Bali Hotels

Kompas.com reports that Bali's governor, Made Mangku Pastika, has rejected renovation plans advanced by Bali's airport managers, calling instead for a more Balinese design concept with greater emphasis on public as opposed to commercial spaces.

Tourism authorities have asked immigration officers at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali to improve their visa on arrival service following complaints from foreign visitors.

The popularity of Bali Island has for years translated into road congestion due not only to the multiplication of tourist busses but also the lack of parking facilities, of proper public transport, and the undisciplined behavior of most local drivers who park their vehicles at their convenience. All of these elements make circulation in Bali a nightmare.

The Indonesian Pavilion attracted 20,000 visitors at the opening day on May 1.

If Phileas Fogg and Passepartout need 80 days to travel the globe in Verne's classic Around the World in 80 Days to win £20,270 (US$30,000), we need less than that and less traveling once we are inside the World Expo 2010 Shanghai, China.

Located on a 5.28-square-kilometer plot of land, the 53rd expo features dozens of pavilions from 189 participating countries – after three countries withdrew from the event at the last minute – as well as 50 international organizations.

Amandari will host a viewing of heritage films of Bali in conjunction with the French Cinémathèque of Dance and the Swedish Dance Museum.  The films focus on the theme of dance, with rarely-seen screenings of Rolf de Maré, a Swede who compiled outstanding footage of dance from Indonesia in the 1930s.

Films will be screened in Kedewatan's village wantilan, or open-air meeting place, adjacent to Amandari.  Each evening's showcase will feature two films with an intermission in between.

After the recent release of the controversial documentary trailer of Cowboys in Paradise, another risque movie filmed in Kuta has been posted on the Internet.

Titled Koreana, the 22-minute film shows an uncensored oral sex scene between an Indonesian woman and a foreign man on a balcony of a hotel located on Jl. Pantai Kuta.

The film begins with shots of tourists strolling along Kuta Beach as well as a surfing competition.
The following scenes feature the woman drinking beer at the beach, before it moves to the hotel where the sexually explicit scene takes place.

Cultural center Bentara Budaya Jakarta is showcasing an exhibition of pottery products from Bali's Pejaten craftsmen.

The exhibition, titled "Habis Genteng Terbitlah Kodok" (After Roof Tiles Comes the Frog) was opened Tuesday May 4. The exhibition of pottery made by craftsmen Wayan Kuturan, I Made Durya and I Putu Oka Mahendra, will run until the end of the week.

Pejaten is a village in Bali that has transformed from being a roof tile production center into a flourishing pottery factory, exporting its elegant products to Europe, Japan, Australia and the US. The title of the exhibition is a play on the title of Indonesian women's rights heroine Kartini, Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang (After Darkness Comes the Light).

In the exhibition, ceramic statues of frogs were lined up for show. Rows of coral green ceramic teapots and glazed mugs, vases, and plates were beautifully arranged.

The Pan Pacific Bali Nirwana Resort (BNR), owned by the family of millionaire Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, and which recently merged with international hotel chain Pan Pacific, was basking in a heavenly sunset near the Tanah Lot Temple, 25 kilometers from Kuta.

Mixed beauty: The Pan Pacific's Bali Nirwana Resort, located close to the famous Tanah Lot Temple, sports an international-standard golf course designed by the legendary Greg Norman. JP/Wasti Atmodjo

Hundreds of foreign and local visitors had patiently waited for the sun to go down behind the temple.
Some had spent a leisurely afternoon at the newly opened Cendana restaurant, one of the many attractions of this five-star resort.

"This is one of the best places to watch the beauty of the sunset. The sun usually goes down at the back of the temple creating a perfect scenery. Just now, the sky is very clear," said Dwi Lismiarni, marketing communication manager for the Pan Pacific Bali Nirwana Resort recently.

Nirwana means heaven in Sanskrit. The site is indeed a blissful place, with a fantastic view of the Bali Strait in the southern part of Bali and located near one of the holiest Hindu temples, Tanah Lot. The Cendana restaurant is part of the 103-hectare Bali BNR currently managed by the Pan Pacific Group.

PT Bali Nirwana Resort, a unit under PT Bakrieland Development Tbk, developed the resort twelve years ago.

"If you need a break from your busy schedule and the hustle and bustle of the glittering but noisy tourist destinations in Bali, Nirwana Resort is your best choice," Lismiarni said.

The resort has 278 rooms including 245 deluxe rooms, 20 executive suites, 12 villas and one presidential suite.

"We will gradually be renovating the interior of the rooms to adjust to Pan Pacific International Hotel standards and improving our services for our guests," said Hans G. Winsnes, the general manager of Pan Pacific BNR.

The Pan Pacific Group, he said, has been in Indonesia for many years, however, the group only manages one hotel, the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Jakarta.

"After long consideration, we decided to spread our wings to Bali by collaborating with PT BNR to manage this resort," Winsnes said.

He is sure that faithful guests of the Pan Pacific Group across the world will jump at the opportunity of spending their holidays here at its Bali resort.

"We have many guests from Australia, Japan and Korea, who keep coming back," added Lisminiarni.

Under the new management of the Pan Pacific Group, the resort feels confident it will draw many more visitors from different geographical zones.

Yudi Rizard Hakim, chief corporate affairs officer of PT Bakrieland, added that 85 percent of the 103-hectare resort area was "green and open" space, and included an 18-hole golf course as well as lush gardens.

"We have an international-standard golf course designed by the legendary Greg Norman. It was the recipient of the Best Golf Course in Indonesia and Asia award," Hakim said.

Hakim went on to say the company was proud to employ local residents and therefore contribute to the local economy.

"Around 60 percent of our 900 employees come from neighboring areas," Hakim said. The company's close relationship with the local community will remain the same, despite the change in the hotel's management. "Currently, we provide 15 hectares of land for local farmers," he added.

Bakrieland is currently focusing on developing hotels and resorts in Bali, Lampung and Bogor. The company plans to build a resort in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan too.

"We have other projects in Bali in addition to the Bali Nirwana Resort," he said.

Next June, the company will open the Pullman Bali Legian Nirwana, a four-star hotel and 300 apartment units in Legian, Kuta.

For those wanting a peaceful, relaxing holiday, the Bali Nirwana Resort could be considered an ideal choice. But people who prefer to be in the middle of the action are more likely to enjoy the planned Legian Nirwana in Kuta. Just one more month to wait. Have a nice holiday in Bali.

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post, Tabanan

The island of Bali is generally thought of as an island full of life. When and where death does encroach, it often becomes a spectacle of cremations and elaborate ceremonies.  

One small part of Bali however upholds an unusual and apparently quite ancient tradition pertaining to death.
Sitting at the edge of Lake Batur in Northern Bali is a small cemetery known as Trunyan, where people from the nearby village of Kuban "bring" their dead to rest on top of the ground.

This unusual practice has become something of a macabre tourist attraction. Perhaps it is not really an "attraction" but a place that pricks peoples' curiosity. The local people, though, have clearly become used to tourists coming to this site and so haggling and near constant pestering for "donations" has to be dealt with.

Unusual ritual: Flimsy bamboo cages and cloths cover up the deceased. JP/Simon Gower

One can only reach this site by boat, a small fleet of which awaits visitors at the end of a wooden jetty where the stunning Mount Batur looks on.

Crossing the lake to Trunyan takes between 20 and 30 minutes and upon arrival a small huddle of men awaits any arriving boats.

The cemetery is small and there is little need or sign of maintenance. Although this is the final resting place for a number of people, a sense of respect for the dead does seem to be in short supply here.

Human skulls are lined up on stonewall shelves, which makes for a quite eerie sight to begin with but then the men here will invite visitors to pick a skull up and presumably pose for a photo; all of the visitors to this site on this occasion were quite quick to decline this invitation.

The views across the lake to Mount Batur are quite stunning and despite the annoying attendants, this is a peaceful place.

In this final resting place, the bodies of the deceased are just covered in cloth and rudimentary bamboo cages. These cages are flimsy and practically leave the body out in the open to the elements.

This creates an obvious concern; dead bodies left out in the open will of course decompose and the potential for unwelcome odors and even health concerns is real. However here, apparently, the presence of a banyan tree, described as holy, has warded off such concerns.

The huge banyan tree seems to stand as a guarding and protective figure of  this cemetery. Its leafs carpet the ground around the gravesite and presumably this is part of the way in which the tree keeps the area free from unwelcome odors and so on.

Even with the hassle and haggling from the people that wait and wander about the cemetery, this is still a peaceful place that enjoys beautiful and powerful scenery. The lake dazzles in the Balinese sunlight and Mount Batur watches somewhat broodingly in the distance.

Returning across the lake local people are travelling by boat to the cemetery, it seems to pay their respects to the dead. They smile and wave as their boat glides on by; they seem to realize what a pleasant part of the world they live in and may rest in peace in one day.

Simon Marcus Gower, Contributor, Trunyan Jakarta Post

An impressive and imposing entranceway seems to stand guard as you approach the Antonio Blanco Museum located on a hill known as Campuan, in Ubud, Bali. Passing under this archway, the entrance road rises up steeply and there is a real sense of approaching something special but also a little reclusive.

Welcoming: The museum's mansion house looms large on Campuan Hill. JP/Simon Gower

It is said the King of Ubud gave the artist Antonio Blanco this land to build his home and which today stands as something of a monument to this renowned artist.

This land in Ubud is also said to sit at the confluence of two sacred rivers and so in a variety of ways is seen as an auspicious and special place.

It soon becomes clear that this is a place of restfulness and beauty: Gardens are beautifully kept, lawns are clipped and manicured, and statues are adorned with umbrellas and flowers.

The grounds of the museum immediately reflect this space is respected and worshipped. Signs over the entrance door into the grounds state that "Through these portals pass the most beautiful people in Bali".

Antonio Blanco was an artist of Spanish parentage born in Manila, The Philippines, in 1911. It is evident from the museum that the artist enjoyed a varied and truly international life. After his high school education in Manila, he went on to study art in New York and developed skills and a liking for figurative and portrait art.

While this sentiment was to prevail throughout his artistic life, his arrival in Bali in 1952 proved central to the rest of his life. He married a Balinese woman famed for her Balinese dancing, Ni Ronji. Her portraits kept in the museum add a very personal touch to the museum, almost making the visitor feel like being at home.

Perhaps first and foremost it is the home of Antonio Blanco. His spirit seems to linger throughout the mansion at the center of the place.

The mansion is large and ornate; perhaps a little too ornate and even gaudy for many a modern person's tastes, but it is important as it acts as a gallery space for so many of Blanco's paintings.

These are displayed in often highly decorated frames, some of which were also designed by the artist.

But it is in the artist's studio to the side of the mansion that visitors get a real sense of the artist's work.

Antonio Blanco passed away in 1999 but his spirit seems to linger on in his small but intimate studio, where numerous frames and paintings either line the walls or rest, stacked up against the walls. One feels like someone needs to finish the pieces or take up the brushes and use the paints left in the center of the room.

Today, visitors to the museum are invited to sit as the artist would have and have their photograph taken posing with artist's palette and brush in hand. Although this sounds almost terribly touristy, it is done in a fun way and the attendants are warm and welcoming.

 This is, perhaps, one of the nicest aspects of this museum; although the mansion house is grandiose and imposing — practically demanding attention — there is still something of an intimacy and warmth about the place as a whole.

Antonio Blanco's son Mario also became an artist, very much in his father's tradition, and so his studio resides right next to that of his renowned father's.

Antonio Blanco was one of many foreign artists to come to Bali and feel at home. His memory is, though, kept alive more powerfully than most with this museum that combines studios and a large mansion house.

The artist may have passed away more than a decade ago now and, to some extent, the times that he represents have passed; perhaps they were more stylish and genteel times. But this museum seems to look back on them with a fondness and warmth that is both simultaneously interesting to the mind and calming to the spirit.

The Jakarta Post

KLUNGKUNG: A number of hotels and restaurants operating on Lembongan Island in Klungkung regency are suspected of dumping waste into Semarapura Beach.

Klungkung Regent Tjok Gede Agung expressed concern over these allegations.

"These acts would certainly threaten marine life," he was quoted as saying by the Bali Post daily on a visit to Nusa Penida and Lembongan islands.

Agung said he frequently pressed hotel and restaurant operators to abide by environmental regulations. - JP

Jakartapost

DENPASAR: The Bali Industry and Trade Agency has put forward plans to launch Bali-themed days in hotels in the province.

Agency head Gede Darmaja said the agency would ask hotel managers to promote Balinese culture, cuisine and fashion once a month.

"On the day, every hotel employee, for example, could wear traditional Balinese clothes and serve Balinese food," Darmaja said.

The campaign is aimed at encouraging small industries that supply local products.

"In the long run, the campaign will boost the island's economy," Darmaja said. - JP

Thousands of European tourists have cancelled their trips to Buleleng regency, North Bali, due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland that brought air traffic above Europe to a virtual standstill for almost a week.

Dewa Ketut Suardipa, chairman of the Buleleng chapter of the Hotels and Restaurants Association said the cancellations had badly affected occupancy rates at star hotels in the Lovina beach resort area, Pemuteran Beach and other tourist destinations in Buleleng regency.

Some hotels' occupancy rates dropped from 90 percent to 15 percent, Suardipa said. "Hotels with European markets really suffered heavy blows," he said.

Many hotels in Buleleng receive a large proportion of their guests from European destinations. Buleleng regency played a significant roles during the Dutch colonial period.

During that time, Singaraja was the island's largest port. Many European tourists come to the regency to visit the former Dutch landmarks.

Ayu Ardini, leisure manager of Puri Bagus at the Lovina Beach Resort Hotel, said the hotel's main market was European tourists.

"Our average occupancy rates are usually between 50 and 60 percent, but the Iceland's volcanic eruption has drastically dragged down our rates to only 15 percent in April,"  Ardani said.

However, many of the tourists who cancelled their trips have rescheduled to visit Lovina next year, he said.

Suardipa said he expected the cancellation to only temporarily effect tourism to the area. "Some hotels like Matahari Beach and Damai Hotel have almost 90 percent occupancy rates."

Non-star hotels have remained lucrative despite global travel problems. "We have numerous backpacking holiday makers staying at small hotels and villas in Lovina."

Suardipa said the political conflict in Thailand had not impacted tourism in Buleleng.

"Some tourists might have swapped their destination from Thailand to Bali, but we have felt no significant impact," he said.

Alit Kartarahardja, The Jakarta Post, Singaraja/North Bali

BADUNG: Badung regency said it plans to revive its hotel and restaurant association, following a five-year absence.

Perry Markus, the secretary of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said Badung was a key tourist destination with hundreds of rated hotels, luxury restaurants and other tourist facilities.

PHRI's Badung branch is important to providing a forum for the regency's tourist industry, he added.

"Badung is undergoing rapid tourist development but many key people in the industry remain unaware of existing regulations, market shares and the real supply and demand of facilities," Perry said. - JP

thejakartapost.com

BADUNG: Badung regency got a new capital on Thursday after Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi officially inaugurated the regency's sprawling new administrative center and named it Mangupura. The center will serve as the regency's new capital city.

The administrative center covers 46.6 hectares and cost Rp 470 billion to build. Its development was marred by controversy over the high cost as well as the fact that it was built on land designated as the regency's green belt.

"I thought I was going to inaugurate a small building. It turns out that the size *of the administration center* is 10 times the average size of other regency administration centers in Indonesia," the minister said.

However, he said, the owners of the administration center were the people of Badung as the regent only borrows it from the people during his tenure.

"Give the public the best service," he stressed.

Badung is one of the wealthiest regions in Bali with local revenue of Rp 858 billion and an annual budget of Rp. 1.3 trillion in 2010. - JP

thejakartapost.com

UBUD: Alila Manggis in East Bali and Alila Ubud in Gianyar received the ASEAN Green Hotel Award for their commitment to supporting responsible tourism.

The ASEAN Green Hotel Award is one of six ASEAN Tourism Standards considered essential for supporting ASEAN to become a world-class destination.

The award is presented to hotels that measure up to 11 environmental and energy conservation criteria.

Among the criteria are environmental policies and actions for hotel operation, use of green and local products, collaboration with the local community on environmental protection, the hotel's steps to providing staff training programs on environmental management, as well as efficient management of water, energy, waste, air quality and noise pollution.

Organizers of the award said Alila Manggis and Alila Ubud fully embraced Alila's philosophy that commerce, conservation and community could and should be integrated. - JP

http://www.thejakartapost.com

DENPASAR: Bali Hindu Center will be built on a 2-hectare plot near the Ganges River to allow visitors to learn more about the island's culture and religion.

Indra Udayana from Ashram Gandhi Puri said the center would serve as a cultural and religious bridge connecting Balinese and Indian people. The Ganges is considered a sacred river in Hinduism.

"Every year, millions of people visit the site for spiritual enlightenment," Udayana said.

"Therefore, it would be quite strategic to introduce Balinese culture to fellow Hindus from around the world," he said.

The development of the center was an initiative by Hindu leaders such as Pedanda (High Priest) Made Gunung, Ibu Gedong Bagoes Oka and former  Bali governors Ida Bagus Mantra and Dewa Made Beratha. — JP

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar