Indonesia Travel Guide
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20 Years Later, Bali's Amandari Resort Still Doesn't Have TVs But There is WiFi
Time to wish the luxurious Amandari resort on the tropical paradise of Bali a very happy 20th anniversary! There are a bunch of special events happening during October to celebrate the anniversary, including a photo exhibition, some joint events with the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, screenings of old films on Balinese culture and some special meals on the actual anniversary weekend, 21-23 October.
A recent visitor to Amandara asked a very sensible question: is it still luxurious twenty years on? The resort was closed for three months earlier this year, but the changes were not all that extensive – even the décor, after some discussion, remained the same, because they wanted to continue the links to the traditional culture there.
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Jakarta Update: Marriott Responds to Security Concerns
After last week's attacks on the JW Marriott Jakarta and Ritz-Carlton Jakarta hotels where suicide bombers killed a total of nine victims (including themselves), Marriott is responding by assuring the public that security measures were in place at the time of the blasts — and that the company will be looking into ramping up security in their properties.
Sadly, this is not the first time in the last several years that Marriott hotels have been a target of major attacks. In 2003, another attack on the JW Marriott Jakarta killed 12 people, and in 2008, dozens were killed in a Marriott Islamabad bombing.
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Breaking: Fatal Blasts at JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton Jakarta
Some very sad news to report: at least two explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta today.
According to the AFP:
Witnesses said they saw injured people being evacuated by car from the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the upscale Mega Kuningan business district in the centre of the city.
Police sealed off the area near the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott hotels, an AFP correspondent said. Windows had been blown out of a second-storey restaurant at the Ritz Carlton.
The number of injuries is still unknown, though the Breaking News Wire Twitter is reporting six dead and 18 injured so far.
Sadly, this JW Marriott was also the site of a deadly terrorist attack in 2003.
We'll keep you updated on this story as it develops.
[Photo: Twitpic via The Age]
Tags: Reader Reviews / Bali Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Snapshot / HotelChatter Flickr Pool / → All Tags
Bulgari Resort in Bali Not Exactly the 'Pinnacle of Modern Luxury'
Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in.
We fished this snapshot out of the HotelChatter Flickr Pool and, upon first glance, this photo of an Ocean Cliff Villa at the Bulgari Resort Bali looks gorgeous, no? From the looks of this photo, we'd be down for staying here.
But, um, reader who submitted the shot — hotel maven lyh1 — sheds a little bit of light on fashion house Bulgari's Bali property — and we were let in on a secret: it may not be as awesome as we think it is.
Tags: Snapshot / Bali Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / → All Tags
Find Paradise in a Villa at the Four Seasons Bali Jimbaran Bay
A couple of readers (full disclosure: our parents) hit up Bali this week, and though they were not kind enough to take us with them, they were generous enough to send some snapshots of a villa at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay to show us what we were missing.
Standard rates for just a room at this resort start at 680 USD, while a villa like this one will run you upwards of $1,800. The spa, with a collection of Ayurveda-inspired treatments, is not to be missed.
Two more snaps after the jump.
Tags: Holiday Inns / Bali Hotels / Hotel Openings / Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Bali Hai Is Calling You ... To The Holiday Inn
It's too bad Bing Crosby isn't around to hear about this: a Holiday Inn is opening in Bali in March! Not only will the Holiday Inn Baruna Bali be the first in the tropical area, but it will feature perks like direct beach access and a departure lounge in which guests are encouraged to chillax before their flight home.
Expect it to have all the exoticism you desire from Bali, like public areas with thatched roofs and tropical gardens, paired with the practical business side of a Holiday Inn (hello, wifi). This could be huge for family reunions and the Knights of Columbus.
Start talking to your bingo buddies now as they're already taking bookings beginning March 1. Opening rates are a very affordable $119 a night, considering how the mangy old Holiday Inn Chinatown in New York City likes to charge upwards of $300. Book directly through the Holiday Inn website here.
Tags: Conrad Hotels / Bali Hotels / Sweet Suites / → All Tags
Conrad Bali Unveils Sweet New Suites
What's better than a trip to Bali? Well, if we had to say, maybe a spacious and secluded suite stocked with a personal assistant. Is that so much to ask?
Apparently not, according to the Conrad Bali. Starting October 1, the lush hotel will open 55 new suites, each boasting at least 360 square feet--which is, ahem, awfully close to the size of a studio apartment in some cities stateside--and surrounded by what sounds like a veritable tropical paradise (think gardens and reflecting ponds).
In addition to access to a personal assistant, each suite will have a separate living and dining room (though let's be honest, they must be tiny) as well as a private terrace equipped with a dining table and daybed (mmm...sunbathing in Bali, how tony indeed). Plus--get this--suites will also include a soaking tub accompanied by a TV. For when sunbathing gets too tiresome, we presume.
No word on whether that personal assistant can fetch you a bride or groom for the Conrad's sweet wedding chapel, but dream big, we say.
Tags: Hotel News / Hotel Openings / Hotel Weddings / Bali Hotels / Beach Hotels / St. Regis Hotels / → All Tags
You're Going to the Chapel at The St. Regis Bali and You're Gonna Get Married
Is anyone getting married soon? If so, might we gently (firmly, unequivocally) suggest you look into a destination wedding at the St. Regis Bali? You may not have heard about it yet since it just opened yesterday and all, but if you want to go ahead and book your nuptials here and invite us, the gesture would be much-appreciated.
The location is good: it's in Nusa Dua on an "elite beach enclave" on the Southern tip of the island. The resort has 79 suites, 42 private villas and two residences -- so, you know, plenty of room for us. There are two restaurants, a bar and a gourmet deli-type restaurant -- so we can keep ourselves nice and busy while you celebrate your wedding with your real family and friends, too.
Tags: Hotel Weddings / Hotel News / → All Tags
Express Check-Out: Going to the Chapel in Bali
This Flickr shot from en.en of the wedding chapel at the Conrad Bali has us wishing we could go to the chapel all over again. En.en writes:
Weddings are usually held here, small party, 60 guests top, but you can have reception outside in the open. this is an amazing chapel. i would love to get married here one day...
Well technically we can't get married again (right now, heh) but we can check into the place which has rooms for only $170 a night in April. Now, we gotta work on getting over there.
In other news:
· Marriott gets geeky video-conferencing tools [Baltimore Sun]
· Travelodge UK will open 44 new hotels in Britain this year. Expect more wacky promotions and amenities from the eccentric brand. [Reuters]
· Similarly, Best Western wants to dominate Japan [Hotel News Resource]
· Even Mickey Mouse gets in on the eco-trend as DoubleTree Suites in Orlando goes green [Orlando Sentinel]
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Bali Hotels / Hotel Infinity Pools / → All Tags
Freezing, Freaked Out New Yorker Seeks Warm Getaway
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven JennM escapes the cold of NYC. Enjoy.
It's freezing in New York this week and there's nothing I can't stand more than having to brave the cold only to arrive at a cubicle. Plus, all this recession talk has me stressed out. I'm not sure why, because I don't work for or follow the stock market, but I know this can't be a good.
Which is why I'm wishing I had a few nights at Uma Ubud in Bali, part of Como Hotels and Resorts. From the hotel:
"Expect not to be disturbed by the sound of traffic, but the laughter of villagers...Light floods the open ground, picking out an orchid among the velvet grasses. At night, dew begins to settle, lifting softly with the wisps of morning cloud."
Sigh. Bali's 85-degree temperature is taunting me, as is the hotel's large Shambhala Suite that features its own infinity pool and private treatment area, the perfect place for the massage my tense body and dry, scaly skin so desperately need.
Plus, if I were to spend at least three nights in the Shambhala Suite, I'd be entitled to daily breakfast and two complimentary hour-long massages, all for the bargain rate of $410 per night. The hotel also offers guided walks through the surrounding rice paddy fields and free daily yoga classes.
That's frugal enough to justify such extravagance during a pending recession, don't you think?
[Photo: Proper Pictures]
Tags: Infinity Pools / Bali Hotels / → All Tags
Infinity Pools We Love :: Ubud Hanging Gardens
Today we pick a new site where we can feel at one with planet earth while safely surrounded by ceramic and covered in chlorinated water. Each of the 38 villas at Ubud Hanging Gardens in Bali has a heated private infinity plunge pool that overlooks the Ayung river. Rather than visually blending with the sea, these infinity pools offer bathers the serene feeling the water takes on before it plunges over a cliff -- without the threat of falling to one's death.
The pools are supported by wooden pillars and surrounded by terraced gardens. And the individual heaters ensure each pool's temperature never dips below 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Rooms start at $270 per night. Not a bad deal, since in Manhattan, that kind of price gets us a stay at a hotel with plastic covering the chairs. For a private infinity pool, king-size four-poster bed, marble bathtub, and all the spa and cuisine options we never even knew we craved, $270 seems like a steal.
[Photo: Feride peel]
Related Stories:
· The Best Infinity Pools [HotelChatter]
· Bali Hotels [HotelChatter]
Tags: Bali Hotels / Indonesia Hotels / Hotel News / Westin Hotels / → All Tags
'Climate Conference' Participants Leave Carbon Footprints All Over Bali Hotels
Maybe Mother Nature isn't too happy that the climate conference participants in Bali, Indonesia couldn't arrange a video conference instead of flying across the world to let out a lot of hot air. A 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit the island of Bali last Friday. There were no damages to the hotels where participants are staying though, so perhaps it was a warning shot.
According to this estimate from Bloomberg, the conference will generate as much pollution as 20,350 cars used for a year. So where are these people staying? At eco-lodges using gray water for irrigation of the landscaping? At bungalows made of bamboo and other natural materials, powered by solar? Ummm, no.
With some 15,000 delegates attending (some arriving by private jet), most are staying at the biggest, brashest hotels on the island, located in the Nusa Dua area. The names kind of give it away: Grand Mirage Resort, Swiss Grand Bali, Melia Bali Villas & Spa Resort, Nikko Bali Resort & Spa, Grand Hyatt Bali, and others that certainly did not have the word "energy efficient" in their business plan. According to the Telegraph, they're not above a little price gouging either:
Hotels, many of which fall into the bracket of some of the most luxurious in the world, have spotted the chance to charge accordingly, with many saying accommodation is only available now at around £400 to £500 a night for a small single room.
The hotel where British ministers will stay, the Westin Resort Nusa Dua, describes the experience of staying there as "sheer indulgence."
[Photo: All lit up at the Swiss Grand Bali]
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