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]
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?
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.
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."
We like luxury hotels but if we are paying $400 for rooms shouldn't they have enough money to update the pictures on their website? Nevertheless, luxury hotels always have woefully bad room pictures on their websites.
Tipster E.T. points to a particularly bad instance of this on the Four Seasons Jakarta website:
Talking about outdated room pics: this really made me laugh - check out the room pictures (superior & deluxe (are the same) and premier) for the Four Seasons Jakarta. Does that scream 1985 or what? LOOK at those bedspreads, yikes!
The superior & deluxe pics win for shadyness (seriously, could it be any darker?) but the guy casually standing in the middle of the premier room is just hilarious. Deluxe FS Exec suites look all of a sudden a little more agreeable.
A-ha! Maybe that's the point. They want you to see the crappy room with 1980s decor and strange men, so that you will pay more to stay in a more modern suite without any strangers.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Depending on how you feel about these things, you may consider this view at the Hotel Tjampuhan in Bali a killer view or an anti-view. We decided to classify it as Anti-View because of the description provided by Mandimike who took this shot:
Penis Man to Keep Evil Spirits Away...
Then again, if Penis Man can keep the evil spirits away, it should actually be a Killer View, right? Whatever you think, it's quite a view.
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 PBB dreams of an exotic golf getaway. Enjoy.
I was out of the cubicle the other day, chatting with some other drones when the talk turned to golf. That's when I realized it'd been ages since I'd hit the links. While the dudes talked about the local greens, I drifted off into Aman-fantasy land.
As in the Amanusa on Bali. Sure there are plenty of dope hotels with golf courses, but how many of those have thatched-roof suites with canopy beds and private pools overlooking the Indian Ocean? Exactly.
There's even a deal on right now, if you can call it that. Book a room and you get a free round at the Bali Golf and Country Club. Of course, that pool suite will cost you $1,100, a night but that's why we call it Cubicle Dreamin'.
While Bali's still recovering from the a few scary terrorist incidents, that hasn't stopped the Accor group from opening up a new hotel there--in fact, the first they've built there from the ground up. It's a Novotel in Nusa Dua, built in the middle of a golf course and 30 minutes away from Bali's international airport. As of March 15, the Novotel Nusa Dua Bali has been officially open for business, and opening rates have a few bargains if you meet their minimum stay requirements, getting down as cheap as $53 a night on a Deluxe room.
There are also apartments at the Novotel Nusa Dua complex, apparently in "modern Balinese style" with the bonus of a plunge pool for every ground floor apartment. There's even a wellness center for all called "My Spa" (although obviously it should be "Our Spa" if we have to share it with the other guests). Management is sure that travelers are regaining their confidence in Bali and expect to see a big surge in guests in the next six months. There are good deals to be had and as yet, no major teething problems with the new hotel.
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by juliana
