Hello,

I'm wondering if anybody can offer advice about booking rooms during peak season. I have been scouring the internet, Lonely Planet, and relying a bit on a friend of a friend in Bali to find us accommodation for our 3.5week stay, but it's been a very time-consuming and not altogether fruitful endeavor. (The friend of friend in Bali ended up having an invested interest in helping us and his advice didn't jive with reviews I read, so I've kind of given up on him). We've managed to book rooms from Dec 18-Dec 26 in Kuta and Candidasa, but I'm having particular difficulty finding anything suitable in the Dec 27-Jan 4 range. We're hoping to spend 4-6 nights in Ubud from Dec 27 and maybe Pemuteran for 2-3 nights after that. In Ubud, Tegal Sari and Saren Indah looked great, but they're booked solid from what I can tell. I'm thinking that bookings for the Jan 4-13 leg of our stay will be easiest done in country since peak season will be over by then.

We're a family of 4 with two boys, ages 6 and 10. I have been requesting two beds in a single room (two doubles or a king and a twin). We're hoping to stay within a $50/night budget, but if we're $10-$30 over that during peak week, I suppose it won't kill us.

Any suggestions for places I may be overlooking or that aren't advertised on the internet?

-Tim.

Bali for families

Here is a link to the Bali for Families web site that might have some helpful information for you.

My husband and I stayed at the Putri Ayu Hotel some years ago and just loved it. It is at the end of Jl Bisma, a lovely street which runs parallel to Jl. Monkey Forrest. You can walk through the Putri Ayu Hotel to get to Jl. Monkey Forrest or walk along Jl. Bisma to Ubud's main road.

Also along Jl. Bisma is the Uma Sari Hotel which I had a look at during my last trip to Bali earlier this year. This is a small place but the owners were lovely and the outlook beautiful. The rooms were not as big as those at the Putri Ayu but I'm sure you could all squeeze in.

Uma Sari Cottage Ubud - Ubud Hotel Bali.

Hope the links work and you have some good luck with this.

There are a number of other places along Jl. Bisma such as Nick's Hidden Cottages and Nick's Pension and several others that I can't name. Some of these are located off the road beyond the rice paddies and the pathways can be narrow. This may not be the best with children and particularly at night.

I don't want to alarm you but always remember that Asia has some very interesting snakes and Ubud is semi rural so something to watch out for.

Catherine