Indonesia Travel Guide
Hotel Coffee / Bali Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Would You Drink 'Cat-Poo-Cino'?
We're coffee junkies here at HotelChatter but we may have some hesitation about this latest caffeine offering at the Ayana Resort and Spa in Bali in Jimbaran Bay. The hotel's Dava restaurant is serving a rare delicacy, Kopi Luwa, which translated into English means Civet Coffee, which translated into layperson's terms means, Cat-poo-cino.
The coffee beans used to make this drink come from coffee berries," which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and passed through its stomach intact, before being defecated whole and collected by farmers. Sounds gross fersure but the beans/berries have been thoroughly washed, sun-dried, lightly roasted and then brewed before getting poured into your cup. Supposedly, the coffee is less bitter than your local Starbucks jolt.
Courtyard By Marriott Hotels / Hotel Openings / Budget Hotels / Bali Hotels / → All Tags
They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Courtyard by Marriott in Bali
We have nothing against Courtyard By Marriott Hotels. In fact, we quite like these places as they now sport stylish lobbies (some with media pods) with tasty cafe fare and the internet is free in the public space. But if we're going to make the trek to an exotic place like Bali, we're not so sure we'd want to stay at Courtyard. Yet, the option is there.
The newest Courtyard has opened in Bali Nusa Dua and features 250 guestrooms with 32-inch LCD, your choice of rainshowers or deep soaking tubs in the bathrooms, a private balcony or terrace and even robes and slippers.
The hotel is not on the beach but the website promises the waters of the Indian Ocean are just a 10-minute stroll from the hotel. Should you want some immediate hydration, the hotel has its own lagoon swimming pool.
And as for those cafes we love so much? They get a different twist here:
Hotel Lust / Lily Allen / Celebrity Scoop / HotelChatter Flickr Pool / Amanresorts / Bali Hotels / → All Tags
Lily Allen Got Engaged at Amankila, Which Looks Like This
It's the season of celebrity engagements! While most of us would be content with an intimate proposal in a sentimental location and a carat or two, celebrities go all out with their engagements, often popping the question with a monster five or six carat ring while on vacation at some to-die-for luxury resort.
After word came yesterday that Natalie Portman and LeAnn Rimes said "yes" to their lovers, we found out that pop singer Lily Allen also got engaged to her boyfriend, Sam Cooper, at the Amankila Resort in Bali from the luxe Aman Resorts.
And coincidentally, a HotelChatter Flickr Pool member, had just dropped these gorgey photos of the resort in our Flickr pool.
Viceroy Hotels / Hotel Names / Bali Hotels / Tablet Hotels / Private Sales / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
The Viceroy Bali is Now On Sale at Tablet Hotels (But It's Not a Viceroy Hotel)
We keep pretty good tabs on Viceroy Hotels but we were stunned today when we opened our weekly Tablet Hotels private sale newsletter to see The Viceroy Bali was on sale through December, starting at $292 a night for a garden view villa.
Just as we were getting all worked up about this (how could we not have known about Viceroy Bali? @&#*@!!), the Tablet description essentially handed us a brown paper bag to blow into:
No relation, apparently, to any other Viceroy, in Los Angeles or anywhere else — the Viceroy Bali is a one-off, a family-owned hotel, a rarity at the high end of the resort market. The location is increasingly familiar, as more travelers discover the charms of inland Bali — the Viceroy is minutes from Ubud, high on a hillside overlooking the lush (and steep) Lembah Valley.
Killer View / Indonesia Hotels / → All Tags
The Largest Lake in Southeast Asia is Right Outside Your Hotel Room
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
This week we're going easy on the continental U.S. and looking abroad for anti-views (found in London) and killer views like this one from Hotel Niagara in Parapat, Indonesia.
Amanresorts / Bali Hotels / Asia Hotels / → All Tags
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.
Hotel News / Hotel Disasters / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
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.
Hotel News / Hotel Disasters / → All Tags
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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