Top Hotels of Bali & Lombok
Oct 11th, 2011, in Travel, by Guest Writer
The new Lonely Planet guide to Bali and Lombok recently hit Indonesian bookshop shelves, and is currently retailing at e.g. Periplus for Rp239 000 ($27, € 20).
Like in the guide to Indonesia, once again the best hotels and restaurants receive a special logo of distinction. However, the new Bali and Lombok guide has unceremoniously dumped “our pick” in favour of “Top Choice”:
The words may have changed,
but the meaning stays the same
Without further ado, here are the Lonely Planet nominations for “Top Choice” hotels in Bali and Lombok:
Oberoi Hotel, Seminyak
SOUTH BALI
- Un’s Hotel, Kuta
- Oberoi Hotel, Seminyak
- Four Seasons, Jimbaran*
- Alila Villas, Ulu Watu**
- Hotel La Taverna, Sanur
- Flashbacks, Sanur
- Indiana Kenanga, Nusa Lembongan
*Four Seasons, Jimbaran is also famous as one of the world’s best hotels.
**Alila Villas, Ulu Watu was also recently voted Indonesia’s Best Villa Hotel.
CENTRAL BALI
^Puri Lumbung, Munduk was previously an “our pick”.
EAST BALI
^Meditasi, Aas was previously an “our pick”.
NORTH BALI
Qunci Villas, Senggigi
WEST BALI
LOMBOK
^Karma Kayak, Gili Trawangan was previously an “our pick”.
ONE THUMB UP? , BUT NOT
Curiously, over half of the 13 “our pick” hotels in Bali and Lombok were not considered “Top Choice” one year later.
The following “our pick” hotels still received positive reviews, but were not classed as “Top Choice”:
Bloo Lagoon Village, Padangbai
BALI
LOMBOK
The following hotels were “our pick” hotels last year, but this year do not appear in the Bali/Lombok guide, despite its greater focus on the Bali/Lombok area:
Hotel Lombok Raya, Mataram
BALI
LOMBOK
As a point of contrast, some hotels (e.g. Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay) were not reviewed in the guide to Indonesia, perhaps due to size constraints or the more budget-conscious orientation of the Indonesia guide.
Do you agree with these “Top Choice” hotels? Which hotels, hostels and resorts do you consider to be “Top Choice” in Bali and Lombok?
Or, to put it another way, which places do you think deserve “Two Thumbs Up”?
Please add your recommendations and opinions (including disagreements) below.
7 Comments on “Top Hotels of Bali & Lombok”
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Just back from Bali and for the life of me I will never understand the attraction.
Overpriced, crooked cops, dirty Beaches, hustlers, bogan drunks and scam merchants (both foreign and local). If you manage to escape the underlife then the dreaded mungbeans are only amusing the first dozen times or so.
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stevo says:
Just back from Bali and for the life of me I will never understand the attraction.
For me its the Aussies in all their Bintang fueled glory. You should have stopped and asked them ( your country men) instead of being such a snob Oigal. At least you will never be short of transport and massages there. I find that such a problem in Germany and are often walking miles with stiff sore tense muscles.
The Champlung Sari is fun, especially when those wretched little Monkeys come and raid the tables at the restaurant and indulge in lewd acts outside your room. I love animals but those little buggers need a good boot.
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HeavenlySword says:
All, this is unrelated. I’m planning to visit Indonesia for about 2 months (business trip), and I need an unlimited internet connection while I’m there and most of the time I’ll be mobile. I have an unlocked Mifi and all I need is just a sim card. Do you guys know any good and reliable provider in Indonesia that provides unlimited data service?
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Hi Heavenly Sword,
It might be difficult for a visitor (not a resident) to get an unlimited data package.
Here are some possible solutions:
1. INDOSAT BROOM (Pre-paid 3.5G)
2. Perdana Telkomsel Flash Unlimited – Website is in Indonesian only, but you should be able to understand enough to know how it works.
3. XL Internet Monthly Unlimited
When choosing the package, check there is coverage where you are – it varies a lot between different providers.
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Hi Oigal,
Just back from Bali and for the life of me I will never understand the attraction.
Some people love it, some people loathe it. I have been to Bali a few times and can understand both perspectives.
Maybe one reason is that it has the best tourist infrastructure and you can do everything within a short trip. Surfing, Hiking, Mountains, Nature, Culture, Diving, Beaches, Nightlife – you can go all over Indonesia for the best places, or you can save a lot of time and energy doing the next best thing in Bali, often as a day-trip.
By the way, speaking of “bogan drunks”, I noticed a statistic recently that the number of Australians visiting Bali has increased sharply. There were more in the first eight months of 2011 than all of 2010.
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Probably drop off a bit now…heaps of bad press in Australia
Comment on “Top Hotels of Bali & Lombok”.
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I forgot to mention also that it is also possible to leave more detailed reviews about the hotels on their booking page.
If you’re wondering what to write, some examples are below. Actually, there aren’t so many review of Balinese and Lombok hotels, so there are also reviews from other locations:
Champlung Sari Hotel, Ubud
Shangri-La Hotel, Central Jakarta
Majapahit Hotel. Surabaya
Reviews don’t have to be positive to be published. If the place is no good, you can tell it like it is as David Tan did here:
Sanno Hotel, North Jakarta