A group of us are considering signing up for a Bali Tour that gives us the option of staying at one of the following 4 hotels:
- Bali Dynasty Resort
- Hard Rock Hotel Bali
- Kuta Paradiso Hotel Bali
- Ramada Bintang Bali Resort

The age of the group ranges from a couple of 30 year olds to a couple in the mid 60's. We are looking for something that is clean, reasonably quiet and near the action. Any recommendations? We have read the reviews on tripadvisor.com ... any other sights that we should be looking at?

I stay in this general area every 3 - 4 months, and have stayed at the Dynasty and Paradiso before.

The Ramada is, practically speaking, too far from things. You'll have to take a taxi everywhere, even to dinner.

I was not impressed with the Paradiso. It is not on the beach, and in fact is a long walk away from it. It is right in the middle of things.

The Dynasty has some nice facilities, but the rooms were really poorly maintained.

Of all those, the Hard Rock is probably the best. I don't think you need to worry about noise. I've stayed right next to the hotel and never been bothered by any noise at all.

You didn't say what sights were included in the tour, so I can't recommend any others.

Do you really want a tour? If you do, fine. If not, Bali is exceptionally easy to do on your own. You can choose your own hotel (and it will be better than those offered by the tour company for the same price) and you can hire a car and driver for a day or two to take you to the places you want to see. Get yourselves a good guidebook - there is so much to do and see in Bali, you'll want to tailor your sightseeing/activities to your interests. Lonely Planet has a very good Bali/Lombok guide.

Tour group has now added another hotel -- Bali Padma. Anyone have any comments on this hotel?

There are several Padmas, but the one they're adding is probably the one at the northern end of Legian. Probably old and tired.

I will try and get clarification on which Padma it is ..... I think that you are right and it's an old, tied place -- similar to the other hotels that have offered us.

Our group numbers keep expanding -- there will be at least 10 of us and it may end up being a group of 14 for 5 nights.... 25 to 35 room nights. We should be able to get a half decent group rate at a hotel that meets the following criteria: includes breakfast (not essential), clean rooms, air conditioning, near shopping, near restaurants.

Itinerary suggestions:
We plan on getting a vehicle (with a guide) that can handle all of us for 2 full days; and therefore, should be able to plan our own itinerary or at least have some flexibility with a tour operator's itinerary.

Day 1 -- arrive and spend the afternoon on our own --beach and/or shopping.
Day 2 -- full day of sight seeing.
Day 3 -- full day of sight seeing.
Day 4 -- on our own -- beach and/or shopping.
Day 5 -- depart in the am.

Sights Day 1:
- Taman Ayun Temple
- Alas Kedaton (monkey forest)
- Bedugal (Ulun Danu Temple and Lake Beratan)
- Tegalalang (rice terraces)
- Tanah Lot (sea temple at sunset)

Sights Day 2:
- Batubulan (Barong Dance)
- Mas (Handcraft center)
- Ubud (Art market and Royal Palace)
- Bedulu (Elephant Cave)
- Kintamini (Mt Batur (active volcano) and Lake Batur)
- Besakih Temple
- Batu Bulun Village

Should we be considering different sights? We welcome any and all suggestions.

enroh,
This Padma http://www.hotelpadma.com/ is very popular among Jakarta expat families. Many return year after year so it must be doing something right.

I haven't been there but my understanding is that it's a good value. I've heard it described as low key and simple, but never old and tired.

Your tour itinerary is demanding but you'll get to see a lot. I guess it depends on how you like to spend your time.

Thank you for your input .... sounds as if we'll need to scale back on our itinerary.

Hello Enroh,your both itineraries are good.But sight 1,think you must change Tegalalang become jatiluwih,and sight 2 on the way to Besakih see Bukit jambul.Try to email this for sightseeing tour:[email protected]