Bali October 2011
I took my husband and 2 children aged 6 and 4 to stay at the Novotel, Nusa Dua. What a fantastic family resort! We flew over with Strategic Airlines, they have a great timetable – no flights departing at midnight and the thing I love about them apart from their wonderful service onboard is the fact they include baggage with the airfares. When travelling with young children I highly recommend the VIP visa service, for a USD25 service fee per person. You are met on arrival, your guide takes your passports and visa money from you whilst you walk around to get your bags (while you wait for your bags he has processed your visas and you are then free to enjoy your holiday). The visa service can sometimes take 2 hours so this $25 is a small price to pay for getting it done so quickly. With that we were whisked off to the Novotel Nusa Dua. We were greeted with cold juice and wash cloths whilst we were checking in. We had a 2 bedroom apartment booked as I like the children to sleep separately from us so that they (and us) can sleep well. The apartments were huge boasting a small kitchenette, 2 bathrooms and a large living area. As well as having our apartment serviced everyday I loved the fact that each person gets a fresh bottle of drinking water every day. The buffet breakfast was superb and the “kids buffet” was extremely popular with all the little people on holiday. The hotel is set in beautiful tropical gardens which are lovingly maintained by dedicated groundsmen. The main swimming pool is a feature of the hotel and even though the hotel was 100% occupied for 3 of the nights that we were there we never felt crowded at all. The kids club was great, educational and entertaining and my children loved going there. There is a short walk to their own private beach or if you are feeling a little lazy you can catch their free shuttle, the hotel is also only a 10 minute walk to the local shopping centre, which features lots of cafes and restaurants. Over all this was a wonderful family hotel in which I would have no hesitation in recommending or staying there again myself.