Starting to look at booking hotels for our Bali trip next year. Indo-Holidays seems to have great rates, but I've never seen them mentioned before. Has anyone used them? If not, what on-line booking agents do you recommend for Bali?

bali discovery tours is one we have used...

i find booking directly with the property works best for us actually...

don't forget to look at alam shanti

www.balidiscovery.com
Do compare to booking directly, though...

I use Agoda to book most of my hotel stays. They usually have competitive rates, and I've found them very reliable (probably made 100 reservations through them over the years).

Still, the advice on checking with the property is always good, as is comparing with other sites.

Thanks. The prices on Indo-Holidays looked too good to be true. We've used Agoda once or twice, but for Bali I think we'll try Balidiscovery & then compare with booking directly with the hotels. Still can't decide about hotels in Seminyak & Ubud. Had thought we might try Alam Shanti, but then Robbie's report on Kupu Kupu Barong sounded fabulous, and I started looking at other properties along the river gorge - Pita Maha, Royal Pita Maha -- they all sound great.

One of the things to remember about Ubud hotels is that the gorge properties are beautiful, but you need a ride to get into town. The Alam Shanti is an easy walk through the Monkey Forest into town. It's a question of preference.

Trust the Panda - Andy's advice is spot on. Think about why you're going to Ubud - to spend a few days in blissful isolation among beautiful scenery, or going into art overload visiting all the galleries, museums and craft shops. If the answer is 'both' then it comes down to where you want to spend your nights, and your tollerance for depending on shuttle busses to get you back and forth on their schedule. There are ab-fab places in town, like the Alam Shanti and one of the Komanekas, so you don't have to stay out of town to get a bit of posh.

Well, of course the answer is we want both!! Had read that the Pita Maha is the closest of the gorge hotels to town. But don't know what that means - 5 min drive? more? Wish I could find a map of the area with hotel locations.

You can't have both. Either you can walk into town or you can't. I can say that the Alam Shanti is convenient and beautiful. We loved it. Nonetheless, we are staying right in the center of town in May.

We were very happy staying outside of town. Most hotels have regular shuttles going into town. In Ubud there is plenty of transport available for the return trip to your hotel. Most places are between 5 and 15 minutes away. We stayed at Maya Ubud which is in a stunning location only 5 minutes from town by shuttle.

I just emailed Putu re any new and/or recommended hotels in Ubud and he told me Komameka has a newer hotel in town, Komaneka Bisma (one street out from Monkey Forest Rd). I looked at the website and it looks pretty. I will likely stay at Kajane again because regardless of its faults we love having a private pool, but I'm toying with the idea of trying the new one out for a couple of nights. It's more expensive, but I wrote them directly and they offered a better price.

As I recal, the Pita Maha is near the intersection at the other side of the gorge from town. The Arma museum, Blanco gallery and several others are along the way into town, so you could choose to walk part of the way if you're gallery hopping.

CFW-
http://mapsbali.com/areas/ubud.php
Four maps of Ubud with many hotel locations shown should help you judge relative distances.

Ibah is a beautiful property on a river bank and adjacent to the Camphuan Bridge - an easy 5 minute walk to the Ubud Palace and the top of Monkey Forest Rd. There were many complaints during the first year the Warwick Group took over management almost 2-1/2 years ago, just after I stayed there. Don't know if those problems have been shorted out.

just beware that the map is a bit misleading as the distances are qiute far with hills etc...

Becalm, Thanks for the map. It does give me more of an idea of the area than I had and is helpful. Of all of the river gorge properties, Pita Maha does look closest to the shops, galleries & restaurants of Ubud, and it has had some good reviews. The photos also look great. It almost seems as if you can't go wrong in Ubud as everyone seems to love the places they have stayed.