TESTIMONIAL from doffi

Name: doffi (on: Oct 07, 2008)
Country: Indonesia
For Hotel: Puri Asri Villa - budget
Comment:
We booked 7 nights stay at the Executive Villa with the property directly early this year, after comparing the prices and facilities with other options on the internet. Then I came across the horrible reviews on tripadvisor, and got really nervous about my choice. Still I decided to give it a go, as I usually lock up all my bags when I travel, after had encountered theft in hotels twice before (once in Bangkok and once in Melbourne).

Overall we enjoyed our stay at Puri Asri. Staff were all very warm and friendly. When we checked in, they gave us an upgrade to the suite villa, which is bigger with a kichten and additional dining/sitting area to the side of the bedroom. Our villa was lovely, with a little yard in the front. At front of the villa, there is a tiled terrace area with chairs. The villa was clean and tiled, with double sized bed, TV, fridge, bedside tables, dressing table, wardrobe (lockable, and we brought our own lock), and air-con. Lighting in the villa is also good. The bathroom is clean and adequate with shower over bath, toliet and washing basin; and fresh towls everyday. The hot water is fairly strong there. Since it is an semi-open bathroom, the management provided mossy coil everyday.

The grounds was lovely with lush/colourful plants all around. There are 5 villas altogether, each with a little courtyard like ours, so the ambience is quiet and peaceful. The pool is at the back of the property. It was clean and of a good size and depth (about 11-12m long and 1.4-1.5m deep for the adult section; and the children pool section is abit smaller and shallower).

Breakfast was included in the room rate, and it was alright. As for lunch and dinner, there are so many remarkable restaurants in Ubud, I would not recommend to eat in hotel. Close to Puri Asri, there are two restaurant, Laka Leke (sister restaurant with Cafe Wayan), and Chilli Cafe. Both are very good, and reasonably priced. The spa Alam Wangi is a bit pricey, but worth the money.

From Puri Asri, it was an easy walk to Monkey Forest Road by the walk way around the Monkey Forest (a lot of locals uses it and many ride scooters on it). In the evening the path can be quite dark, though with a torch it should not be a problem. The money changer near the Monkey Forest (Pt Dirgahayu Valuta Prima) is a safe place to change money with good rates. Note that it closes a bit early at about 5pm. There are other branches of Dirgahayu in Ubud and other cities that close later, check out on http://www.balibestrate.com. Central Kuta on JL Raya Ubud is also good too.

The transportation service provided by Puri Asri was fantastic. Driver(s) always turn up quickly after request, and very patient with our request (when we have a few quick stops to go to within Ubud area). I guess this would be an advantage of staying at a small eastalishment.

Having said all these good things about staying at Puri Asri, I would also like to point out a few negative things observed and hopefully these can be amended easily:
1. The outdoor shower looks lovely, but with its black stones on the floor, it is very difficult to clean. Having seen some hair stuck between the stones, I avoided the outdoor shower all together. Suggestion: replace the floor with tiles.

2. Some tiles on the swim-up stools were loss.
Suggestion: replace them as soon as possible.

3. The massage beds do not have holes in it, instead little pillows were used to rest heads.
Suggestion: replace the beds with the ones with hole for the head, it is much more comfortable.

Having in mind that Puri Asri is not a posh 5 star luxuarious place, I am quite happy with my time spent there and I was also happy to see that they were almost fully booked everyday when I was there (I was a little surprised at fisrt though). Everyone in Puri Asri made efford to make our stay pleasant, to that I am most grateful.

I do not doubt that things like theft as reported by the previous reviewers could have happened, as this could have happened anywhere. Therefore I would also like to thank the previous reviewers for preparing me beforehand and avoiding possible disasters.

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