ubud and Yeh Gangga (kinda boring, but very relaxing). Next time I will try to stay in Lovina or maybe Kuta (for the nightlife).

Sure. The places I liked:

1. Tanjung Benoa (next to Nusa Dua) - Conrad (part of Hilton group) - now rates are about USD130++/night
2. Ubud - Ubud Inn and Spa (on Monkey Forest Road), has pool, "spa" which is more of a place where you can get a massage, not a real spa; last year I paid USD30/night for aircon room with TV
3. Ubud - Waka di Ume (very nice view of rice fields)

Other places I didn't really like so much, so I won't recommend them.