Wapa di Ume Resort & Spa (Ubud, Bali, Indonesia)

Head photo courtesy of the resort website.

Banjar Bentuyung, Gianyar, Jl. Suweta, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Hotel Website
reservation@wapadiumesidemen.com
+62 361 973178

THE GOOD
> Gorgeous staff. They make the impossible to make you feel welcomed, to help you with any query or wish. Genuine hard-working and friendly people at the reception, as well as the butlers, gardeners, waiters, and cleaners. 
> Large spacious room and bathroom. Comfortable firm mattress and humongous bed! Great set of toiletries with a wonderful scent, suitable for both women and men. 
> Luscious green gorgeous rice terrace surroundings, gardens, fountains, sculptures and decorations throughout the estate. Serene bucolic atmosphere. The main noise you get in the area is that of the frogs, geckos, birds, and crickets and, when it rains, from the rain. You can see the little animals walking around, and it is like being in the countryside with all the comforts of the city. One can unwind and relax. 
> Excellent fast reliable wi-fi. 
> Good satisfying breakfast included in room price. Many options, Western, Indonesian and a la Carte. Delivered to your room if requested. The restaurant is gorgeous, especially on non-rainy days with views to the fields, so it's worth going there. 
> Two bottles of water provided in the room and another two in the bathroom. If you need more, call reception ad they will supply more at no cost. 
> Shuttle to/from Ubud every hour on the clock. 
> Umbrellas provided for each room, as well as sleepers and robes. 
> Gorgeous communal pools, on the small side, but in wonderful settings, which make them special. 
> Free activities, like a tour of the surrounding rice terrace, yoga sessions, and coconut palm leaf craft workshop. 
> In-situ spa. 

THE NOT SO GOOD
> The photos shown for my room on Booking.com correspond to another room, not mine. I was expecting a balcony, as photographed, but there was none. 
> Wardrobe too small for two people! 
> Curtains difficult to open and close; the one on the front door was especially annoying as the entrance to each room is lighted at night and I had difficulty sleeping as the curtains could not be totally closed. The rails and/or rings should be changed to allow a more natural use of the curtains. 
> Very noisy mini-bar, especially noticeable at night. 
> Bulky impractical "make my room" sign. 
> No TV or music. Not a problem for me, but it might be a problem for other travelers. 
> Security box a bit too high for a small lady! OK for most men. 
> Prices in menu in restaurant, bars, and spa do not include govt taxes! Why note showing the full price tax included? Spa is lovely but overpriced, and so are the prices of non alcoholic drinks. 
> Some the information regarding pricing of taxis, drivers, tours etc. outside those offered by the hotel, were misleading and always on the upper side, as they told me to pay more than I should according to locals. 

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Garuda Indonesia

I've travelled twice with Garuda Indonesia for international flights so far, and it is a good airline. 

The planes were modern and clean. Seating in Economy Class was decent and not as tight as in other airlines. 

My last flight with them was comfortable and punctual. The entertainment program was decent, but not as good as that offered by other international airlines for similar distances, and not as as good as Qantas Domestic for long flights. 

In my last flight, only five and a half hours long, they provided travellers with a snack at night and a full breakfast in the morning. Food was all right regarding taste and variety. 

The flight attendants were lovely both in the airport and on the plane, but the in-flight communications in English were a pain to listen to. 

In short, a good airline to fly with, but nothing one would be looking forward to unless the ticket includes a part of the route with them. 

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Lagoon Spa (Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia)

I found this place through Tripadvisor, to whom the photo is credited. 

I was staying in another hotel in the area and I book my preferred package the day before. I booked by email and, just in case, also by phone. Afterwards, I received a clear email with information about price of the package, without taxes and with taxes included, length of the treatment, and pick up hour, as they offered me a free lift to their place. 

I had the Lagoon Delight Package, two hours and a half of pure bliss with rain shower (ohmy!), full facial with Pevonia cosmetics, full body massage and traditional coconut scrub. 

The lady at reception and the therapist were really friendly, caring and helpful. The therapist was very attentive to my needs and did a fabulous job. 

The premises are inside the Seminak Villas hotel, and the treatment rooms are beautiful, and have a bath and mini-pool in the attached garden area. 

I was sorry not to leave a decent tip, as I was leaving Bali a few hours later and I had got rid of most of my Indonesian money, but I thought they deserved it. Pricing was very good for such a long and good quality treatment. 

I wanted to go to a nearby Post Office walking, and no way, they didn't let me do that and asked the hotel caddy driver to drop me there. 

I really enjoyed my visit and I would certainly go back there if I happen to visit Bali again. Terima Kasih!

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Grocer & Grind (Seminyak, Indonesia)

https://www.grocerandgrind.com 

Nice all-round Cafe. 

This place is a quiet corner in the busy heart of Seminyak. It has a modern spacious layout, and a menu of Western food favorite dishes and drinks with a bit of Indonesian flare. They had young fresh coconut, and that always makes me happy and is my fav Indonesian drink. 

I had a veggie burger, which comes with fries. The fries were excellent, crunchy, golden, delicious. The burger was lovely but a bit dry; I think a bit of mayo would have solved the problem! Also the patty was too big or the bun too small, so the patty kept sliding out of the bun all the time. 

Staff were lovely, very friendly and talkative. 

Pricing is similar to what we pay in Australia for the same thing.

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Sisterfields (Seminyak, Indonesia)

Sisterfields could be anywhere in Melbourne. It has very good creative food, trendy decor, spacious premises, different seating areas, and a great vibe from early in the morning. 

Most visitors are Australians and foreigners. 

Service was fast, attentive and very friendly. 

Coffee was excellent. 

My Shashuka breaky was delicious and satisfying. 

I paid 23 dollars or so for my breakfast and a coffee, the same I would pay in Oz for a similar thing.

A very enjoyable visit. 

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Grand Aston Yogyakarta Hotel & Convention Center (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Grand Aston Yogyakarta
Jalan Urip Sumoharjo, 37
Yogyakarta 55222
Indonesia
Phone: 13 38 10
Website
(First photo courtesy of the hotel's website)

The Grand Aston is a modern classy and comfortable hotel located in the heart of Yogyakarta. Although not in the city centre, the Grand Aston is located at walking distance from supermarkets, shopping malls, shopping streets and some of the city sights. 

Although the Grand Aston is a five-star hotel, you won't experience that unless you stay in one of the super-expensive super-duper suites. The hotel is classy but feels a bit run down and old-fashioned, and not luxurious enough. Yet, this is a great hotel, and you have everything you need there: lovely spacious rooms, huge restaurant, café, spa, gym, travel agent, beauty salon, conference facilities, free wi-fi and what is not. This is a business hotel for locals and other Asians, so there are not many Western visitors in general, especially from Australia. Most of them were Europeans visiting the amazing ruins for which Yogya is renowned in the world. You might have to stand with stoicism the stares of some people. 

THE ROOM
The Superior Room is very spacious and uber-clean, with a very classy timeless decoration, plenty of power points to plug your gadgets (even an desk's in-built international power socket), flat screen with a good selection of International TV Channels, air-conditioning, writing desk, a wonderful firm king bed, plenty of light points, safety box, a large classy bathroom with large shower, and a good selection of good quality toiletries, robe and sleepers included! 

THE RESTAURANT
The Grand Aston has a huge cafe-restaurant (with business and conference facilities in the mezzanine). Breakfast was included in the price of the room, so that was lovely. Their breakfasts cater for eastern and western palates, with so many sweet and savoury options that is impossible not to overeat. They prepare your eggs the way you like it, the quantity you like it, on the spot. I have never seen so many different things in a buffet! Quality of the food varied, but in general was good, although I found some supposedly Western stuff a bit weird. The sweets were very arty and colourful.

Coffee is included in the breakfast voucher, but if you want a proper machine coffee you have to pay it extra. I thought their percolated free coffee was good.

Their themed dinners are buffet style, a bit pricey, but very varied regarding dishes on offer and quantity. It is self-service, so you eat and die happily. The Indonesian buffet was really lovely, especially the lamb on the spit, which was terrific! 

There is a lady offering natural Indonesian digestives to customers, for free, dressed in a traditional dress. She seats at her spot in the dining area around 9am, if my memory does not fail. I tried some of them, and they tasted, well, "herby".

THE SPA, THE GYM AND THE POOL
I loved my visits to the Spa, which is very small but well equipped and the staff have magic hands and do wonderful facial and body treatments. Their Balinese massage is just awesome and perfect after a long flight, and a must if you have never experienced one. I was impressed with the care and friendliness of the staff, the long opening hours, the style of the facilities, and the treatments and products used on me. I am lady spa, so I was quite "spased" and I cannot speak more highly of these magic ladies.

The pool is very small but lovely, with a classy and elegant layout and decoration, for both sexes, and a few chairs to seat and relax; there is a café/bar attached, quite "expensive", and the guy attending to him is also in charge of providing you with towels and keeping an eye on the pool. 

The gym is also very small but with basic great quality machinery, and the guy attending to customers was just lovely.  

TRAVEL AGENT
The Travel Agent was a bit of disappointment as they just offer private drivers, car hiring and flight sales. They do not offer organised group tours. Private driving is the best thing, and affordable for foreigners, but extremely expensive for Indonesian standards. At least you know that they have fixed prices and you won't have to bargain. They will tell you that their drivers speak English, but most of them have a very limited very basic English, and communication can become a struggle.  

THE STAFF
All the Staff in the hotel were lovely, very helpful, smiley and willing to help: from cleaners, café attendants and waitresses, receptionists, masseuses, concierge, everybody. However, I found a tendency not to give customers correct information about pricing of transportation, and hesitation in the reply when you ask them for travel agents other than the one in the hotel, even if the others offer different services. Although information online about pricing is usually correct, they do not accept that as real because, well, you are a foreigner, hello hello. Basically, some people were very reliable on pricing information, and others totally untrustworthy.

NEARBY
The Galleria Mall, is a medium size lovely shopping mall, at barely five minutes walking distance from the hotel and with not many Westerners around. It has a great selection of shops and very friendly staff and floor personnel. The Galleria comes handy for some International fast food outlets (KFC, Mackos ice-cream booth and a Wendie's) and there is a food hall in the basement with a wide selection of Indonesian and Asian restaurants and stands, plus several posh cafes spread around the mall. There is a considerable variety of clothing, sports, shoes, and beauty shops, as well as a bargain area in the central courtyard.   

I you just want to buy a few things to take to your room, there is a Super Indo supermarket just across the street, if you are brave enough to cross the street at pick hours. This is a supermarket for locals, and full of locals, something I always love, nothing compares to mingling with locals, whatever that minds :), and you can buy those extra bottles of water, snacks, take-away food and other only Indonesian thingies that you want. 

The nearest sight is about 20 minutes walking distance, but if you are not used to the humidity of the place or do not live in a tropical area, you will avoid doing that at any cost. On the other hand, a ride on a becak (pronounced bechak) is a must. 

IF THIS WERE MY HOTEL...
* I would try to revamp superior rooms and provide customers with a bit more.
* I would change the mini-bar in the rooms, because it is minuscule and outdated.
* I would provide customers with a bigger wardrobe, which is a bit small for two people if you stay for a few days. Perhaps a better organised one, with more drawers might do the trick.  
* I would include a jar or tube of hair-conditioning among the toiletries. Shampoo with hair-conditioning is not good enough for people with long hair.
* The room's windows cannot be open, so the room was a bit smelly when the air-con was off.  That happens every time you go out, as the key works as power switch as well. If this were my hotel, I would give customers two cards, to keep the power on when going out. 
* I would change more often, or perhaps replace more often, the sheets covering the treatment stretchers at the Spa, as they were a bit smelly at the end of the day.
* I would change the lighting in the ground floor common areas. It does not help to create ambience and makes the hotel look older than it is.
* I would make sure that retrograde men are not given a room beside the pool. I had to suffer the dirty stares of a group of taliban-looking guys despite me wearing a very conservative swimsuit. Perhaps allocating those rooms to families or women would be more suitable. This is a five-star hotel, so I expect certain things not to happen.

TIPS
> Most Indonesian people do not speak English, so be smiley, learn a few words in Bahasa Indonesia, and you will find that things become easier all of the sudden. It shows your respect for their culture and expands your brain.

> The level of English of the staff varied tremendously. At reception was perfect, no problem, but in other areas the staff had limited English, reduced to basic greettings and vocabulary related to their trade. Confusion might arise because of this, so I recommend for you to use writing notes to make clear what you want at times if you notice that the staff are not getting what you are saying. Then smile broadly.

> I found a "rip off the Westerner as much as you can while smiling at their face" mentality in Yogya. The tourist infrastructure is very limited outside Bali, and prices exorbitant for Indonesian standards. Be careful with taxi and becak drivers, too many of them tend to get your money and do not give you the return, no matter the quantity due. Or drive slow as a cow to get more money, or arrange a price and then say that it was double of what they say.  If you are on a budget, use your legs a bit and be firm in your haggling. Again, if you speak a bit of Bahasa, things smooth out immensely. They are just grateful for your effort.

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