Maya Ubud! Don't bother with the beaches, unless children demand them. Our 20 somethings were sorry we left Ubud for the beach. Maya Ubud runs a shuttle to town, as I'm sure all the other hotels do. It is, I believe, locally owned and quite lovely. We happily stayed in the less expensive, and simpler, main building, but the cottages are quite pretty.

And even from Ubud, you'll want to venture farther afield. We did the Bali Ecotours (I think that is the name), biking down from the mountain through rice fields, villages and back roads. A great day. Stunning temples within a short distance of Ubud -- hire one of Maya Ubud's drivers for a couple of half days.

We have now decided to extend our days in Bali to 6 days 3 in Jimberan (D wants to stay there) and 3 in Ubud or Seminyak. REALLY must sort out the flights from Singapore......
thanks for all your help everyone.
Robert - the 4s are full!!!

pan pacific might be an option

Where is it?

When is "over Christmas"? The Semaya has rooms next week http://www.jetsetter.com/sale/ayana2...nm=asia1&cl=32

They do have rooms through some booking web sites
the Jimbaran Puri Bali (run by Orient Express) has rooms 12/23 - 12/27

if your usb really wants Jimbaran -- or you could try the 4Seasons -- if they have anything they might do a deal this close to the holiday, you never know ...

Be careful with the Semaya in Seminyak. It's still undergoing extensive renovation (rebuilding really) and is pretty much a construction site.

it is not far from seminyak, but off by itself...

Sorry, meant the Ayana -- not the Semaya (which I had read was under renovation this winter) -- the link is to the Ayana.

The web site for the Pan Pacific says you can walk to Tanah Lot -- so that would put it northwest of Seminyak, proper. Good luck finding something that feels right for you!

The Pan Pacific is on the cliffs in the middle of a golf course that overlooks and encompasses Tanah Lot temple. It's quite scenic, but is also very controversial to the Balinese. To Seminyak it's about 45 to 60 minutes, about the same to Ubud. There's a lot of new resort and villa development going on in the area but at this point it's somewhat isolated.

In Ubud I would second the Maya, and add the Uma Ubud, or any of the Komaneka hotels. Because of traffic I wouldnt' want to necessarily stay in "downtown" Ubud (only a few streets but very narrow and poorly planned) so places like Maya, Uma and Komaneka Bisma are far enough out that you don't have to look at traffic every day, but can still go into town for dinner every night and tour sights during the day. Ubud is slightly higher elevation than Seminyak and is much more lush, so it does rain more often. But weather these days is so unpredictable...usually it's some rain most days, but for only an hour or two, and usually at night or after 5 pm. If it rains heavily it doesn't last that long, and the sun comes back out. If it drizzles it will likely last most of the day. But then again even the rainy season is not all rain. Does disturb my afternoon badminton games sometimes though.

Just booked the samaya for the first 3 nights, got a fantastic prepay rate thru a consolidator. Flights finally booked from Singapore so just the last 3 nights to book still looking at Jimberan or seminyak. 4 seasons are exorbitant.
Be there this time next week, can't wait.

That's the Samay in Ubud not Seminyak as I heeded the construction warning

have a fantastic time...

I haven't been to the Samaya in Ubud as it's quite new, but it looks really nice. The one in Seminyak is going to be really nice again too when the renovation is complete.

The Samaya's on the same river valley as most of the other big name resorts so you can check them out for next time.

If you plan to go to any of the popular restaurants in Seminyak (like Kudeta, La Lucciola, Sardine, Metis or Sarong) you should make reservations. It's annoying to have to do that in Bali, but it looks like a busy week coming up. Same for Mosaic. Your resort could do this for you.

Have a great time! If you 'need something to do' those extra 3 days, come on up to Bangkok! I'm heading there tomorrow.

Thanks for the restaurant advice Marmot, we will be sure to do that.
Carol - have a fab time in BKK. How long are you going for?

So where did you pick for your last 3 days, or did I read over that?

Enjoy your trip! I'm headed back to Bali for the third time next year. I've stayed in Ubud and in Sanur; this time I think I'll try Seminyak. I was glad to see this thread as it gave suggestions on villas.

Happy travels to you!