I'll tell anyone who will listen (and even those who won't) how much I love Bali. It's my favorite place in the world, and I'm fortunate enough to visit regularly.
You can imagine my completely understated reaction when offered the chance to review the Sun Island Bali group of hotels....
I mean, I played it cool, you guys. I held my hand back from the keyboard for a whopping minute or two before banging out a "Oh that sounds nice...." response.
I had used that minute or two to phone my mother and be all "OMIGOD I'M GOING TO BALI AGAIN!"
She was all massive jealous eye roll perceived over the phone and "Don't you have children to look after?".
And I was all petulant teenager style sigh and "THEY'RE INVITED!".
And then we were both all "Bahahaha....they (Sun Island Bali) have no idea what they're in for!"
Those of you following along on Facebook will have seen the daily updates, pics and posts about our trip. No surprise that we loved every second of it.
I've saved the full details of our experience for these two posts.
Because we all know how I bang on about things, so at the risk of creating the world's longest blog post, I'm going to split it into two.
First up we stayed at Sun Island Hotel & Spa Legian.
Check out that infinity pool. I spent quite a bit of our 3 days leaning over the infinity pool, watching Legian Road happen. I love me some people watching, and that was the best spot in the house. And if you want a bit more sun and privacy, allow me to introduce the rooftop pool....
The rooftop pool was perfect for The Feral Threesome when they wanted to let loose and make a bit of noise, create a few waves, and generally annoy everyone around them - we had the entire pool to ourselves. I LOVE that the whole rooftop pool was one depth, and all of the kids (and my vertically challenged self) could all stand. It set the parental panic merchant's (#1Hubby) mind at ease, meaning I didn't have to watch him patrol the perimeter of the pool like he was rehearsing for a spot on Baywatch Location, Location, Location - if you love Legian then you'll love this hotel. It's extremely well priced, the rooms are clean and have everything you need, and the bathrooms are modern (none of those luke warm, dripping showers like in some Bali hotels). My tip - go for the Suite room if you can afford it. It is huge. Ample space for all your shopping, and a bathtub big enough for all 3 of my kids at once. Next up, we had 3 days at White Rose Kuta Resort Villas & Spa
White Rose Kuta pool water feature. Kept the kids entertained way more than you'd think (like, read a whole book by the pool without interruption kind of entertained)
I was looking forward to this hotel. I've known about it for many years, but wasn't aware it was part of the Sun Island Bali group. My Aunt always stays here, and it's been on my list to try for quite a while. That said, I was a bit wary of its location - tucked behind the Ground Zero memorial, opposite the legendary Poppies Lane 2....right in the heart of the 'nightclub strip' of Kuta / Legian. Back in the day, I would've been all over that and straight in the club to bust a move on the D-floor to all the doof-doof music. But being 27 (shut up) and a mother of 3 young kids, the potential noise and resident nightclub frequenters was playing on my mind as we drove the short distance down Legian Road from the first hotel. We rounded the corner behind the memorial and I was really pleasantly surprised to see a short lane that led into a large hotel complex, set around a lot of greenery. And zero noise. At all. You would have no clue you were literally behind one of the main corners and in the heart of the pub and club district. In fact, it was so civilised we indulged in high tea!
Only had to smack a couple of hands that tried to steal the best desserts before I got to them.
We stayed in a Family Suite. Normally, when we travel, we simply book interconnecting rooms. This was our first experience in a Family Suite. I LOVE A FAMILY SUITE. All that extra room. The benefit of having a living area to spread out in and / or separate fighting bratty children (who have already forgotten that they are fortunate enough to be included in this experience when they could just have easily been left at home....). Three televisions were our salvation during our stay. When the kids weren't in the pool, they were water logged, tired and whiney, arguing over TV programs. #1Hubby and I just wanted to enjoy one of our THREE BALCONIES (I know, I'm just being a jerk and showing off now) with a glass of wine, and the ability to literally put all 3 kids in different rooms with a TV each until they fell asleep at night was a lifesaver. We met a few families at the White Rose who were staying there for the 4th or 5th time. I asked a couple why they kept returning to the hotel, and they loved the size of the property and the masses of lawn for the kids to run around, and the location - in the middle of everything, but you aren't bothered by it if you don't want to actually be in the middle of everything. Also, those family suites. All that room. All those balconies. Stay tuned for Part 2, including our first villa stay, and the best food we've had in a long time. Also some wedding anniversary celebrations and fairy floss. You know you want to read it if only for the fairy floss....
