Originally Posted by
demue
Mhm, many questions. I'll just give a brief view on some.
The volcano is far enough away to not impact the resort unless it is massive eruption and the wind is bad.
The food at IC Bali is decent though it depends on what you like to eat. For Indonesian food, being very used to and familiar with it, I can only saying for us it is "okay", but again tastes differ so YMMV. Definitely a lot of good food in Bali, a lot of which outside of hotels.
The resort and the grounds are very nice at IC Bali. These days on the same land area developers would build at least two resorts. Renovation , by 2019, should have progressed well, though the Club wing is planned to be renovated from late Oct 2018 onwards and I wouldn't count on it being all done by then.
IC SIN Robertson Quay I would skip unless you like small rooms for an IC and an area that is not that well connected (for Singapore standards). I would stay at the IC SIN at Bugis where rooms have been renovated too.
Flying to Bali from SIN (one-way?) in Biz certainly far out KLM has very competitive fares. If paying cash I'd go for that. If part of mileage redemption SQ is obviously good, but cash prices are high. Garuda is in between the two and actually, in my book, very good. I have no gripes flying GA at all and domestically in Indonesia GA would be my absolute top choice.
The IC in Bandung is a huge disappointment and Bandung turns into a jam packed hell over the weekend when Jakarta people flood the town and traffic grinds to a halt. Great food, nice mountains, but ...
The old IC in Jakarta is gone (rebranded now) and the new one will be in a very different area that due to traffic mau not be great for touristy stuff.
Can't comment on Phuo Quoc other than that pics look decent enough. Vietnam Airlines would also be my choice if I was to go.
Super stuff thanks Demue, is first class data, pretty much everything I hoped and wanted to hear. Perfect.
To be honest I was just curious about the new Singapore IC and yes we been treated hugely well at what we might call the old IC over time so that's very good to understand. it's that fine line between being institutionalised and trying the new .... common sense tells you one thing but curiosity the other.
Yes the KLM price looked spot on, less than half the Singapore rate currently. Also good to know that Gaurda is an option not to be discounted. That said having done weekly hops with KLM the last couple of decades I may still with the devil I know.....deja-vu ....bit like hotels in SIN. Mind 100% agree on Vietnam Airlines .... hugely impressed by them recent trips, business cabin service and food is excellent and refreshed planes are very good.
The grounds at IC Bali remind me very loosely of Royal Mirage in Dubai (very loosely) .... low rise, lots of manicured gardens and beach front....a nice format.
Can I ask what aspect of Bandung you find a disappointment? Yes understand what you mean about locations of the ex and imminent new IC's. I'm actually less worried than most about hotel location traditionally so long as taxi's are cheap and the place is excellent but curious to understand why Bandung misses target.
Is a brilliant assessment Demue, Appreciate you taking the time.