This was the first trip that Mum and I had ever taken together with just the two of us. I can't speak for Mum, but I know I had a few concerns about travelling together. Whenever we've gone with the rest of our family, Mum and I generally have gotten along very well. Any issues we did have during previous trips were not caused by each other, but rather the other people we were travelling with. Before this trip, I was wondering in the back of my head if we would get on alright, if we would agree on what to do each day, where to shop, where to eat, when to relax. The closest thing to an argument we had went something like this: "No you choose where we go for dinner.", "I don't mind, you decide.". Naturally, mothers and daughters fight, but as I've gotten older and left those angsty teenage years behind, Mum and I have gotten much closer. As it turned out, I needn't be concerned at all. I think having this trip with just my mum and I was fantastic. Not only did it give us an opportunity to have some great quality time together far away from the rest of the family in a place where we could relax and not worry about who is paying for each meal, it gave us a chance to get to know each other better outside of our typical mother-daughter relationship. Travelling with someone can be a real eye opener and this trip gave me, and I'm sure Mum as well, the chance to see my mum in a light outside of our home life where she's cooking dinner, cleaning the house, working and looking out for everyone else. It was one of my best trips to Bali yet.
Mum and I shared the responsibilities of planning this trip. The flights we booked in a spur of the moment flight price check and while Mum brought the different accommodation options to me, we both agreed on the final plans.
During our trip, we had 3 different accommodations: The Pearl Hotel, the Tamukami and the Mercure Resort. Mum and I enjoyed all 3 for different reasons. Lets start with The Pearl.
The Pearl is a small, boutique hotel tucked away off Double 6 in Legian. We made our booking directly with them via their websites. The Pearl is a bit of an oasis, hidden away from the busy Legian streets. The hotel has only 16 rooms and has a no under 15's and no groups rule which guarantees peace and quiet. The rooms (we stayed in a Luxe Superior) are modern with a touch of shabby-chic and very comfortable. They all have great sized verandas/balconies and the Luxe Superior rooms have a great walk through wardrobe/dressing room area and a semi outdoor bathroom. Breakfast is included in the room rate and is more than sufficient.
The hotel also has a fantastic French restaurant of the same name. Although it may be a bit more on the expensive side by Bali standards, it was worth the cost. Having dinner in a dimly lit, quiet garden area with great service by friendly and professional waiters is a beautiful setting. The food was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious. It's a restaurant I would definitely recommend trying.
While it was a fantastic hotel and we really enjoyed our stay, there were a couple of small things that could have added to it, but also didn't detract from it. Firstly, there is no room service or service around the pool. While Mum and I are not the type to hang at out at the hotel all day and are usually the type to go out to try new restaurants rather than eat at the hotel, to be able to order an ice tea or cocktail around the pool is always enjoyable. The pool towels could also do with being replaced. During our stay, the room safe was not functioning. This only meant that we were not electronically able to lock it and had to use the key, but this caused a little inconvenience when I needed to get something out, but Mum had the key. And lastly, our room was made up quite late in the day. As it's such a small hotel, we couldn't really see a reason for this. As I said, these are only small issues that did not detract from our stay, but could have added to it.
Our next 3 nights were spent at the Tamukami in Sanur. Having stayed in Sanur many times before, we were comfortable with the area. This was our first stay at the Tamukami and we have both agreed it was our favourite accommodation of the trip. We booked via www.booking.com which meant we paid slightly less than their usual rate. All went well with the booking and we were greeted very warmly from the staff upon our arrival. The hotel is run by an older Belgian couple who appear to have quite an active role in the running of the hotel. They could be found throughout the day greeting their guests, enjoying the pool, eating at the restaurant. Throughout our stay, the staff went above and beyond, always with a smile on their face. The communication between them seems to be very good and they were always on top of everything. Breakfast was included and was sufficient. The rooms are fantastic; big and airy with a great bathroom and either a verandah or balcony. It's also in a great location, with plenty of Sanur's best restaurants on its doorstep. It's definitely a hotel we would stay in again.
Our last 2 nights was at the Mercure Resort. Mum and I had not stayed in South Sanur before and we were looking forward to giving it a try. The Mercure is the South-most hotel in Sanur and although beachfront location is good, with plenty of restaurants and other hotels within walking distance, Mum and I found the street location a bit of a dead end; we took to cutting through next door's Sanur Beach Hotel to get to the street. We stayed in a Deluxe Room which was nicely renovated. After staying in 2 small hotels prior to this, having to walk more than 10 feet to get to the pool seemed like a real effort. Mum and I were reminded during this leg of our trip that we definitely prefer small hotels. There was nothing wrong with the Mercure, it simply was not to our tastes. Staying in a big hotel usually comes with feeling like a number rather than a guest and we did feel that way. There was no warm welcome and no friendly greetings from staff that we passed each day. Saying that, Mum was given flowers, a fruit basket and a cake for her birthday which did not go unappreciated. Staying here gave us a taste of South Sanur and we decided that it wasn't for us.
During our stay, Mum and I did a bike tour with East Bali Bikes. This bike tour starts near Amed and ends at White Sand Beach. It was a fantastic day out, reasonably priced with great guides. It is was the perfect way to see a bit of East Bali without staying in the area as well as being a great way to combine adventure, sightseeing and a touch of culture. The scenery was incredible throughout the ride, the walk through the rice field and ending the day at White Sand Beach. It is something we'd both do again and strongly reccomend it.
All in all, Mum and I had a great trip. We stayed in new places, ate at different restaurants and tried a few new things. Now it's time for me to starting counting down to my next trip. It's all already planned, booked and paid for which means I can do nothing more but sit back, wait, dream and imagine.
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