Bali Restaurant Guide

Dear Friends,
Have a question ? Below are some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive and our responses. If you have a question that's not covered please, by all means, drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll be happy to answer.

Thank you.

All rates are quoted on a per room basis with two persons occupying the room.

Hotels in Indonesia are rated along guidelines established by the Government. By and large there are 3 categories: Star; Melati; and Losmen. Within each of these categories there are various levels. The Star Category has levels 1-5 with 5 being best. Melati Category has 3 levels 1-3 with 3 being best. Losmen are not rated.

Briefly:
Star rated hotels are fairly easy to distinguish between - the more stars the more services and facilities you can expect. A one star hotel will not have international direct dial telephones in the room or 24 hour room service - a 5 star hotel will.

Melati hotels are more difficult to define. Some Melati hotel especially the level 3 (many now being marketed as Boutique Hotels) can sometimes be "nicer" than a 3 star hotel. Some owners of  Melati hotels prefer not be star rated for personal reasons. Other Melati hotels just don't have the facilities to be rated in the star category. Therefore the old saying "you get what you pay for" really applies here.
However to give an idea in general, Melati l hotels often do not have air-conditioned bedrooms and no hotel facilities to speak of. Melati 2 may or may not have air conditioned rooms and may have a few facilities such as a restaurant but lack services such as room service - direct dial telephones and so on, and Melati 3, usually have air-conditioned rooms, restaurant and sometimes room service but may or not have direct dial telephone service. Again it depends on the room rate.

Return to Top

We wrote to paradise-bali.com but have not received a reply. Why ?

We do our best to reply to all legitimate e-mail inquiries within a few hours. However, if you have not received a reply it is more than likely due to one of the following causes :

- Incorrect E-Mail Address: More often than not, the email address provided to us was incorrect. Please check that your email address is correct and resend.

- Incorrect Date: We sort email by date and if the date on your email server or computer is wrong we may not be aware that you have sent us an e-mail.

- Not Received: Not often, but every once in a while we simply do not receive your email.

- No Name: We do not answer anonymous email (inquiries wherein the sender does not identify themselves by name).

- Spam Filters: Some ISPs (AOL, EarthLink etc.) have filters to protect users from receiving unsolicited email. Please make sure that you set your filter to allow you to receive email from [email protected].

- Other: Without a confirmed reservation, we do not provide contact details for any hotel & ignore such requests.

First, after you have found a hotel to your liking, click on the reservation form fill in all the blank fields and submit. paradise-bali.com reservation staff will check with your requested hotel for availability. If room/(s) is/(are) available we will advise you, via email, that a booking has been made in your name. Likewise, if no room is available we will advise you of that and suggest alternative accommodations. All hotels require a deposit or credit card to confirm the booking (to cut down on bogus reservations).

As such in order to confirm your booking you will need to forward your credit card information within 48 hours - We will provide you with the location of our secure server or, if you prefer, you may email or fax this information. If we do not receive your credit card details within 48 hours, the reservation is cancelled. Please be advised that paradise-bali.com will not charge any amount to your credit card. We only pass this information onto the hotel. Once we have the credit card information we will email to you the hotel's confirmation number or code.

At that time you are subject to the hotel's cancellation policy (usually 72 hours prior to arrival or one night's stay is charged to your account by the hotel). However each hotel has its own cancellation policy which is posted on the hotel's reservation form. Read this information carefully. If you have any changes to your booking you must advise us accordingly. We confirm all cancellations with the hotels.

Return to Top

Sorry, no. The rates are quoted by the hotels and, for any number of reasons, are in US Dollars -  it is not up to paradise-bali.com.

Good question. As well as surveying over 300 hotels every 3 months, we are checking rates at many hotels in Bali on a daily basis. The rates we are quoted depends primarily on the hotel's occupancy at the time we call and/or the time period for which we are inquiring.

Since staring paradise-bali.com in 1997, we have made countless site inspections at hotels all throughout Bali. We have conducted quarterly rate surveys and have received a fair amount feedback from our clients - so much so - that we feel confident in pointing out which hotels provide the most value for money in any given price range.

Preferred hotels are those hotels where the management has, over the years, demonstrated an effort to offer superior value for money in terms of facilities, customer service, friendliness and cleanliness.

What about my privacy, what do you do with the information you collect ?

We value your privacy as much as we treasure ours. When we contact a hotel to confirm a booking we only provide to the hotel that information which the hotel would normally obtain during check-in or registration. We do not use any of information you have given us for any other purposes nor do we sell or provide any information to any 3rd parties and we have no plans to do so. For more information please click here

Return to Top

It is not always possible to have information on every hotel. Some hotels choose not to be listed. Some hotels do not meet our criteria or standards - this is especially true of Losmen (budget hotels) where one gets what one pays for. That said, we still provide the name and current room rate for such places as a public service (we make no money from this - really) to let people know that such accommodation does exist but we do not recommend it.

Effective 01 February 2004 a new visa policy was implemented. Here is some background and the latest details:

On April 7, 2003 Indonesia announced that the Free Visa on Arrival had been revoked with immediate effect. In Presidential decree No. 18 dated 31 March 2003, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri declared that the Free Visa facility on arrival has been revoked for reasons of "reciprocity and national security".

Effective 01 February 2004 there will be 3 different types of visas available.

Free Visa Upon Arrival. Citizens from the following countries (primarily ASEAN) will retain the Free Visa Upon Arrival status - Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Morocco, Chile and Peru. The permitted length of stay is 30 (thirty) days.

Paid Visa Upon Arrival. Citizens of the following 20 countries will be able to apply and pay for a visa upon arrival to Indonesia - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.

Other Paid Visa. Citizens of all other countries will be required to obtain a visa prior to their entering Indonesia. You will need to contact the nearest Indonesian Embassy for details and an application.

Cost. It has been reported that there will be two types of Paid Visas available. A 5 day stay visa costing US$10.00/person and a 30 day stay visa costing US$25.00/person.

As it is wont to be when a new policy in introduced there will be some confusion and some issues that will surface that need to be clarified. We will keep you posted as more information becomes available. That said, it is best to get more complete, up to date  information by visiting or calling the Indonesian Embassy nearest you.

Entry & Departure must be through one of the following airports:

AIRPORTS: Polonia (Medan) - Hang Nadim (Batam) - Simpang Tiga (Pekan Baru) - Tabing (Padang) - Sukarno-Hatta (Jakarta) - Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) - Juanda (Surabaya) - Sepinggan (Balikpapan) - Supadio (Pontianak) - Ngurah Rai ( Bali ) - Selaparang (Mataram) - Sam Ratulangi (Manado) - Pattimura (Ambon) - Frans Kasiepo (Biak).

SEAPORTS: Belawan (Medan) - Batu Ampar (Batam) - Tanjung Pinang (Riau) - Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) - Tanjung Mas (Semarang) - Tanjung Perak (Surabaya) - Benoa and Padangbai (Bali) - Ambon (Maluku) and Bitung (Manado).

BORDER POINT OF ENTRY : Entikong (West Kalimantan)

Citizens from other countries that are "not" in the list, and planning to visit Indonesia are required to obtain a visa.

REQUIREMENTS for Visa Upon Arrival:
A passport valid for 6 (six) months beyond their intended length of stay. A return ticket, or outgoing flight ticket. Completed immigration card (supplied by air carrier) International Certificate of Yellow Fever Vaccination is required for those coming from / stopping over infected area must be presented at the Port of Entry.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS to apply for a visa in your home country:
A passport valid for 6 (six) months beyond their intended length of stay. A return ticket, or outgoing flight ticket. 2 passport size photographs and proof of sufficient funds to support yourself while in Indonesia.

Be advised that visa requirements may change without notice and that paradise-bali.com makes no representation as to the accuracy of the above information. To get the most complete and up to date  information please visit the Indonesian Embassy nearest you.

Return to Top

Can you help me change reservations I made with another company ?

Sorry, no. Inasmuch as we can not verify the authenticity of the requesting party we can not take responsibility to forward any commercial communications whatsoever. You will need to contact the travel agent, hotel or reservation service that made the reservation in the first place.

Can you give us an idea of how much it costs to eat out in Bali ?

Herein is a random sampling of prices for common items in restaurants and hotels in the specified area. Nasi Goreng is fried rice, a common Indonesian dish served everywhere. Prices may vary and are not representative of any particular establishment. Last updated November 2003.

Return to Top

Q.We work for XYZ Airline or ABC Travel Agency - can we get an airline or travel agency discount ?

A. In most cases hotels will give a discount for airline employees - the amount of the discount varies from hotel to hotel but it is important to know that the discount is based on the hotel's published rate.

As such in most cases the airline discount will most likely be less than paradise-bali.com's special discount rates - (read you will probably pay more). That said, since we have no way of verifying who works for what airline we are not able to process airline discount requests. You will need to apply for your discount when checking in.

Regarding travel agent discounts - If you really work for a travel agency you certainly don't need paradise-bali.com to apply for a travel agent discount.