-
Just in case there are any -355ers staying awake tonight…BA website
works scheduled for 0100h!Good evening from beachside IC Bali Sanur. The mad Easter crowds have gone (mainly back to Oz) and peace and tranquility prevails. Current temperature is 27c with a very gentle breeze. Food is lovely and inexpensive and the Balinese culture a world away from all that the orange one is creating westward of the UK.
Would genuinely like to hear your opinion of the condition of that hotel.
I’ve got a few nights booked there for August but recent reviews suggest the place is in much need of refurbishment.
Coincidentally, the prices at the other IC over in Jimbaran have dropped quite a bit for my dates so I am thinking of switching.
However, I believe the Sanur location would suit me more than Jimbaran, but the condition of the hotel and the range of services would be deciding factors.EDIT: wrote this before reading the rest of the comments.
Sounds like several of you have got experience with one or both of the ICs in Bali.
Would be happy to hear reasons for choosing one over the other.
I think the area around Sanur is more suited to my lifestyle.I wouldn’t say that the IC Sanur needs a refurb – not in the suite we were in anyway. My preference would always be the IC Jimbaran for the ambiance, gardens, club and rooms.
I do like Sanur though but for me the Hyatt would be my choice now.
Some of remember $2.40 – £1 🙁
And the Euro at 1.50+
I don’t remember $2.40 to £1. However I do remember €1.50 to £1 and it was nearly that the day before the Brexit referendum. I was so convinced the UK would vote for Brexit and the £ would tank, I transferred a huge chunk of money to our French bank account the week before the Referendum. It proved to be a wise move.
@davefl You make good points about why you see a reason to spend extra on the USA, but that doesn’t mean @JDB should pipe down. His reply was measured and relevant to the original point being made.
I never said that at all. It just gets rather repetitive when all he says is that the USA is poor value compared to everywhere else.
In fact the opposite is true. There’s huge value to be had in the USA but it depends what a person is looking for. It’s obviously not what he’s looking for and that’s fine but I and millions of others can find massive opportunities as I’ve mentioned before such as an $80 national park pass that lets 4 people + car into over 450 amazing sites for a year. Free festivals abound if you look for them. Eating out needent be expensive if you shop around for reasonable places but yes if you go to New York you’ll obviously pay up but the same can be said for Bariloche, El Chalten and Cafayate where the prices were “tourist prices” and the service was average/poor at times especially to none Spanish speakers.
Plenty of other places are screwing tourists and are no longer any kind of value in my opinion – Masai Mara is now $200/day, SanParks annual pass was eyewateringly expensive for international tourists. Siciliy is no cheap date with petrol prices being higher than the UK, car rental prices over £500/week for a Fiat 500 and a gelato cone costing 5 euro.
As I’ve said previously and I’ll repeat again, value is based on the wants and needs of the individual, not someone else’s opinion of what they personally think they are.
However I do remember €1.50 to £1
2005 – I was driving 300 miles each way to Calais via £10 eurotunnel day returns, staying in the HIX and then filling my car with all sorts of building materials, bathroom fixtures and cases of wine. Had a huge Vauxhall Omega 2.5L estate, and it was worth the petrol and the time to pick up bargains every few months to build my house.
My best buys were 45 sq M of flooring, and then a complete bathroom shower/vanity/basin/stone tray and all accessories for £99. Leroy Merlin and Bricolage were my favourite places to shop.
@davefl – our paths may well have crossed in Calais! Sounds like you got some really good bargains! We went on lots of days trips to Leroy Merlin and Mr Bricolage to buy white goods and tiles for many bathrooms over the years. We then used to buy drink in Sainsbury’s and food from Auchan before returning. At one point when Leroy Merlin offered delivery to the UK, my neighbour in England bought so much she got it delivered to Surrey. Sadly for us they would not deliver to NW Scotland. Hardly surprising as even now many UK delivery companies won’t deliver there either.
Back in the 90s, emulsion was really expensive in France and it was difficult to get anything white/off white, so we used to take tubs of emulsion south. UK flat pack kitchen units were also of a much better quality and bigger range, so we took many trailer loads south!
Over the years when it was $2 to £1, OH and I bought 3 classic cars in California. We drove them back to the eastern seaboard where we put them on RoRos back to the UK. We’ve since sold the Mustang but still have the e-type and Mercedes Sport which we have driven to Europe and back over the years. Fortunately now over 40 years old so no UK car tax to pay.
Over the years when it was $2 to £1, OH and I bought 3 classic cars in California. We drove them back to the eastern seaboard where we put them on RoRos back to the UK. We’ve since sold the Mustang but still have the e-type and Mercedes Sport which we have driven to Europe and back over the years. Fortunately now over 40 years old so no UK car tax to pay.
That is such a great story.
So much better than the half dozen pairs of Levi’s I brought back in 1992.That is such a great story.
So much better than the half dozen pairs of Levi’s I brought back in 1992.Oh for the days when it was almost cheaper to throw Levi’s in the bin and buy new in the US than wash them. I bought 6 back in those days.
I still actually buy my Levi’s in the US as it’s the only place they sell odd inch sizes such as 31/33 etc and I always seem to be inbetween the evens. Macys sale day and a bundle of United miles for click and collect helps.
@davefl – re the Costco chat a while back, I guess you know they do sell Levi jeans, saying that, they are still cheaper in the US, personally I favor Boss & Ralph Lauren, as the fit is so much nicer.
Clothing is definitely still a great deal – so many shops in the outlets with sales on plus an extra 30% off or whatever. And of course Walmart for all sorts of bits like big tubs of migraine tablets for $10 which would cost double here and require several trips to a supermarket to obtain!
We bought our GCM timeshare in 2009 when it was nearly $2 to £1. It was a great investment as it costs us less to stay there each year than half the price of a week in the lowest-priced hotels there.
big tubs of migraine tablets for $10 which would cost double here and require several trips to a supermarket to obtain!
I’m still amazed US pharmacies sell things like a jar of 1000 ibuprofen tablets.
So many things wrong with that!+ TV ads for prescription medicine,
and the super-fast reading of fine print and side effects.One of the dumbest things in the world…
The ones I get are more like 100, but yes it’s still a totally different set-up over there! The (legal) pharmaceuticals section is like a warehouse for over the counter remedies.
@can2, it does get tiresome listening to endless adverts for all sorts of medication!@davefl – re the Costco chat a while back, I guess you know they do sell Levi jeans, saying that, they are still cheaper in the US, personally I favor Boss & Ralph Lauren, as the fit is so much nicer.
Yes but they never seem to have my size. With Macy’s click and collect it’s easier and they run a sale almost every week. I can also try them on in store and return if I don’t like them. I love the 505 stretch, especially as I’ve dropped from 36in to 31in over the past few years.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
