The real reason we decided to go on a little Bali getaway was because we scored $130 return flights with Air Asia. I am not even kidding, they were that cheap. So we didn't have a huge budget to splash out on a fancy hotel. Instead we were looking for something around the middle: clean, new-ish, nice pool area, decent location but simple.
We looked at a few places online but ended up settling on the Akmani Legian, which came out at about $70 for the room per night between the two of us. It was only a year old and had a really interesting design, with lots of greenery, sculptures and geometric brickwork. It felt very boutique and different, which I really liked. And the location on Jalan Legian was extremely central - we were a $5 taxi ride from Seminyak but could also walk into central Kuta.
The rooms themselves were no simple, clean and no frills - but that's all we really needed as we barely spent any time there. It was strange how the bathroom had a clear window to the rest of the room, so we had to pull a flimsy blind down whenever we wanted to take a shower. But that was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.
The two real highlights of the hotel were the staff and the pool area. True to Balinese style, everyone that worked at the hotel was just so friendly and accommodating and nothing was ever too much trouble. The fact that the premises had both a ground-level and a rooftop pool also sold me. The rooftop pool was pretty shallow (maybe for health and safety reasons?) but it made a beautiful place to go and have a cocktail and little swim at night. It was just a shame that the rooftop area was so quiet - we were the only guests up there at one point and I did feel a bit sorry for the three staff at the rooftop bar who had no customers. But when any guilt like that started to come over me, I had to remind myself that WE were there and it was better for us to give them our business than not.
Overall, I would stay at Akmani Legian again but I think next time we will find somewhere in Seminyak as we seemed to go there three times a day. I thought staying in Seminyak would feel far from the centre but it has changed since I last went to Bali and is now definitely the place to be more than ever.
We looked at a few places online but ended up settling on the Akmani Legian, which came out at about $70 for the room per night between the two of us. It was only a year old and had a really interesting design, with lots of greenery, sculptures and geometric brickwork. It felt very boutique and different, which I really liked. And the location on Jalan Legian was extremely central - we were a $5 taxi ride from Seminyak but could also walk into central Kuta.
The rooms themselves were no simple, clean and no frills - but that's all we really needed as we barely spent any time there. It was strange how the bathroom had a clear window to the rest of the room, so we had to pull a flimsy blind down whenever we wanted to take a shower. But that was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.
The two real highlights of the hotel were the staff and the pool area. True to Balinese style, everyone that worked at the hotel was just so friendly and accommodating and nothing was ever too much trouble. The fact that the premises had both a ground-level and a rooftop pool also sold me. The rooftop pool was pretty shallow (maybe for health and safety reasons?) but it made a beautiful place to go and have a cocktail and little swim at night. It was just a shame that the rooftop area was so quiet - we were the only guests up there at one point and I did feel a bit sorry for the three staff at the rooftop bar who had no customers. But when any guilt like that started to come over me, I had to remind myself that WE were there and it was better for us to give them our business than not.
Overall, I would stay at Akmani Legian again but I think next time we will find somewhere in Seminyak as we seemed to go there three times a day. I thought staying in Seminyak would feel far from the centre but it has changed since I last went to Bali and is now definitely the place to be more than ever.
No comments
Post a Comment