Bali

Bali is a very special place in Indonesia. It took a while until I hit this island even so staying in Indonesia a couple of times before. To be honest I still would rate Bali not as an indonesian island as the culture is different at all not only on the religious side as Bali is Hindu and Indonesia is a mainly Muslim country. Bali is a typical beach resort island with a nice landscape, well done hotels and spas as well restaurants providing food from around the globe.
The main reason for me to travel to Bali is because its the most convenient place to reach within one hour from Jogjakarta and two hours from Jakarta, to have a swim in the sea! Sounds strange, but there is no quality beach nearby Jogja or Jakarta and flights are not that expensive.
Places to stay:
It depends what you are looking for. I do prefer to stay as far away from other tourists as possible, but indeed for a weekend its not worth to travel that far. The main tourist areas are in the south "nearby" the airport namely Nusa Dua, Legian, Kuta, Sanur and the up market Seminyak. Ubud is another option if you wanna relax in the padi fields and use one of the many Spa's.
Here we go with my ideas for your Bali Trip. Sanur is an old school beach resort, nothing special, but alright if you rent a motorbike to drive around. Nusa Dua is a gated comunity for tourists from all over the world- at the moment a lot of russians I guess. Not a place where I would like to stay. Kuta is the same- no way! Seminyak seems to be a good option as it is a little bit more up market, no as many hotels as in the other areas. People here tend to own or rent a villa or an apartment. Clio for example looks nice.
If you are looking for a villa to share with some friends I would recommend Canggu Area or Echo Beach. Last time I rented Villa Padi which includes everything you need as well as a car with a driver during the day.

In Ubud I would strictly recommend to use one of the Alam facilities- I did stay in Kebun Indah in the Padi room- the perfect place for a "real" balinese feeling!
They do run a Spa as well, its not posh at all but the full body massage was one of the best I ever received. Its a little bit like Fantasy Island if you can still remember the TV show?! They do provide free of charge transfer within Ubud with a white car and a tiny driver...Go for it- you won't regret!

Getting around:
Most people arrive on Bali by Plane. If you are not on an international direct flight or you life in Indonesia you might need a domestic flight. As all indonesian Airlines are not safe at all, due to high competition on low cost market I would strictly recommend to use the national flag carrier Garuda. Btw this is the only full service airline left. Tickets on GA are generally more expensive than other carriers, but still quiet cheap. The main lack is that one is not able to reserve online. You need a local agent for the cheap domestic fares if you don't wanna book @ international prices.
Nevertheless if you gone through the whole process of "e-travel by Garuda" you will find yourself pushed back into the 80ies while on board a Garuda plane- this includes even the flight attendants.
If you haven't organize a pick up service from the airport you could buy a voucher for a taxi inside the airport or bargain hard outside- but therefore you need to know prices and speak Bahasa indonesia to get a good price. Keep in mind that prices are slightly higher compared to the rest of indonesia as this is a tourism destination.
Traveling around Bali by motorbike is relaxed and one could even rent a car with or without a driver if you to spoil yourself.
Motorbikes are available from 35k IDR per day!

Enjoy:
One of the main reasons to fly into Bali is to relax by the beach, nevertheless I believe the beaches on Bali are not that special, but still fine. I do like Echo beach in Canggu Area- the beach is black sand, but quiet empty, just some surfers and the famous Beach House- the place to be for a sundowner or B.B.Q by the beach! Another option, if not the most famous one, for a sundowner is Ku De TA in Seminyak. Compared to Echo beach and The Beach House Ku De Ta is the hip spot and very crowded. It is recommended to spoil yourself with a spa treatment after a day by the beach as the Spas on Bali are cheap and the overall quality is pretty good. If you are into late night entertainment you probably have to go to Kuta- but keep in mind that this might result in meeting many drunken foreigners. To be honest I skip Kuta at all and still enjoy myself.

Stay tuned for upcoming reports on beach resorts all over the world!