Thursday, July 9, 2015

Our Bali Trip - 2015 - Part 2

So yesterday I shared lots of photos and a few of our favourite things from our recent Bali holiday.
You can read it here

Today I'm sharing the reasons behind our choices. 
Why Bali, why a resort over a private villa or hotel, where to go, what to do etc.

But first a few more photos.....










Why Bali?
We chose Bali for a few reasons. We wanted to go in the middle of Australia's winter/school holidays so somewhere warm was our number 1 priority. Bali was our choice as the flight time was a reasonable 6 hours, it was sunny and warm with a low chance of rain. It has the option of lots to see and do or total relaxation plus the surfing is good! A must for our family ;) 


Why a resort over a private villa?
For us we knew that our overall goal was to relax. Since we were in Bali for 10 days we wanted the option of a large resort that had the space and a large variety of activities, pools and restaurants to keep us entertained if we opted to just hang out at the resort.Our boys swam in the pool for hours at a time so it was nice to be able to mix it up with a new pool and surroundings within the resort. 

Also with our accommodation/meal package, a lot of our meals and drinks were complimentary so it was great value to eat and drink within the resorts bars and restaurants. 

The kids club was a big deciding factor too as we loved the idea of having a break for a couple of hours through the day or a nanny at night if we wanted a dinner alone.

I think if we were in a private villa we would have had to think a little bit more about meals out, where to go, what to do and we were just not in that mindset this time but we're not ruling it out in the future.

Plus Simon and I are pretty fussy with our accommodation and we just like the feel of how a big hotel runs. That seamless service. (we met working in a 5 star hotel) I loved the combination of beautiful grounds and excellent service. It was really a winner for us.


What type of room did we have?
We chose a  Club suite as it had lots of space for the 5 of us.  There was a bedroom, living + dining area and kitchen. Noah slept on a bed in our room and the boys had beds set up in the living area. There was still heaps of space to move around. We had a balcony looking over the Club pool towards the beach.

The Club suites came with extra complimentary benefits around the resort. These included free breakfast in any restaurant (including room service) every day, free afternoon tea and canapés at 2 locations within the resort each day, free cocktails every afternoon from 4.30pm - 7.30pm, all day unlimited gelato for the kids, unlimited water and soft drinks for us all and exclusive use of the adults only Club pool. The value added by these benefits more than made the suite worth while.

I found the Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay website a little vague and confusing on details so we emailed them directly with our questions and went from there. They were so helpful.


What to pack for your stay?
I packed our usual beach gear (swimmers, board shorts, rash vests, hats, sunscreen, goggles, sunglasses, swimming bubble for Noah, my beach bag to throw everything in) Simon took his own surfboards but you can hire them if you like.  I had my DSLR camera, and iPhone with a Life proof case in case I wanted to take water shots, Simon had his Gopro, books ( I got through a couple! I had more free time that I thought I'd have), iPads, chargers, adaptors, kids books and a couple of toys ( Noah had a few trains and some action figures) sleep toy for Noah. 

The dress code was very casual throughout the day but it was nice to have a couple of  dresses to change into at night when going out for dinner. I took a hair straightener but didn't use it.
We did the washing once but I came back with lots of washing to do! 
The boys seemed to drop food on their clothes at every meal!

I also packed a few snacks for the boys to eat through the day as I have a fussy eater and it was nice for them to have something familiar to snack on.

I didn't bother packing towels as I knew they would be supplied and pool toys were available at the resort to play with. 


How to survive the plane ride with kids.
Simple really, for us it's iPads, headphones and lots of food!
Also a window seat for Noah was very exciting and kept him enthralled during take off and landing.
Finn and Jasper are old enough to keep themselves entertained which is great. I even got to watch a couple of episodes of House of Cards on my laptop which is a first. I always keep a large scarf in my bag for a pillow/blanket for Noah. Plus baby wipes and a change of clothes. Just in case.
Also tissues as we all get the sniffles on the plane.

I had planned to do a lot more than we did but it turned out we just needed to relax rather than sightsee but if you want a list of things to see and do try out these tips

@thebalibible on Instagram

Miss Kyree Loves - Travel Tips & Tricks - Bali

Sweet Style - My Bali Story
Our latest Bali Adventure
Beautiful Bali

Eat Read Love - Best Restaurants in Bali, Mama San Bali
Rice Paddies & Rose Picnic

Styling You - 13 tips for travelling to Bali if you are a newbie


 A few other places are you can check out on Instagram are-

Finn's Beach Club - @finnsbeachclub
Motel Mexicola - @motelmexicola
Potato Head Beach Club - @pttheadbali
Revolver Espresso - @revolverespresso
W Retreat & Spa Bali - @wbaliseminyak

I'd love to hear about any of your Bali favourites and tips as I'm sure we'll be going back!




5 comments:

  1. Hi Simone! Loved your posts about Bali. We went a few years ago and would love to return again. I posted about my experiences on my blog too. Our favourite place and recommendation goes to the Bali Safari & Marine Park. We stayed there two nights and it was FABULOUS! We then stayed at the Padma on a friend's recommendation and like you, stayed mostly within the resort. I would only ever stay at a recommended hotel so appreciate your information about the Intercontinental. Traveling with children to third world countries has me wary of safety issues so I'm less adventurous than when travelling alone. Your holiday looks blissful! Thanks again for the hints and tips!

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  2. Hi Simone!

    I Loved your this article about Bali trip. I think Bali is really great place to spend some days. I am also looking for Bali holiday package at reasonable price.

    Thanks for sharing your experience about Bali.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great wrap up of your trip, sounds like excellent event planning went into making it a perfect holiday. I will definitely revisit this advice should we ever get to go away on a holiday again, haha, sounds dramatic, but the idea of travelling with 3 kids does concern me a little. Love the photos again, it looks like that monkey is after your boys, it looks kinda funny, but I'm sure it wasn't, as I know they can be very touchy feely :/ Glad you had a brilliant time Simone :) xo

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jules, the monkey photo makes me laugh but I was definitely keeping an eye on them all! Once the kids are older it makes holidays seem more doable, but yes holidays are nothing like they used to be! ;)

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  4. Wow..so nicely written. The photographs are amazing. We also visited Bali recently and had an awesome time.
    Travelling Duo - Bali

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Thanks for reading x

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