THE LEAF JIMBARAN We are currently in Bali staying at The Leaf Jimbaran. This is our first stay of four properties purchased through Luxury Escapes. After a smooth flight with QANTAS and out into an even larger updated arrival hall at Ngurah Rai airport. The e-Visa was no problem but first shock was at customs when the guy advised us we had been scammed as customs declarati0na re free in Bali. We had paid $84 each – my fault, I should have known better having been to Bali over 20 times previously (be warned, I thought I was using the official site). Transport was waiting and off into the night winding up the hill until we came to the proverbial “goat track” and bounced from pot hole to pot hole. It was only a short distance and we found out later it was actually a private road and the owner was holding out for the government to fix it! Reception was fine and after the usual sweet sticky welcome drink we were taken up to our room, sorry villa. I had forgotten just how well the Balinese do gardens, lush growth all along the pathways winding through the property. The villa was just how it was shown in the photos, private lap pool separating the kitchen/sun lounge area from the accommodation. The villa is one long room approx. 15 x 7m with floor to ceiling glass walls on three sides, lounge area inside the door and bed at the far end with a TV cabinet separating the two – the TV rotates so you can watch it from the bed or lounge. The TV is basically Indonesian, however I did find Netflix and ABC iView through the apps. Through to the bathroom, open ended with shower and toilet at one end, all glassed in, and bath overlooking the pool at the other with wardrobe and basin in the middle. All very nice, very clean, at least on the surface it is Bali after all, and why we love it. Maintenance is not big in Bali, never has been, but it appears that maybe the staff are not as well trained as pre-Covid which is understandable. Talking of the staff they are just as warm, genuine and gentle as we remember them. I have attempted to learn Bahasa and they are very impressed and want to engage me in conversation all the time. I do think they appreciate the effort, I have become used to saying I only know “sedikit – a little” when I am talking to them. There is a shuttle twice daily to Jimbaran beach which is THE place to go for seafood on the beach while watching the sunset each day. Other than that there is not much to do around the resort, there are no restaurants within walking distance and only a small general 24 hour store outside the gate for the essentials, like beer and snacks. We were directed to a larger store for more shopping by the staff, a short taxi drive away. No problem with the store but there are no taxis anywhere near this local shopping area for the return journey, it took us over an hour to get a taxi that happened to park near us, certainly no offer of help from the shop, make sure you have a local sim to contact the taxi company, lesson learned. If we had a small gripe it is with the dining at The Leaf. It is OK don’t get me wrong, but the menu is limited and not very expansive. We had a “free” three course dinner and nightly cocktail as part of our package. The cocktails were limited as was the dinner menu compared to the standard menus. The bonus dinner had a set menu which contained three seafood dishes and the rest vegetarian, ironically the main menu had only one seafood dish, in the land of seafood. I don’t eat seafood and asked to have a meat alternative that I would pay for. That caused great consternation and discussions with the manager, I finally was offered a pizza which I accepted. Overall, I would recommend The Leaf. The villas are great, there is a main pool and small gym, massage spa, rooftop bar and the staff are great. One other thing if you are travelling on a package, ours with Luxury Escapes, and transfers are included. All the transfers are between the airport to the hotel and /or return. If you are going to another hotel rather than the airport it seems to be a problem. The forms used only got to / from airports and you have to negotiate anything else. I am still in an email war at the moment and we leave tomorrow. It shouldn’t be that hard. Three more hotels to go, but hey it is Bali and everything is in Bali time and I wouldn’t have it any other way! …