We arrived at this hotel after checking out of a hotel at Jimbaran. Sanur is a perfect location and Griya Santrian is even better. Centrally located with beautiful pools and peaceful gardens. Breakfast is offered in their beachfront resturant which makes for a great way to start your day. We stayed in the deluxe rooms which were contemporary, spacious and relaxing. We had our 3 school aged children with us on this trip. They too enjoyed the ambience. We were completely comfortable with our children exploring the beachfront promenade without us during the day and equally comfortable at night where we discovered different restaurants each night without the swarm of honking cars and bikes. There is plenty to do and see or not do anything at all.

Just Home from fabulous Bali. The Griya is a great hotel so relaxing in a beautiful location. On arrival we upgraded our room and stayed in the new deluxe rooms- fantastic, modern, huge wet room, sofa on the balcony well worth the bit extra money. These new rooms have replaced the thatched roof cottages featured on most websites.

Breakfast is nice eggs cooked to your preference, breads, fruit, quite a good selection. Eating it whilst looking at the sea makes it perfect.

Lovely pool with a swim up bar and friendly service and a private section of the beach.

We hired a driver, Dewa, from the hotel, (parks just out the front) and went to Jimboran for a fab seafood dinner sat right on the beach watching the sun set. He also took us to Dreamlands an amazing surfers beach about 50 mins away and into Kuta for a night out. Definatly hire a driver, they can take you where ever you want to go on the island, wait for you and bring you back to the hotel and are much much cheeper than booking over crowded trips via your holiday rep.

Good restaurants in Sanur we visited were Piccadilly, front of the hotel turn right about 5 mins down the road, Village front of the hotel on the right and Pergola which is about a 15 min walk on the right. There are some nice restaurants along the beach front too.

Nightlife in Sanur doesnt really exist although there are some bars that do open till late. Go for a drink or a meal at Mangos, left along the beach front from the hotel, the staff there are so friendly ask them anything about sanur where to go, shopping etc and they are full of helpful info. If your after a tattoo ask them about PJ an amazingly talented artist!

Great hotel great place will go back ourselves and highly recommend it.

What a lovely place. The location was fabulous. Starting the day with breakfast over looking the beach is a joy to remember. The staff could not have been more friendly as all Balinese people are. Of course there are people offering serives such as manicures, taxi's etc. Hey just learn to say no thanks and it is not a problem.
The rooms were fine the garden setting luxurious and the overall ambience a joy.
Try and draw yourself away from the beach for at least a day and see the interior. There are fantastic hindu temples, interesting rice fields and beautiful exotic foods to sample.
I would recommend this hotel and this country to anyone. Go and improve this island by investing your holiday money in these fabulous people.

Disappointment on arrival as our room upgrades were not available. We had booked two rooms and had to wait 3 days for one room to be upgraded and 5 days for the other room., we were only there for 10 days. Not good enough when you have booked better rooms. We were separated from our children and although the gardens of this hotel are fabulous it quite a distance from one room to another. Many older guests that go every year they all seem to know each other. The hotel itself is ok if you can get better rooms make sure you do it, standard rooms not brilliant. Pool area ok. Breakfast dissapointing. Beach lovely. Alot of building work going on although noise is minimal. Would not stay again.

Bali Highlights and Tips from a Recent Trip

Agency to book with: Escapes Unlimited!! We were delighted working with Jane at Escapes Unlimited (www.escapesltd.com). She gave us choices for accommodations, answered numerous questions and gave us much good information. She made all arrangements for our flights, stopovers, accommodations and some guide services.

Airline: Singapore Airlines is great! From the warm, moist towels given to each passenger on arrival, to the free beverages (including wine), to the menu choices, to the excellent service, to the myriad movie and other video and audio entertainment choices, to punctuality, everything was splendid! On the long flight home, we had requested exit seats and were fortunate to get the exit row that only allows two of the three seat sections to be booked, so we had plenty of room and even slept well!

Accommodations: Griya Santrian in Sanur is lovely! The lush gardens surrounding the individual bungalows, the two swimming pools, the good restaurant, and, of course, the location right on the beach make this a great choice! Gamelon players at breakfast and live music of various varieties with dinner really added to the experience.
Puri Saraswati in Ubud is also lovely! It is located on the former gardens of the palace grounds, right next to the temple to Saraswati (goddess of wisdom). The location is right in the midst of things in Ubud, but because it is set back considerably from the street, we had real sense of security and escape, but a ready access to events at nearby temples and the palace. Only breakfast is served here, but excellent restaurants are abundant nearby. The style here, too, is bungalows, with individual porches, spacious rooms, most pleasant service.

Restaurants: In Sanur we only ate at our hotel, and our meals were very good, especially the seafood grill one evening, with candle lit tables set right on the sand.

In Ubud: Café Lotus right next to the hotel looks out over the extensive lotus pond that is in front of the temple to Saraswati. We particularly liked their samosa.
Miro’s Garden (up the street away from the Palace, a bit up and across from the Museum of Fine Art) is a very quiet place, up a flight of outside stairs to rooftop garden setting, with both open and enclosed tables, very nice presentation of food, good lassi and good chicken curry.
Lamak Bali on Monkey Forest Road has a very modern atmosphere, unique menu items, and we enjoyed excellent seared scallops among other things. They also provide a nice service of free rides to patrons back to their hotels.
Café Batan Warung, near the football field, is also partially open air, and there we enjoyed more chicken curry and steamed chicken wrapped in banana leaf teepees.
Dirty Duck II, which is further out than the one on Monkey Forest Road, is situated literally among the rice fields. We walked along pathways over the rice, past several dining pavilions before reaching the last one, where we were seated, surrounded by greenery! The food was very good, especially the tuna kabob.


Shops: Many, many, many! In Sanur, we enjoyed the first saroung and dress shop to the left from Griya Santrian on the wonderful brick walkway that runs along a major stretch of the beach. Also, in the Sanur Beach Market place that is off the walkway, look up Stall #39, where Studio Co-Operate painters Suana and Marco paint and sell their brilliantly colored paintings of Bali scenes (Note: bring som of the paper Marco wrapped our painting in to adhere to the painting when we unwrapped it.).
In Ubud, down the main street, adjacent to the Oka Kartini Puppet Stage is the Oka Kartini Gallery, where we found quality puppets, masks and other artwork, and a most informative puppeteer-in-training who assisted us. Also, Threads of Life, down the alley way between Puri Saraswati and the street before the Palace, features all kinds of woven hangings and other work by a women’s cooperative of weavers from throughout Indonesia.

Artists at work: Suana, mentioned above, is fun to watch, as he puts brilliant bits of color on the canvas and creates vivid scenes. Drive a short distance from Ubud to see I Ketut Darsana, puppet carver, at Br. Babakan, Sukawati (Telephone: (0361) 295012); he will demonstrate how he creates magnificent shadow puppets from treated hides, paints them and then demonstrates the various voices and tells the characteristics of major puppets and even will put on a brief shadow puppet show in the front room of his home! We were most impressed with the passion he has for his art! (And he sells his puppets at reasonable rates - approx.US$40.00 for the White Monkey puppet).

Guides: I Putu Artama was the guide provided for us by Escapes Unlimited to greet us at the airport, take us to and from our two hotels and provide one day of sight seeing. He was most informative and took us to see our first temple, to a wood carving family and a silversmith. His information helped us understand what we were seeing and to learn much about Bali culture. He and his driver also, with the help of a suggestion in Lonely Planet Guide to Bali and Lombak, found the above puppet maker.

Dewa Marco (dewamarco@hotmail.com) is a guide we learned about on Frommer’s Travel Talk section on Bali. He was most informative, as he transported us in his air conditioned car to lots of good places! We communicated with him before our arrival, asking for his suggestions, making some choices, and then being delighted when he took us to additional, unexpected sights along the way each of our three days together.


Sights: Too numerous to mention! Check out Lonely Planet, talk with other travelers and your guides. Ubud abounds in traditional performances! Also, we want to mention the sunrises at Sanur. Everyone who travels to Bali raves about the sunsets, which are, no doubt lovely. We were never on the Western side of Bali, but we did get up at Sanur at 5:30 a.m. and saw a most beautiful sunrise!

General Tips: Pump action bug spray was helpful. A mini-flashlight is also helpful, somewhat on the uneven sidewalks in Ubud at night, but definitely to read the menu at several of the restaurants at night! A lightweight, hooded sweater really helps with the occasionally chilly air on the flights. Be sure to keep your credit card receipts, as in Bali the whole number is printed on the receipt, so fraud is easier if someone finds a receipt in the trash.

Peter and Katherine (kmconover@hotmail.com if you have some questions)

We stayed at the Griya Santrian in Sanur and were upgraded to a superior room which far out weighed the normal garden rooms. Our stay was very nice and we loved the walkway along the beach towards the market all the restaurants were on the beach of an evening.
We now stay in the Bali Hyatt and the lovely walk is still there for those restaurants.
We have seen all there is to see in Bali but we still go back for the relaxation of Sanur. It is a beautiful place. We do go into Kuta now and then for a change of scenery but are always pleased to get back to Sanur

After a night at a nearby hotel that was less than satisfactory we happened upon the Griya Santrian. Since they were not fully booked and it wasn’t high season we were able to negotiate a bit with the friendly supervisor who showed us a few rooms. These rates he quoted us were far less than the brochure price.

The first and most basic room (superior - $65 including breakfast, tax, and service) we viewed was relatively plain and functional but clean and well maintained. It had a far more lavish exterior than interior, but was still a decent value considering the properties’ amenities. The second room (deluxe - $90 including breakfast, tax, and service) was much nicer with a good view, beautiful décor and distinctive Balinese furniture. We agreed to take the second room and went back to reception. As we were registering he looked at his upcoming bookings and asked if we’d like to see a room that was “really special” for the deeply discounted rate of $100 (including breakfast, tax and service) a night. We agreed and he showed us to a newly remodeled “Garden Suite” which was at least twice the size of a deluxe room, beautifully decorated with a large canopy bed, had a dressing area and large closets, and was attached to a huge bathroom containing a sizeable bathtub and separate huge glassed-in shower. We quickly agreed and I said “happy anniversary” to my wife as we were walking back to the reception (we had been unable to spend our wedding anniversary two weeks prior in a nice locale), and upon hearing this, the supervisor asked if we were celebrating here. We explained that we had been unable to celebrate it a few weeks earlier, he nodded and smiled and we figured it was forgotten. Upon returning to our room after we had visited the pool later that afternoon, two complimentary desserts and a fruit basket along with a happy anniversary card had been delivered! We were touched and surprised!

The hotel has a magnificent garden setting, a big stretch of beachfront, two swimming pools and ornately distinctive Balinese architecture and sculpture ornamenting the grounds. Tranquil and beautiful! Service was attentive and the rooms and grounds were immaculate. The buffet breakfast was wonderful with a great variety of food, tons of fresh fruit, an egg station, and a selection of different hot items that changed each day.

Overall, the Griya was magnificent for us and we have nothing but good things to say about the staff and property! Amazing service, amenities, and value for the price we paid!

The Griya Santrian is a nice hotel right on the beach of Sanur.

Even though it wasn't peak time in Bali, Griya was packed! So much so that you had to reserve your sun lounge quite early in the morning around the pool and on the beach - oh and watch out for people stealing 2 matteresses for their sunlounge, if you find this just ask the pool attendant.

The breakfasts were average, but they did have vegemite!( A rarity in Bali)

Its a great location, out the front of the resort is a beautiful restaurant called "The Village", absolute fine dining at a great price!

The only bad thing about Griya could be that a lot of over 50's go there, being in our young 20's my group found it a little hard sometimes to have fun, but if you are older and looking for a relaxing time with beautiful views you certainly find it at Griya and will most likely make some great friends.

Spent 8 nights at the Griya - and it was perfect for us - two small kids and my mother. The front rooms near the pool are great if you have kids, and the new suites looked very plush and grown-up - so something for everyone. Restaurants and service all great. We looked at a lot of hotels in Sanur while wandering around, and think the Griya was one ofthe best. MANY repeat guests which is a good sign. Sanur was excellent, liked much more than Seminyak/Legian for this trip with kids/grandma.

This gorgeous boutique hotel was a quiet, classy oasis on the shores of the palm fringed sanur beach. I stayed in a cottage next to the garden pool. The decor and architecture were traditional and a little tired however the bed was comfortable and the room overlooked the garden pool which was fabulous. Others in my party stayed in the beautiful newly built suites, contemporary styling, bathrooms and decor. Very lush. The restaurant was newly built: location and menu faultless. Both the seafood BBQ and the in house cooking lesson are a"must Do". otherwise grab a cocktail and roll up to one of the two pools or the beach when ready( no need to reserve a lounge). The staff were helpful and courteous extending checkout until 4pm on my final day.