#urbanfamilyinbali
Easter is the perfect time of year for families to get away for a short break, business is usually on hold and kids are on holidays. This also means that travel is at a premium and accommodation can be hard to book.
Since the kids came along we have made it an Easter tradition to go camping with some of our closest friends. However our last experience at a Big 4 park, whilst offering fantastic facilities presented us with a number of restrictions and cost us a premium, so as a group we decided to make Bali our Easter destination for 2018.
Flights
We managed to secure return flights from Perth on Jetstar for $1297 for the four of us, basically what we paid to camp for a week the previous year. I’d never flown Jetstar to Bali before and was suitably impressed. Obviously a budget carrier but flight was smooth and on-time.
Accommodation
Our group consisted of 6 adults and 6 children ranging in age from 6 to 11 so we were chasing villa accommodation to ensure the kids were close during our evening antics. We booked the 5 bedroom Presidential Villa at Peppers Seminyak (http://www.peppersseminyak.com) which cost $320 per family per night. The resort consists of a number of different size villas and is set back from the main road making it generally a bit of a walk from your villa to the street, however they do provide a buggy service from your room. The only downside is that at peak times you may have to wait a little while. This generally wasn’t too much of an issue and we were happy to walk most of the time.
All 5 bedrooms in the villa were spacious and well appointed with mosquito nets on each of the beds. The bathrooms were outdoors and suited the tropical setting, however my rodent phobia did play with my head a few times, thank goodness there was no sign of the little buggers.
The villa doesn’t come with it’s own staff but room service, including cocktails, is only a case of picking up the phone. What impressed me the most was the size of the swimming pool in the villa. It was well and truly enough to keep 6 energetic children entertained without us having to head to the main pool, except for happy hour!
Breakfast was included in our stay and whilst the “stuffet” is usually a highlight for me, Peppers provided a basic continental buffet, then you could order your hot breakfast from the menu.
Overall I was happy with the accommodation and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again but the general vibe amongst the group was that next time we would prefer a private villa with its own staff.
Activities
Changu Water Park
This was a relatively short taxi ride from the villa and a fantastic way to keep both the kids and adults happy. The adults can quite comfortably set themselves up on a sun lounge and supervise the children while they have free reign of the water slides. Whilst the adults certainly had their own fun on the slides it’s more suitable to children under 12.
Waterbom Park
Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/pg/Waterbom
Whilst this is a favourite for any child and many adults heading to Bali it is quite a mission from Seminyak. The taxi ride took 1.5 hours each way in traffic and it was near impossible for the group to stay together once inside the park. The height restriction on many of the slides meant the younger children had to miss out on the bigger rides but the big kids certainly made the most of it.
Restaurants/Bars
Biku Bali
http://bikubali.com/#home
Jl. Petitenget No.888, Kerobokan Kelod, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung,
The food here was fantastic for both the kids and adults, a great selection of curries as well as western food. We actually visited Biku twice during our stay. For a bit of fun we booked a tarot reading during our visit, these are best to book ahead of time and certainly provided us with some good conversation afterwards!!
Rustica
https://rustica-bali.business.site
Jl. Batubelig No. 1 Kerobokan Badung Bali
Having had the privilege of growing up with my Nonna’s cooking I am quite discerning when it comes to Italian food. This place was a fantastic find! Traditional Italian food, with fresh handmade pasta and woodfired pizzas all at reasonable prices. A brilliant family restaurant.
Finns Beach Club
https://www.finnsbeachclub.com
Jalan Pantai Berawa, Canggu
We decided on Finns for our ‘Adults Only Day’, and it’s not a place I would take the children. The setting is great and the cocktails were delicious, however personally it’s not really my thing, at least not these days anyway. The place is full of people that seem to be more worried about their Instagram post rather than their conversation and there is no way you would catch me even dipping a toe in the pool based on how long people remain in there drinking, if you get my drift! It’s a great beach club if you’re after that sort of thing but personally I preferred the traditional Balinese restaurant across the road where the drinks were half the price and musician gave us free reign of the microphone…. In hindsight, not his best move!
