we are due to arrive in Bali at mid-night i think sept time.Is it safe to get a cab to the hotel will they do pick up's? Any recomendations for somewhere cool. really want to stay away from Kuta, but at that time of night are we better just getting somewhere there, for that evening and leaving the next day?For somewhere nice and chilled!

When I went to Bali in September 2004, that's exactly what I did. The taxis are safe and better yet, you pay for them at the airport and get a ticket so you don't have to worry about getting ripped off. The ride cost 25,000 Rp back then

I stayed at a place called the Masa Inn on Gang Poppie for 180,000. It was pretty nice -- near the bus station out of town and had a pool to take a swim in the morning before getting the bus to Ubud. September is a great time to visit as you avoid the hoards of Oz-based package tourists that I've heard can make Kuta unbearable.

There is an airport taxi office open till late. I'm sure you will have no problems, as long as flights are coming in.

After a long flight, you might want to get a place that's handy, and head off the next day.

Depends what you want to spend, there's everything from 50,000rp to $1,000 a night.

For bargains head to Poppies Lane in Kuta, for a close hotel resort go to Jl. Kartika Plaza (you might like the Bali Dynasty), for mid range head for Jl. Padma area.

Oh Richard--haven't you heard that Bali is on the bones of it's arse at the moment and crying out for us "Aus based package tourists"?Maybe you should visit Kuta sometime soon--you would just about have it all to yourself.
But i digress
Cinders it's perfectly safe and feasable for you to get a taxi at any time of the day or night from the airport to wherever you want to go.
Just surf the site here and there is heaps of info on hotels ect.
If you want to let us know what sort of price per night you are thinking of we can then make a few suggestions.
I guarantee you will have a ball.
Cheers Laurs

quote:

Originally posted by Laurlaurs:
Oh Richard--haven't you heard that Bali is on the bones of it's arse at the moment and crying out for us "Aus based package tourists"?Maybe you should visit Kuta sometime soon--you would just about have it all to yourself.

I wasn't saying that the Balinese don't want you there, just that anywhere that attracts large numbers of people from one place drawn largely by proximity (or discount flights) and cheap alcohol has some down sides. Visit Tijuana during US college spring speak, Kusadasi when there are promotional rates from Manchester, the Bulgarian coast when the Germans are on holiday, etc and you'll see similar phenomena.

Actually, I'm sorry to hear about the drop-off in Aussie tourism to Bali. The Balinese are great people who deserve the influx of hard currency. Besides, Bintang is a perfectly acceptable beer that does warrant being drunk to excess...

Admittedly, it's been about 18 months since I was in Bali, but transport at any time was safe, and plentiful. So it's really up to you if you want to head straight to a destination other than Kuta.
A tip we were given was to use 'blue bird' taxi's. There are probably others that are reputable as well, but we never had any trouble with them, and they always used a metre.