Let's go straight to the point, when you first arrive to Puri Bagus the first thing that comes to your mind is "Woaa this place is gorgeous", when you leave this place it's more in the lines of "Wooaww I got robbed and abused bad time!".

Location:
The hotel is really well located on the beach. The beach by itself is quite small and you can barely swim since its full of sharp coral pieces. Let's be honest the sunset is quite amazing. But if you want to have a look around the hotel or maybe find a restaurant, stores, anything, forget about it and don't count on the staff to try and help you out since the main objective of this hotel is to force you to stay between its walls and spit your occidental cash out.

Rooms:
Rooms are fine, we especially loved the bathroom and outdoor shower but what a surprise when one morning we had three hotel employees unexpectedly coming in to.....change 'one' lightbulb (that is one changing the lightbulb, one holding the ladder and the last one staring at my girlfriend in the bed).

Service & Food:
Let's be honest, there is one thing Puri Bagus employees want to get out of you is '$$$$'!
The first night we arrived was 'Buffet' night, now hold your breath this cost us $30 per head!! (IDR 300,000) yeah $30! More expensive than New York or even London where we work. We could not believe it when we saw the bill, and that is without the $20 bottle of wine and don't forget to add service and tax! The whole meal cost us around $100 with wine and service and the food was far to be the best in Bali.

Now the internet. We wanted to skype our families and decided to go for a prepaid card handed over at reception. This one costs $6.5 for one hour which again is more expensive than New York or London, oh to give you an idea the next day we went to an internet café in Singaraja and paid IDR1,000 for 20 minutes, that is 0.10 pence or 0.15USD.

Furthermore hotel staff were really unfriendly since we were trying to "sneak out" of the hotel to either discover the area or just have a meal at a decent place which would not rip us off! You only get one free shuttle out of jail...errr....sorry, the hotel, and that is 'only' between 9 and 11am, that is drop off and pick up included so you better be quick. The guy dropped us in the middle of a slum in Singaraja (to make sure you're repelled and disgusted and plea the driver to get back to the hotel asap) this is where we found the internet cafe, we asked the driver to drop us at a supermarket on our way back where we hope we could find some food to save us money by not eating at the hotel 'restaurant'.

Overall our stay at this hotel was really unpleasant because of the really bad service and unsmiling staff + the fact we felt like human size purses to everyone.

This hotel wants your money and doesn't want you outside its walls so if you're happy to stay inside and spend more than you would in Europe or the US then this is for you. Otherwise skip this place, you'll save some money and stay relaxed.

The views from Puri Bagus Lovina across the Bali Sea provide an immediate calm. Not so calming was the lack of adequate light in the rooms and the ability to keep the room cool on very hot days/nights. I also found the location to be quite buggy (no fault of the Puri Bagus). This is a simpler hotel with lots of families staying and some groups. It's likely the best in the area and is fine for a couple of nights stay. You just need to manage your expectations.

This hotel is absolutely gorgeous and perfect. The grounds are breathtaking, the pool is the most beautiful I've ever seen, fading off to the Indonesian Sea, the rooms are stunning. Rooms are all small bungalows with thatched roofs and outdoor showers! Just be sure to close the curtains on the front doors, as the bamboo blinds are see-through during the evening and although the outdoor shower is enclosed, the window into the bedroom is lined up with the front door windows and...you get the picture. The food was average and the buffet wasn't refilled as often as most places do, so there were often many almost empty dishes on the tables. On Saturday night they had Balinese dancing during the buffet dinner. They also frequently had musicians playing in the lobby during the day. Internet access was quite reasonably priced. The thatch-roofed platforms along the beach were so comfortable and scenic.

We have just come back from Lovina and stayed at the Puri Bagus in Lovina for 6 nights. We have read some of the recent posts and have to say we had a very different experience. The staff were all lovely and universally helpful including management/reception staff , even helping us with last minute hotel transfers to Permuteran for a spur of the moment snorkelling trip. It helps a lot if you try to speak some words of Bahasa Indonesia and even the basics of 'selamat pagi - good morning' and 'terima kasih'' - thank you' usually elicit very positive responses. The hotel was lovely with big, comfortable rooms and a great restaurant (try their Black Rice Pudding for afternoon tea - fantastic). Note that the hotel is isolated from the main drag of Lovina/Kalibukbuk and is in a non-touristy village called Permaron and you are very dependent on hotel transport to get out of the hotel. There are two restaurants just outside the hotel - the Warung Bamboo run by a Dutch-Balinese couple - really fantastic food but rather pricey and with an incredibly slow kitchen (over one hour wait for food). Also watch how they tote up the bill as there were constant mistakes ie bags of charm but not very numerate. The place opposite (seaman's club) is better value and quicker service. The hotel appears to be used increasingly by big tour groups doing one nighters to go dolphin watching. Bewarned, the dolphin watching excursion is usually a let down. Smaller and smaller pods are sighted if you are lucky and hordes of boats chasing one small group of dolphins just seems a bit wrong. Can't be fun for dolphins just when they are trying to get a bit of breakfast! The boat trip at sun-rise is the best bit. Go snorkelling instead and do use the hotel concession, Baruna Diving at around 320,000 rupiah (US$32) a trip - ask for lovely Wayan - a kind and gentle man who initiated our young children into snorkelling. Whilst not as spectacular as snorkelling off Pulau Menjangan, the sea off Lovina is much calmer, better for children and you will still see some amazing sea-life in crystal clear waters. It is really worth a visit.