Just returned from Bali and what an amazing time I had. Stayed in Tanjung Benoa at the Kind Villa Bintang which I loved but others in the group thought it was just so so. The Best restaurant was Bumbu Bali just across the street, what amazing food. The highlight of my trip was the monkey forest in Ubud. That was a very unique experience, although I went with trepidation after reading some of the posts on tripadvisor. 

The guide that I had told me not to worry as the monkeys are very well cared for and not aggresive. I have to mention the guide that I used because he made my trip unbelievable. Actually I don't have the words that can truly express the experience he gave me. His english was as good as mine and the history and culture of Bali that he shared made a great trip one that will never be beat. Please use him if your planning a trip you will never regret it. His name is Romeo of romeotoursbali.com. You may also contact me if you have any questions.

This is a post that I put on trip advisor after my trip to Bali. Romeo was the best and he will make your trip memorable as he did mine. 12/07/2011

Dixie Whitt

Romeo, Romeo where for out thou Romeo? This is what I didn't have to call out during our tours as Romeo is the most reliable gentleman you could ever hope to meet! 

Our trip to Bali was our first time overseas and came about very quickly! So when my friend Hannah, who has previously been to Bali twice, gave a sterling report of Romeo and highly recommended I contact him, I did.  I was a little nervous as we were leaving the following week! Hannah gave me this website to contact Romeo through and I sent him a message. Romeo's prompt reply made me feel more at ease as over the next few days he and I messaged back and forth until we had some dates booked. Despite the short notice, Romeo actually reorganised his schedule so he could take me and my boyfriend Ben on a few day tours! I thoroughly appreciated this and my friend Hannah's impression of Romeo certainly proved an accurate one, as I cannot speak more highly of him. Thank you Hannah!!!

On our first day with Romeo, my boyfriend and I didn't want to be late. So we got ourselves organised early and came down to the hotel lobby. Romeo was already there, patiently waiting for us and half an hour early. Our first impression was of this well dressed and attractive man who warmly offered us his open hand to shake is that Romeo is a true gentleman. He will open the car door for us and then offer us bottles of water which he keeps cool in the back of his new well air-conditioned vehicle. Romeo opened the car door for me and then closed it behind me, and then offered my boyfriend Ben the same treatment, surely this is why he is aptly named Romeo! 

Our first day trip Romeo took us to places in Bali where arts and crafts were made. Being an art enthusiast, this was right up my alley and we saw beautiful paintings, hand-woven clothes and linen, gold and silver.  Romeo is not only patient but thoughtful, knowing intuitively when to join in with us or stay back and was an amazing source of knowledge when he next took us through the temple and enlightened us with Balinese culture. Afterwards we went to the Bali Safari and Marine Park where we jumped cue as Romeo had already pre-booked our elephant ride and tickets in. We were left to explore the park on our own as Romeo reassured us he was fine and happy to wait. I believe he must have had some lunch in the meantime. The park itself I have never seen anything like it! It offers more interactive experiences with animals like tigers, orang-utans and elephants. We were impressed with how clean and organised it seemed to be kept. Romeo had mentioned two restaurants within the park and had suggested we eat lunch at the Tsavo Lion Restaurant, which was right next to the lion enclosure. The food not only was delicious but very affordable and with an amazing up-close view of the lions. Romeo was patiently waiting for us when all our activities were done and again offered us cold bottles of water on the way back to the hotel. My decision to contact Romeo was well justified. My boyfriend raved about Romeo that night and he and I both looked forward to our next tour which took place the day after the next. 

We found Romeo again patiently waiting for us with cold bottles of water. Romeo took us through a beautiful part of Bali in Nusa Dua deliberately just to show us the sights, despite there being a toll Romeo had to pay. We drove down to a place which had many boats and organised the day's activities. First we went out in a glass bottomed boat to go snorkeling, and then out to Turtle Island where we held Turtles and Birds, bats and snakes. We came back via boat where we met up with our friend and he happily took photos of Ben and I parasailing.  With nothing too much trouble for Romeo he took us to the surf factory outlets for shopping on the way back to the hotel. He drove past a spa and recommended it as a wonderful place to be pampered, which we declined as we were having too much fun listening to his stories and jokes.

The following day Romeo was not available but still organised some transport for us that night to have a romantic sunset dinner on the Kedonganan Beach of Jimbaran Bay where we were entertained by musicians and Balinese dancers while eating delicious seafood.

A few days later we transferred from Seminyak to a hotel in Ubud. We both looked forward to seeing Romeo again and preoccupied ourselves in Ubud with white-water rafting and the Elephant Park (highly recommendable!) Romeo came to collect us the following morning where he took us to the Elephant Temple and then past Ketut Liyer's House of the medicine man from Julia Roberts movie "Eat, Pray Love" before continuing on to the monkey forest, which before leaving home for our trip I had researched and found scary reviews of monkeys who bite and steal your handbag. Not the case! In the forest where Romeo took us, the monkeys were well fed and therefore more passive towards the tourists. Romeo took us through the forest, taught us how to interact with the monkeys and then showed us the graveyard and temple atop the forest explaining more Balinese culture and teaching us more phrases. Next Romeo drove us through the most beautiful rice fields and we took many photos before stopping at the famous coffee plantation where the mongoose eats the berries that turn into the world renowned coffee. 

Sadly this is the part in the adventure where my boyfriend Ben started to feel very sick. Luckily Doctor Romeo came to the rescue and had some tablets on him to help with side effects of the dreadful Bali Belly, which Ben believes he got from drinking the watered down orange juice at our hotel that morning for breakfast. He then took us back to our hotel only stopping for more tablets to give to Ben. That night Ben was violently ill, with stomach issues and a dangerously high temperature. Following Romeos advice Ben took the tablets every two hours with lots of water and we broke the fever with ice. The tablets worked so well, that symptoms had actually subsided within 24hours and the following morning we canceled our hotel transfer and Romeo came and picked us up so we could spend our last day in Bali with our new friend. This day was more relaxed and we spent our time together looking at different shops with Romeo like furniture and music stores and we talked about home and Romeo about his family and interests, always joking and making us laugh. One last pancake together before he dropped us off at the airport. Saying goodbye was really sad so we promise to get back to Bali as soon as we can. Ben and I miss you so much Romeo! 

So for everyone else reading this here is my recommendation. You may have a great time in Bali regardless of whether or not you have Romeo as a guide, for Bali is truly a beautiful place enriched in culture and diversity. But you will have an absolutely wondrous time with Romeo. He took us to some of the most amazing places I have ever seen. He took our humble days and made them magical. He is the one part of Bali I wish I could take home with me. Professionally not only is Romeo always on time but often we would emerge from our hotel rooms early to find our friend already patiently awaiting us with cool refreshing bottles of water . He is courteous, generous, caring and kind. On a personal level he is charming, humble, funny and friendly. I am convinced after talking to other friends about Bali Belly that if it had not been for Romeo, Ben would have ended up in hospital in Bali and we wouldn't have make our flight home! Thank you for everything Romeo, we think you are amazing  xox

Donna & Ben
Australia

Romeo is an experienced, reliable, honest and friendly Driver/Guide for your holiday on the paradise island of Bali. We met Romeo via friends who recommended him to us. We have visited Bali twice and used his services both times.  

Always greeted with a beautiful Balinese smile; his English is excellent, learned from study and working in the hotel industry.  He is very knowledgeable about local attractions, traditions and culture and will share this with you as he shows you around; he also gives you plenty of time to explore alone and always watches out for you.  

Romeo is always on hand, offering a cold water; that he has in the car; showing you the best photo shot or he will take photo's of your family together and regularly offering a bathroom break.   Romeo has a great sense of humour and was fantastic with our teenage sons.  He is very flexible and will tailor the tour specifically for you.  He's always happy to answer any questions and no request is too much for him. 

We look forward to returning to Bali and meeting Romeo again.

Linda and Darren, Australia 

If you want the best tour guide than look no further.

Romeo was the best. We loved his sense of humor his jokes and he just put us all at ease. We didnt want to be conned into spending any money on someone that didnt speak or just seemed to be doing a job he didnt like and so when Romeo's number was passed onto us we rang him and we havent looked back. We made a friend that trip not just another balinese tour guide. 

He took us anywhere we wanted go and even suggested some really good spots to take us. Gave us good advice what to do and even was happy to spend time with us and talk with us like we were his friends to.

Always was on time and very cheap rates for a very sexy driver with a sexy new car (that's what he would say every day and we would laugh) Nothing seemed to hard for romeo and he was very good with the kids parcticularly  when we went to the monkey forest.

We have no hesitation in recomending him to any family that wants a safe and secure, friendly tour guide around beautiful bali. 

Will see you again our new Balinese friend.

Darren Wheeler
Australia

Thank you for the great time. 

Your professional service was first class. 

Your local knowledge and easy going nature made it all the more pleasant. 

Hope to be able to come back soon and certainly we will use your services again. 

Gary and Cherylyn, Sydney Australia

There is no other!

Taking a look at our awesome Bali pictures, we realized again how great our
two tours with Romeo were. His inside knowledge, reliability, jokes and
airconditioned car made every trip a special one. 

Romeo shows you the special spots at a good price!
Explicit Recommendation!

Thank you so much Romeo!

Janina & Niclas
Germany, July 2011

We moved to Asia a few months ago and our first holiday trip took us to Bali. While we were searching for what to look at we found Romeo's name on one of the Hungarian websites as a well recommended tour guide in Bali. 

He worked out a tour plan for that met our interest and time. Our two sons initially preferred being on the beach to going for a tour but thanks to Romeo all of us enjoyed the tour. We did appreciate that he helped us with tips at visiting the monkey forest or other places, gave advice what a reasonable price was for gifts we wanted to buy and mostly when we had an argument within the family where to go next and he, without asking, adjusted the tour plan to accommodate all our requests. 

We finally spent one and a half days with Romeo. Our one week in Bali was one of our best holidays.

Thanks Romeo!

Mariann and Gabor from Hungary

I can thoroughly recommend Romeo -our guardian angel in Bali. He is an amazing tour guide. Romeo is an absolute gentleman with a great sense of humour and a very safe, courteous driver.

Nothing was too much trouble for him. His local knowledge was invaluable and ensured that we didn't waste precious time getting lost or being ripped off by 'dodgy' money-changers. 
Romeo introduced us to Balinese culture, history and religion  in a uniquely personal way. It's obvious he is very proud of his culture - and rightly so! 

A conventional bus tour could not get near what we experienced. His grasp of Aussie slang was amazing and reassured us that he understood what we required.

All was pleasantly good for the budget with a very reasonable $45 for a day's driving - for up to 7 people.

Thank you so much Romeo. You're a legend!
Ann
(from Australia, June 2011)

What a fantastic day we had with Romeo. 

Nothing is too much trouble for him and he goes out of his way to provide you with everything you need and anywhere you want to go.

We will recomend him to everyone and will continue to go back to him when we return to Bali.

The transport is comfortable and stylish in a new Toyota. Water is provided and icy cold in the back.

Thanks for a great day Romeo!

Britt & Deb.

Hi Romeo, this is Eva and Eszter from Budapest. We wanted to say thank you one more time for all your help and guidance in Bali. We had an amazing time and are very grateful that we found you as we do believe that you made our journey a thousand times more valuable. 

Thank you for showing us not only the breathtaking Balinese temples and natural beauty of the island, but more so for showing us the real face of Bali, its culture, religion and people. 

I warmheartedly recommend Romeo to anyone who wants to see and get to know Bali, as Romeo is not only a driver, he is a guide who knows the story behind all the places we visited, and as he is local, we couldn't ask a question he did not have an answer ready in his pocket. 

We are lucky we met you and hope that faith will be gracious enough to us to meet you again in life. Until then, I wish you and your family all the very best! 

Terima kasih!