Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Hotel Kumala Pantai, Bali, Indonesia

Date of stay: 22~26 Oct'15
Duration: 4 nights
Booking agent: Agoda
Paid: SGD1142.64 (for 3 deluxe rooms, for 4 nights)
Breakfast: International
Wifi: Only at the (Italian Restaurant) - you gotta ask them for password

It was a trip for my old folks. Only upon booking did I realise this hotel has no lift. So there was a problem for my aging folks. Dropped them an email and received almost an immediate reply that they could place us at the lowest of the building, at Level 1. Ground floor is for Junior Suite, so that's out of the question. And despite the worry they do not keep to their words (coz I booked under Agoda), we were given Level 1 for all three rooms. And the staffs were very pro-active in helping us with our luggages.

Strangely, I hardly seen any Asian guests in the hotel throughout the 4 nights. We were not sure why this hotel is not popular among the Asians.

As the hotel looks pretty very "gardenish", I didn't know how to capture nice photos. The hotel is just a street away from the beach. A good garden walk from the front of the hotel to the back of the hotel where the Italian restaurant is. Do not expect a quiet beach. It is a crowded beach with stalls and all.

There is a spa in the hotel. My sis and mom went for massage. Price was reasonable but service was nothing to shout of.

The entrance at night

Lobby overview

Reception

The bed

The balcony at Level 1 we enjoyed thoroughly due to the convenience
to see my parents and my sis

Pool 1 - quite pretty, but it can be pretty deep.
I saw a 1.8m somewhere in the middle.
The little ones played at the baby pool on the left side mainly.

Pool 2
Pretty pathetic. The pool is not clean. The hotel was chopping off some trees.
Leaves, barks dropped into the pool.
The pool looks deep too, and no proper indication of the depth.

Balinese Dance on Thursday evening

Different performances every evening
7.30-8.30pm and 8.30-9.30pm
Restaurant:
It's an Italian Restaurant where you have your breakfast and your fix for wifi connection with the world. They serve pretty good food. They have different performance every evening and it was full house the 3 nights we dined there. Recommend to be seated outside by 6pm if you wish to get a nice seat. Try not to take the tables inside, the service can be quite disappointing.

Wifi:
I've read that it's not worth to purchase the wifi there as the network is really bad. So, just go to the restaurant for your fix.

Breakfast:
They have variety of local delights, toast and bread, muesli/oats/cereals, choices of juice, fruits, yogurts. But I ate lesser and lesser each day.

Mosquitoes:
You can literally see them flying towards you in delight. One good advice: bathe in your repellant.

Website: http://www.kumalapantai.com/
Address: Jl, Werkudara, Legian Kaja, Kuta, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Tel: +62 361 755500
Fax: +62 361 755700
Email: info@kumalapantai.com

PS: My harsh critics may be because of the comparison with our experience in Grand Aston Bali.

Monday, 27 April 2015

Freshwater Creek Cottage, Torquay, Melbourne, Australia

Date of stay: 18~20 Mar'15
Duration: 2 nights
Booking agent: Direct
Paid: AUD175 per night
Wifi: No

The farm stay rate is AUD175 regardless which cottage you choose. Be it a lover cosy Lavender Cottage or 2 bedrooms Rose Cottage like the one we booked. For pictures of the other cottages, please click here.

As we put up with a friend during our trip, we've invited her friend to bring along her 2 precious gals. No regrets, the kids had so much fun they wish we didn't have to leave the farm!


Road in

Entrance

Our Rose Cottage

Living Room

Dining Table

Full Kitchen - comes with cooking oil, pepper, salt, coffee, tea, sugar and creamer (in the fridge!)

One of the rooms
One side of the bunk beds

The other side

Line of mobiles - from tricycles, wheelburrows, trucks.. you name it
(and this is just one side, there's another row of parking on the opposite!)

Guess what! Grapes!

Pear!

Red apples!

Peaches

Raspberry!

Tomatoes

Percy the pig!

Charlotte

Little things around

Little things around

One of the kiddos' fave

Photo taking time!

Putting corner with real golf clubs, lawnball/petanque too perhaps?

Cycling is for the young and the old

Playground brings out fun

Playground brings out fun

Playground brings out fun

Playground brings out fun

Trampolin!

Trampolin!

Adorable kids

Worried they'll be bored at night?
Kids, being kids, have fun anywhere. Taekwando drill, hide and seek.. what's boring?

Playing with the friendly dogs

Feeding the sheeps

Feeding Pixie

The kids love the dogs
Playing with the dog

Richard waiting for little aides

Segregating veggies

Fruits

Help to distribute the segregated food to respective section

Please help me!

Little Helper

And then, it's feeding time!

They get up close and personal with the sheeps

More work to do!

Or you can use a tractor too!

Spotted a few wild kangaroos, how lucky!

Driving back after feeding hugo..

Kids love this too!

Checking out if the hens laid any..

Like a few times a day..

Is there any?

Yippie!

Brilliant
We love it that the cottage is very child friendly!

For more details:

Website: http://www.fwcreek.com.au/

Address: 815 Pettavel Road, Freshwater Creek, Vic, 216

Phone: 03 5264 5296

Email: admin@fwcreekcom.au