Just back from 12 night in Bali, the first eight at Amankila followed by four nights at Amanusa, both pool villas. Lots and lots have been written about these resorts, so I will try to focus on new things and comparisons + some details about activities.

VILLAS
As mentioned, we were in pool villas at both resorts. We were upgraded first at Amankila since we agreed to move dates to accommodate a wedding and then upgraded also at Nusa, maybe since it was our 10th Aman - or just like that (very low occupancy as well). Very nice in any case.

The best thing about a pool villa at Amankila is that it offers max privacy as the villa terrace with pool, loungers and the outside daybed/dining table is walled. Do not really need a private pool here since there are so many other options, but still nice to have of course. We were in number 26 which was close to main building, very private, view of some roofs and trees and then sea in the distance, some noise from cars passing on the little road now and then, but no problem with that. The outside daybed is soooo comfortable and has good reading light when sitting outside at night. The outside dining table looks a bit too much like an outside desk instead of a dining table, but fine. Pool just the right temperature and loungers always set up with towels, water, sun cream etc. when we got back after breakfast. Inside we found everything very good as well. Bed very comfortable once you request a mattress topper. Bed for our son either in the main bedroom or across the bathtub, we chose the latter since we could then close the door and use the other room after he was asleep. Loved the shampoo/conditioner/soap – smelled so good. Lots of space for clothes in the wardrobe, missed some storage space for other things in the main room, but no big problem.

At Amanusa we were in number 25. Also private and pretty close to main buildings, maybe too much sun during the day, but always possible to find shade when moving loungers a bit. Pool felt even bigger than Amankila. It was almost too hot as the sun was shining constantly, so it was more for dipping than for swimming. Outside bale not as comfortable as the ones in Amankila (smaller, harder and less light at night for reading), but still a great place for lounging. Inside very beautiful with lots of space for storage. Bed only queen size but large enough. Bed for our son was set up in wardrobe/bathroom (no door to close between bedroom and bathroom/wardrobe and also no curtains to close to the outside shower, but he still slept very well). Loved the bathtub and the outside shower. Also here great toiletries.

FOOD/RESTAURANTS/ROOM SERVICE/SPECIAL MEALS
For 8 nights, the menu at Kila felt very limited, but we soon found out that they would make whatever we asked for. One evening our son wished for Mexican food, and they prepared a perfect meal for us in just a bit more than one hour. Perfect. Loved the home made granola for breakfast and the banana pancakes. Fantastic sate evening up in the hills in a bale one evening we will remember very long. A must do! Also we highly recommend eating outside once in the Bali Asli restaurant http://baliasli.com.au. We had lunch there during an excursion and the food, service and view was amazing. This is also where Kila send their guests for cooking classes which I am certain are great as well.

At Nusa the menu was a lot larger and also there were two venues to eat at night. We loved the Italian food and the Indonesian food, but found the Thai food to be a bit too bland and not a highlight. Maybe because we had this at Nyepi (silence day where everything is closed and quiet?) Fantastic sea food BBQ on the beach the last evening. Food, ambience, decoration wonderful. Again a must do.

SERVICE
The Amans at Bali are just perfect. No mistakes, smiling and friendly people, very quick service everywhere, perfect housekeeping etc. During excursions we got to know different employees every time we went out, which was fine on one hand (get to know more people), but still we would have preferred same driver/guide all the time like we had for example at Dari and at Ruya so that we would get to know him better. I am sure we could have requested this, but did not think about it until afterwards.
Exceeding expectations service example: Our son lost his (cheap) camera during trekking in the jungle. The guide went back on his own initiative and actually managed to find it (amazing as it was really dense jungle and a long trek).
Also we loved the lime water with ice and a basket for our dirty shoes waiting in the villa after trekking. The shoes came back looking like new!

SPA AND GYM
No real spa and gym at these two resorts, but we found the massage villas and gym villas to be perfectly OK. Treatments very good, too. I had massage and a sunburn treatment at Kila and massage plus facial at Nusa. The gym villa was never occupied so we got to use it whenever we wanted and found it nice that it was private – especially when I played personal trainer for my husband and showed him exercises he was not used to, i.e. I was better. ☺

BEACH AND POOLS
Absolutely loved the beach at Amanusa and the main pool at Kila – and their bales. I think I want a bale at home. ;-) Great service at beach with tons (I almost felt bad) of fresh towels, water, sun cream and little treats during the day. Also Kila beach and Nusa pool plus beach pool at Kila very good. Good to have so many places to change between.

WEATHER
March is still rainy season, and we did have some showers during most days, mostly in the afternoon or some quick showers in between the sunshine, but nothing that ruined our stay and activities – and we got great suntans as well and had lots of fun when it rained. Actually it was really too hot when the sky was blue, so we had to hide under a bale during these times, and liked it better with some clouds. No reason to stay at home during rainy times. We <3 Bali anyway!

ACTIVITIES
I have already written about special dinners and spa treatments, so now some words about the outside activities that we went on.

At Amankila we did two treks one of which ended with breakfast in the 2nd Amankila bale, one boat trip with snorkelling, the east Bali tour plus a visit to a temple to see a hindu ceremony. At Nusa we went to see the Ogoh-ogoh parade nearby the night before Nyepi ,visited the temple at Uluwatu including kecak dance performance and received a hindu blessing on our last morning.

Before talking more about these different outings, I would like to say that if you want to experience the real, traditional Bali and the Baliense culture + beautiful, green nature, I cannot talk highly enough of Amankila and east Bali. I found it even better than Amandari where we were 3 years ago. The Nusa Dua is much more developed and thus more of a place to relax and enjoy the resort/food and possibly shopping. We saw more tourists than locals once we were out, but during our activities from Kila we really had experiences as only tourists in between the locals.

The two treks from Amankila (Putung to Amankila through Manggis and Wates toAbian Canang with Picnic Breakfast) were both very scenic and very different. The first trek was only downhill, through small villages, over the beautiful rice fields and through the jungle along a small river and the second one first uphill passing lots of different tropical fruit trees, to a view point to see the mountain (covered in clouds the day we were there, but still beautiful) and then downhill passing a small temple where we met local women bringing offerings carried on their heads and passing isolated villages high up in the mountains ending at the spectacular bale for breakfast with a view. Both highly recommended.

The boat trip is nice as well. Traditional boat, service minded staff, lounging at the boat roof and snorkelling that surprised me very positively – lots of fish and nice coral. I almost did not go in having snorkelled so many wonderful places in the past but I am very glad I did. The light lunch afterwards was nice as well, but the sightseeing along the coast was nothing to write home about except it was nice to see Kila from the sea.

We also enjoyed the east Bali tour where we visited two water palaces, very different from each other and from other sights in Bali, as well as a traditional village. Also great to see the lush nature and local life along the road. Make sure to add lunch at Bali Asli that I mentioned above.

Finally, what I consider the highlight of our outings. We had read in the car on our way to Amankila that a special hindu ceremony would take place while we were there. We mentioned to the staff that we would like to see this, and they checked which temple we should visit for the best experience. The took us to a quite isolated temple in the jungle 25 minutes drive from Amankila. The driver helped us dressing properly in sarongs and we joined him and around 1.000 locals in a huge ceremony with music, performances, offerings and celebration. The driver did his best to explain everything for us, and acted as translator between the local boys and our son. All locals dressed in traditional clothing, women bringing offerings carried on their heads, children performing dances – and us in between all of this. Wow!

At nusa we went to see the Ogoh Ogoh parade on the night before Nyepi (silence day, Balinese new year). In the parade, local boys and men carry the big “monsters” (representing the dark spirit) and make lots of noise playing on drums etc. to scare away the evil. The large monsters are spectacular and it is worth while seeing. Close to nusa there were obviously more tourists seeing the parade, but these parades are held all over Bali as the local way of celebrating this day. The day after is the silence day where all beaches are closed, lighting only minimum (candle lights), no travelling outside of the hotel, airport closed etc. We spent the day around the pool, I had a massage and we had dinner under the stars in candle light in the evening.

Next late afternoon we went with a driver to the Uluwatu temple an hour before sunset too see the temple high on a cliff above the sea and to experience the Kecak dance performance. Hordes of tourists there, all dressed in sarong. The performance was good, authentic in the beginning but towards the end it was more of a show for tourists, nothing compared to the performance of this dance that we saw at Kila many years ago, but still nice costumes and song/dance.

Finally, the next morning we were dressed in very nice local dresses and taken to the temple inside the Kila resort where a hindu priest performed a blessing ceremony for us. A memorable experience as well.

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All in all a great, relaxing and memorable holiday to my favorite island and hotel "chain". Loved both Kila and Nusa, Nusa is highly underrated I would say: More people should go there and stay longer! I will be back!