going to be in bali for a week in november. Has anyone stayed at the villas at Hotel sofitel Seminyak?
Also, thinkin of traveling west to Pemuteran and passing through lovnia beach on the way back. Is this possible in 4 days?
thank you in advace.

Anything is possible .......if you want to keep moving around then I would rent a car or a car and driver(what ever suits your style). Lovina Beach is quite nice and laid back. I have never stayed at the Sofitel perhaps it was something else before? I have stayed in Semanyak and if you are interested there are many villas there to rent.....it might pay to shop around.

sofitel used to be the bali imperial before. I have read good things about it.
How long does it take to drive up to the beaches on the north. is 4 days too short of a time?

It only takes a few hours to the beaches closer to DPS, but longer if you are going to the great diving areas on the other side........It is really dependant on the traffic as the roads are narrow with a lot of people/animals/cars/trucks/scooters on them.

Just curious - will the recent bombings affect your decision to travel to Bali? Were it me, I do not know what I would do.

If it were me, I'd be looking into changing locations, but that's just me.

I take the opposite view arguing something like this:

After an event like the bombings lots of travellers will stay away. That means better rates and less crowded facilities. So it's a good deal for me. It also means that the people who depend on the travel industry for their livelihood, and had nothing to do with the atrocities, need support. So my going is a good deal for them.

I would also argue (as NY did after 9/11 and London more recently) that at times like these one should support these areas because by staying away the terrorists are handed a victory of sorts. Of course this is based on the extremely low probabilities of being involved in such an event. I am definitiely not advocating going to into a war zone or an extremist enclave. And if the authorities are nonchalant about terrorism and tourist safety then all my sympathies disappear along with my business.

[B] After an event like the bombings lots of travellers will stay away. That means better rates and less crowded facilities. So it's a good deal for me. It also means that the people who depend on the travel industry for their livelihood, and had nothing to do with the atrocities, need support. So my going is a good deal for them.

[B] Where is a good place to monitor the prices in Bali? The last time they had a bombing, tourist Did NOT come to Bali and 5 star hotels were practically giving the rooms away. I expect this will happen again. People will stay away.

What site would someone recommend watching to keep a track on Bali hotel prices/packages after this recent attack?

I will boldly suggest that this is currently not happening, and will likely not happen. As compared to the first Bali attack in October 2002, this current bomb blast is not likely to stop the inflow of paxs unlike that of Oct 2002. I do agree that there will be less tourists as the number will definately see a fall, but not to the levels seen previously..

My personal reasoning:

- it had happened before, and therefore, people may be more mentally prepared about such things from happening. Some countries have already warned citizens to stay away from Indonesia as Ramadan approaches..and the Indonesian Preseident himself said to be prepared for bombings around Sept and Oct.

- Judging from the SQ loads these few days, flights are still going to Bali at 2/3 full, but return is expected at full loads for next few days. Compared to Oct 2002 where the loads dropped to less than 50% in 2 days for flights to Bali, this is a good sign Bali will not fall back to the levels seen before.

- If you guys can think of it, why can't the other travellers think like you ? With such mentality, do you seriously think you can get utterly cheap deals? (we might see some discounts thou....)

Helping the Balinese people doesn't mean staying entirely at 5-star hotels run by foreign hotel chains like Conrad or Westin. How much do you think the Balinese economy benefit from tourists staying at Conrad or Westin hotels, eating and spending money there and not leaving these hotels? Very little , I dare say.

The locals may be happy to see tourists like us returning to Bali, but every little things we do will, like where we spend our money, determine how much money do go back to help the real people in need.

J777

This was reported on Reuters: Australia's Qantas Airways said on Monday that about 600 people had changed plans to travel to Bali after bombings on the resort island killed 26 and wounded 122 people. So at the very least these 600 people don't think like I do.

But I do take your points. It's a matter of degree; I certainly don't expect a fire sale, just some pressure taken off prices in the peak season.

I really like your point about being careful where you spend your money (although $1000 spent in a luxury resort must surely have trickle down benefits for a lot of people?). If horrors like this make us more "responsible" travellers, i.e. a little more aware of the needs of the people in the countries we visit and our impact on them, that is a small blessing.

I visited Bali in each of the last two years. Yesterday, I got the following email from my driver:

"We are very sad that it is happening again in our island and we can not understand that they always choose Bali for their evil's acts.

We are wishing that people still have their special affection for Bali that make them having a reason to visit us again and again.

We are not sure what Bali is going to be without tourism. Please pray for us all."

^ ^ ^

My wife and I have reservations in Bali Nov7-15. We plan to keep our reservations. Could you send me the name of your driver and how we might reach him. We would like to hire him to meet us at the airport and to tour the island for a few days. We will be staying in Sanur and Nusa Dua. What are his rates? Many thanks, Burt

My wife and I have reservations in Bali Nov7-15. We plan to keep our reservations. Could you send me the name of your driver and how we might reach him. We would like to hire him to meet us at the airport and to tour the island for a few days. We will be staying in Sanur and Nusa Dua. What are his rates? Many thanks, Burt

San Diego1K and I use the same driver - he's Wayan Sueta and you can contact him at [email protected]

As for rates, I can't recall if I paid him $40 or $45 a day in August, but the Indonesian government was set to raise fuel prices again on Oct. 1. Wayan was quite concerned as tourism still isn't back to pre-2002-bombing levels and he didn't want to have to raise prices, but he looked to have little option so I'd expect a bit more. Wayan is truly fabulous, BTW.