Where to stay in Bali? 3 Recommendations
If you plan a trip to Bali you will need a place to stay obviously. When Chris and I went to Bali we picked three locations and three hotel types that I want to tell you more about in this post. One was a private villa, one was a hotel and one was sort of a bungalow. All of them where fabulous and pretty cheap considering the luxury we had at each of the spots. Let me get into detail in our Bali Guide which is basically “Where to stay in Bali for couples” as we don’t have kids and the only hotel where we saw like two kids was at Sea Breeze Candidasa. This trip was truly magical and great to relax. I’d travel to Bali again in a heartbeat and can fully recommend the hotels we picked.
The Bali Dream Villa Seminyak
The villas are about 20 minutes away from the International Ngurah Rai Airport. Which makes it a great spot after arrival. In the price included you’ll find a free airport pick up. This was amazing for us as the trip was quiet long and we even had a one hour delay. The driver was still waiting for us and it was so convenient to just get picked up without being afraid of scams. The location is not in the city center nor the beach, which makes it a little cheaper. But don’t worry. They do have a free shuttle service to go downtown which will approximately take 8 minutes to Seminyak Beach.
The Bali Dream Villa Seminyak has beautiful Balinese decorative ornaments and the environment is full of tropical flowers. In the price included was also a 15 Minute welcome massage which was much needed after the flight. We had a private villa with our own pool and outdoor bathroom. It was so impressive and beautiful! On the downside: the continental breakfast was quiet disappointing and we did not enjoy it. But you could also just take the shuttle downtown and find a million great places to grab a delicious breakfast for a couple of bucks.
Sea Breeze Candidasa
We definitely wanted to go snorkeling while visiting Bali so we picked a hotel close to the ocean and not too far away from snorkeling spots like Blue Lagoon in Padangbai. Sea Breeze Candidasa even has its own little reef with lots of corals which you can reach straight from your room in less than 5 Minutes. I did snorkel there a bit and even saw a sea horse! The hotel also has an infinity pool with a direct few of the sunset. We loved to spend the late evening hours in the pool watching the sun go down with a cocktail from the bar at the pool. There is a deeper lap pool towards the end of the resort as well.
The room was clean but really nothing special. There are different kind of rooms though. There are also rooms with their own patio and little garden at the front. But since we wanted to spend our time there mostly exploring the area, taking day trips with a driver and enjoying the ocean we didn’t mind our cheaper room which did not have the bungalow style. We ate at the hotel quiet often as there ist not much around to reach by foot. The food was really delicious and the price was also great for what it was. They even offered free “cooking classes” where you learned to make two types of Balinese desserts and one night two Balinese dancers performed a show with Balinese music, dance style and traditional outfits. The staff was super friendly. This was by far the most relaxing hotel as there’s only room for a few people and it’s not located in one of Balis “hotspots”.
Ulun Ubud
This was such an impressive location build on a hillside with a beautiful view into the jungle from every area. We had a bungalow with a nice balcony to lounge on as you can see on our Instagram. There was lots of “jungle” noises. Insects chirping, geckos calling, and birds singing. Even though its called Ulun Ubud it’s located slightly outside of Ubud just off the main road but as you reach your room you feel like you are surrounded by nature. It is about a 10 minute drive from main Ubud so you do need to take a taxi or wait for the free shuttle which leaves multiple times a day straight from the resort to downtown Ubud. The restaurant is amazing! The complimentary breakfast gives some amazing options to select from which change everyday.
The downside of this magical place? There are a lot of stairs! We both do sports but sometimes had trouble climbing all the way from the pool up to the main floor where the restaurant is located. Probably due to the heat and humidity that we are not used too.
By the way: If you want to learn some key Balinese words for your trip to Indonesia, check out our post about words and phrases that we found useful while visiting Bali.