Tucked away on a street called Gang Ronta between Poppies Lane 1 and 2, is Suji Bungalow. I have stayed in Suji Bungalow on two different occasions, the fact that I came back shows that I really liked it.
Both times I have stayed here, I have successfully gotten a discount on the room rate, advertised rates are $30 USD or 300,000 Rupiah and upwards per night. The first time I stayed in 2010 I ended up paying 250,000 Rupiah per night, an the second time I paid 260,000 per night. This shows that the staff are flexible to your budget, and I think if you went in low season you could really grab a bargain.
Suji Bungalow in Kuta, Bali
A place that has the busy Poppies market streets to the north and south, with Legian Street and Kuta Beach to the east and west, does sound like a place where you wouldn’t get much sleep. The bungalows themselves are set in large garden area and there is not much noise to speak of, there is the feint drone of the Legian Street nightlife at night, but other than that, the place is actually quieter than staying in an expensive hotel or resort on Legian Street.
Some of the units around the pool and garden area are actually two-story. The first time I stayed here I stayed in a single story bungalow, the second time I stayed on the top level of a two-story unit. Both times, the rooms were consistent, the only major differences were in the bathrooms. The bathroom in the single story bungalow was smaller, but decorated with more style than the large bathroom on the top level unit.
The Suji Bungalow Garden Area
During both of my stays, the rooms were cleaned daily to a high standard, the bathrooms were clean and the beds were made up immaculately. I left a sweet drink outside my room in the single story bungalow, this attracted some ants, the staff saw this and put down some special ant repelling liquid for us, problem solved.
Inside one of the Bungalows
The rooms at the resort are quite basic, this is exactly what I look for, but the rooms do have some useful luxuries inside, including air conditioning, a TV, phone and refrigerator. There is also free WiFi in the reception area, I found the WiFi connection to be very slow, but there’s an internet cafe about 50M down the street which has PC’s and a WiFi connection.
The Bathroom at Suji
I wanted to rent a DVD player, so I went down and asked reception about it, I discovered that they don’t have them on-site, but the man there was very helpful and organised one for me, he even came and installed it for me. The price of the DVD player was 50,000 IDR for 24 hours.
What impressed me the most about the bungalows themselves was the large verandas and balconies, they come with two chairs and a table and overlook the garden and pool areas. You don’t even find this size and quality of balcony in some much higher priced resorts in Bali, it’s a real treat.
The Large Balcony
Suji Bungalow has a great pool area, that comes complete with a separate shallow pool, a slide, sunbathing chairs and loungers and a poolside drinks service. Most of the patrons at Suji are of a good nature and friendly, handing around the pool is a good place to make friends and start conversations. I found out that a lot of the guests there were repeat-visitors, this shows the quality and value that Suji Bungalow provides.
If I go to Bali again, Suji will definitely be considered as a place to stay, I have stayed at three other places in Bali, both had their positives and negatives, and I’d have to say Suji was the best quality place I have stayed in.