I couldn’t get a flight from Yogyakarta back to Bali in time to catch my flight to Bangkok, so that means I have to stay another night in Bali. Yeah, life is tough, boo-hoo.

Since it didn’t matter much where I stayed, I decided to check out Seminyak, north of the Kuta/Legian area. I stayed here, at Vila Lumbung, on my first trip to Bali about five years ago, and haven’t been back. The area has become popular with people who want to be close to good restaurants and a bit of nightlife, but find Kuta/Legian "too touristy". They may be on to something.

My base for the night is Resor Seminyak, which I remembered from my first trip as being on the beach, which Vila Lumbung, nice as it was, was not. The spelling is correct by the way - there’s no ‘T’ in Resor. My superior room was very large, and while it was a bit tired, considering it costs just a third of what the other hotels along this beach charge, it’s good value for money.

Outside of the hotel, Seminyak has become a real foodies paradise, with many of Bali’s best restaurants just a few steps from the resort. For starters, there’s one of our old favorites, La Lucciola. Then there’s the new king of the block, Ku De Ta. If those aren’t enough, there’s also Hu’u and Living room. If you’re looking for something just good and cheap, there are also several small Indonesian waroengs along the street as well.

Perhaps the best thing about Seminyak is that you can walk down the beach or down the street without being harassed by stall vendors. While there are some nice boutiques and galleries along the road, there are no t-shirt stalls, no CD shops and not even much in the way of swim-wear stores. You can have a quite leisurely stroll down the street without being hassled, although you do have to watch out for cars since there is no sidewalk in most places.