Why Vacation in Bali?
Vacation in Bali is a must! Look, if you haven’t taken a vacation here, YOU MUST add it to your list of places to travel! I had no idea Bali would be a place I would want to visit more than once. We don’t have children, but when we do, I imagine we’ll be coming back to enjoy a relaxing time off as a family. Also, I would consider this to be a great baby moon trip, but please check with your doctor to ensure you can travel/fly long distances.
Since we aren’t parents, I am perfectly fine spending time here with my husband. If you are single, Bali is definitely a great girls trip also. Vacationing in Bali, we really didn’t have any complaints. See, the people are so nice which is always a plus for us because we usually venture out to local spots where ever we vacation. Special shout out to the staff at the Ritz Carlton Bali for such a wonderful, comfortable, and lovely stay!!! The food is good as well. I think the perfect time to visit Bali is during the fall. We managed to visit Bali during the month of October, so the weather was GREAT!
Before you book a Vacation to Bali
We flew into Denpasar, which is the capital of Bali. If you didn’t know, Bali is a province of Indonesia. We landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) officially known as I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, which is the main airport in Bali, located 13 km south of Denpasar. Ngurah Rai is the second busiest airport in Indonesia. But we didn’t have a difficult time getting in and out of the airport. Also, Ngurah Rai is the main gateway to the island.
Instead of using a taxi, we scheduled a car to pick us up from the airport. Furthermore, we booked car service through the hotel we were staying at.
As of May 2018, Uber pulled out of Southeast Asia, making Grab the ride share app to use. In other words, I would advise that you take the local taxi to and from your hotel or check to see if the hotel you will be staying at offers car service.
Best times to Vacation in Bali
Most importantly, get familiar with high and low peak seasons. High season time in Bali is July and August as well as December and the first week of January. Those are busiest times of the year.
According to Bali.com, “The best time to come to Bali is April – June and September which is just before and just after high season. It’s still dry season, it’s slightly less humid, and room prices and villa rentals can be 30-50% cheaper than during high season. Many shops offer sales and promotions, restaurants are less crowded in those mid-season months, and in general Bali is a bit more relaxed. October is not too bad either, still much less rain than November (usually, check the rainfall chart).” We chose October.
Tipping Etiquette
While visiting Bali, tipping is considered a foreign concept, but also be mindful that most of the workers who work in the service industry are getting paid very low wages and tips can be very helpful. I have included a few tips on how to tip (see what I did there LOL).
Tipping in Hotels and Spas
Be mindful that hotels in Bali do charge on average 15% in service charges and are inclusive of taxes. Bellhops, housekeeping, and other staff expect no more than $2 to $4 in tips for their services till you depart from the hotel. We tipped $5 per bag during our stay. We also tipped the young lady $5 who showed us our room and how everything works in it. She wasn’t expecting it.
If you are planning a spa day, amazingly, a masseur will not expect a tip from you, but like any service, when exceptionally pleased with the service you can tip him/her $5. Remember, workers in Bali thrive on tips and are not well-paid.
Tipping in Restaurants and City Tour Guides
Waiters and waitresses in both sit-in and fine dining restaurants thrive on tipping in Bali. The bill includes a 10% service charge, so you can choose not to leave a tip. Most importantly, if you leave a tip, depending on the level of service provided, you can choose to give a 5% to 10% tip of the total bill, which is normal in Bali. We tipped 10%. The service didn’t disappoint.
Good tour guides can save you a lot of time and energy. From experience, having a tour guide does save time and tons of energy. Although there is the initial fee for the service, your tour guide will not expect a tip, but will appreciate one. It’s normal to tip $5 to $10 with your tour guide. We typically tip 10% of the cost of the actual tour resulting in a tip that usually runs around $5 – $20.
Tipping a Taxi Driver and Car Service
Some taxi services in Bali do not use a meter, which means you have to negotiate a fare for wherever you are traveling in the city. This can be a headache. A majority of taxi drivers “do not keep spare change with them” which is actually how they make money in tips. Knowing this, we made sure to use a car service while vacationing in Bali. We typically tip $5 – $10. Based on some research, Blue Bird Taxi is the best option as far as taxis. Blue Bird Tax has an app that you can download via Apple Store and Google Play.
First impressions during our stay at The Ritz Carlton – Bali
Upon arrival, we were greeted by wonderful staff members immediately. Most importantly, if you stay at the Ritz (or any hotel for that matter), I advise you to allow staff to take your bags because you will need to be driven to your room. There is no way you will be able to walk to your room with your bags; unless you don’t mind the exercise. To clarify, we prefer taking our bags to our room, but if it’s more of a hassle to take them ourselves, we definitely allow the bellhop to take them. By the time we checked in and rode to our room, our bags were already there which is always nice.
Views from The Ritz
Certainly, we found that vacationing in Bali is definitely a great place to relax, unwind, do a little yoga, and swim. Our sole purpose was to relax, meaning we had no intensions on doing a lot of touristy things. On the other hand, we completely regret not staying longer. But as you’ll come to find out, this trip was part of two week long vacation which started with Qatar and ended in Singapore.
Check out some of my favorites parts of The Ritz Carlton – Bali. Staying here truly is a treat in itself.
Our room at The Ritz was beautiful, clean and comfortable.
The views around the hotel were breathtaking. We definitely enjoyed our vacation in Bali. Mainly because of this hotel.
As mentioned, we didn’t do much touristy stuff, but we did spend a day at one the temples. That’s another post!
If you’ve ever been to Bali, what did you love most about it?
