We just returned from Bali, Indonesia and it was a great trip. We took some amazing first and business class flights to get there and back and stayed in fantastic resorts and even a Holiday Inn Express! I’ll be posting the full trip report with loads of pictures over the next few weeks.
We first flew from Atlanta to LAX on Delta in lay-flay Delta One seats using my Regional Upgrade Certificates, although it was a regular First Class service on that route. At LAX, we finally got to visit the famed Qantas First Lounge and it didn’t disappoint. After a quick stop at the OneWorld Business Lounge, we then flew Cathay Pacific First Class to Hong Kong which was every bit as fantastic as you would expect. In Hong Kong, we stopped at the Pier First Class Lounge before we flew on to Bali in Cathay Pacific Business Class.
We began our time in Bali with four nights at the Andaz using Hyatt points. We received a fantastic upgrade there and really enjoyed the beach area of Sanur where the resort is located. I also went on a great snorkeling tour to Nusa Penida, a smaller island near Bali. From Sanur, we moved on to Ubud, full of rice terraces and monkeys, for three nights at the Viceroy, a Small Luxury Hotels property now bookable with Hilton. We ended the trip with two nights at the Alila Villas Uluwatu on the southern coast, sitting on a cliff with beautiful views. All three hotels were fantastic with made to order a la carte unlimited breakfasts, our own pool (or a shared lagoon at the Andaz), top notch villas/suites and amazing service.
Oh yes, there’s also the Holiday Inn Express. As our departing flight was after midnight, I booked the Holiday Inn Express near the airport for the last day and we moved over there in the afternoon to enjoy a last beach visit and some souvenir shopping in Kuta near the airport. It was nice to have a place to shower and rest before we headed to the airport and it cost me all of about 7000 IHG points.
We flew out on a Qatar Airways A350-900 (non-QSuites) to Doha on an overnight flight. We had about two hours in Doha so we visited the Al Mourjan Garden Lounge which wasn’t open the last time we flew through Doha. We then had a 15 hour flight to Atlanta in QSuites on the A350-1000 which was very enjoyable. It was also nice to land directly in Atlanta and not have to connect on another domestic flight.
I have a business trip this week so it might take a bit longer than usual to get this report completed. I’ll update this post as each chapter of the trip report goes live.
1 – Delta First Class 767-300 ATL-LAX Review
2 – Qantas First Class Lounge LAX Review
3 – OneWorld Business Lounge LAX Review
4 – Cathay Pacific 777-300 First Class LAX-HKG Review
5 – Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge HKG Review
6 – Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class HKG-DPS Review
9 – Nusa Penida Snorkeling Tour
10 – Getting from Sanur to Ubud via Shopping, a Waterfall and Monkeys
13 – More Monkeys and the Campuhan Ridge Walk
14 – Alila Villas Uluwatu Bali Review
15 – Holiday Inn Express Baruna Beach Quick Review
16 – What are Bali Beaches Like?
17 – Tujuwan Lounge DPS Review
18 – Qatar Airways A350-900 Business Class DPS-DOH Review
19 – Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Garden Lounge Doha Review
20 – Qatar Airways A350-1000 QSuites Review
If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.
Empty Nester Miles 