In Bali, stay at Uluwatu or Ubud?
 

Looking at both and the Alila Villas at UIuwatu seems awesome for 30k a night, but obviously everything else like spa treatments etc is WAY more than say, the Alila in Ubud or even the HR/GH. The Alila Ubud also seems like a superb choice, especially at 12k points or cash. Major reasons or positives/negatives to stay or avoid each hotel and/or location? Would it be worth changing hotels and doing say 3 and 2 nights, etc? Thoughts are appreciated.

Paging Jaimito Cartero :)

I don't have specific experience with these properties but I will chime in to say that location does matter in Bali. Uber while pretty cheap does take a while to get around. So if you are planning to explore other areas of Bali I would suggest to research travel times.

Both locations are a bit off from the major sightseeing attractions. The drive between the two took us about two hours. From my experience, I would not change hotels for 3/2 nights. Depending on how long you are staying on Bali and how much sightseeing you want to do, you might instead want to take a hotel that is closer to those to minimize travel times.

Some potential issues you might have with each hotel:
- Alila Villas Uluwatu has a day club in the vicinity, which you can hear in the rooms higher up the hill and which can make it less calm/relaxing. The walk to the beach takes a substantial effort, so you will likely only do it once (bring water!).
- At the Alila Ubud, the pool can be packed, while this wasn't an issue at the Alila Villas Uluwatu (probably because the rooms had a small outdoor pool and sun loungers).

Unsurprisingly, Alila Villas Uluwatu is a more posh hotel than the Alila Ubud, but both are excellent and I can recommend both. They are just completely different: Villas Uluwatu feels more like a standard high-end hotel/resort, while Alila Ubud is more a boutique/unique experience in the forest. The Alila Ubud feels substantially smaller (in terms of rooms; not sure how many rooms they actually have, so it might be a layout thing). Food and service was great at both.

A final word of caution, Uber (well Grab) was impossible to get a good amount of times, particular if you try to go to locations that are off from the main tourist attractions (or back from them). Save yourself the trouble, spend a few dollars more and get a driver for the day instead.

Thanks a ton although it still makes it tough to decide :). I was thinking maybe arriving in dps and staying 3 nights in Ubud and then going to Yogyakarta for 3 nights and then for the return flight home from dps, maybe staying in uluwatu for 2 nights after I return from Yogyakarta before departing rather than just spending 5 nights in Ubud and or splitting it between them

Piggy backing on this thread - can anyone chime in on Viceroy Bali? How does it compare to Alila Uluwatu? Both are at 30k points per night - but Uluwatu looks more nicer but I've read amazing things about Viceroy too.

I’ve only been to one Alila property in Bali, neither of the two mentioned. I’d just pick one property and stick with it, if it’s just a 5 day stay.

Ubud is nice if you want more quiet and rice fields.

Grab, Gojek or even Bluebird cab are very hard to get in Ubud due to the local taxi mafia scaring them off. If you want to go around, just get a car with driver for the day or else it'll be a pain.

Uluwatu area doesn't necessarily have the taxi mafia issue, but due to the more remote location it can take longer to get a cab and Grab may be tough unless some are in the area dropping off other people at nearby hotels or so.

... and monkeys pestering you! (although perhaps the Alila is far enough away from the monkey forest so that they aren't around the pool or trying to sneak into your room)

The monkeys at Alila Ubud are quite awful. They flipped tables at the pool, broke glasses, seriously they were quite the nuisance.

I’ve never had problems in the Ubud area with the Macaques, outside of the Sacred Monkey Forrest. I’m surprised that Alila does in Ubud. I found the Macaques near the cliffs of Uluwatu to be pretty aggressive, stealing bags, eyeglasses, and other stuff that you’d have to hire a “fixer” to get back if you’re lucky.

We stayed in Jimbaran for 4 days and Ubud for 5. I agree that you may want to just choose one location. We never experienced any monkeys at the Four Seasons Sayan, but it was a bit out of town.
FWIW, I didn't like Ubud much. Or rather I didnt dig the tourist/commercial center.

Man you guys make it hard to decide, and with all the new Hyatt properties and more data points coming in, it does not get easier. Now I have looked at the Alila Seminyak also and am tempted. Guess I will have to decide where and how to spend the time if at Alila ubud, the Uluwatu Alila or now maybe the Seminyak Alila...with still passing consideration of the Viceroy (although SLH really does not appeal due to the absurd price premium Hyatt charges) or even the HR and GH although I think the Alila options are looking better.

I think you are making it hard on yourself. What do you prefer? Seminyak is much more lively (aka noisy) and close to lots of eating places and party joints. You look for that? Go there.

Ubud is relaxing and more tranquil. Uluwatu also, but lacks a bit soul. Tons of Koreans taking pics everywhere, many weddings, etc. Not my coup of tea, but ok hard product.

HR / GH decent value, Nusa Dua is boring in my book, not authentic Bali if that matters.

Viceroy high end, kind of tranquil, overall very decent but costly. I'd take it over Uluwatu any day. YMMV.

Alila Ubud is very remote, not near the Ubud town. It is quite far from Ubud town, took 30 minutes of driving from Ubud town to Alila Ubud.

Alila Ubud used to provide free transport from/to airport when it was still under GHA. Not sure now that it is under Hyatt.

Traffic to Ubud is quite bad. took 2 hours+ from DPS to Ubud town.

We stayed at the Alila Ubud this summer, and had absolutely no problems with the monkeys. In fact, they came by quite often (including entire families in the morning; we stayed at one of the villas with a private terrace, which made it particularly easy for them to drop by), but they ran away almost immediately or just sit around and looked at you. Of course, if you entice them with food, they might engage, but that doesn't seem like a good idea given that they are wild animals. The same disclaimer applies to street dogs.

We had absolutely no problems with the monkeys at the Alila Ubud, but ones at the Sacred Monkey Forest and Uluwatu temple were pretty aggressive (jumping on people, grabbing bags, etc.)