Well, like I had said originally, I think that it is a matter of personal tastes and preferences, and I think that FS Sayan, more than perhaps any other hotel in Bali, provokes strong feelings in this regard one way or the other. My own feeling is that it is does not mix very harmoniously into its surroundings, but rather appears as if a flying saucer has landed in the rice paddies, and this is what I mean by garish (though perhaps brash or unsubtle are more precise words). This is an unquestionably dramatic effect, but whether one likes it or not is another story. I am afraid that as for myself, it seems to me a foreign and unatural element, rather than a natural extension of the landscape.

My own preference is for a more traditionally Balinese design scheme, though I don't mean to suggest that this is the only reasonable viewpoint. For us, Bali is quite a distance away, and travelling all the way there is part of a conscious decision to be amongst the unique atmosphere of Bali, rather than any other beautiful place. I think that FS has captured this very sucessfully at Jimbaran Bay, but I feel that at FS Sayan this element is missing and one feels as if it could be located in many other places.

Incidentally, the Village of Sayan was rather up in arms about the design when the hotel was being built, and there is still some lingering hostility amongst the locals (including resentment as to the fact that the hotel was built within, rather than above, the river gorge that the Balinese hold sacred). At this point though, I think most everybody is grateful for the jobs it provides. By the way, if you are staying in Sayan (and even if you don't), you might enjoy reading "A House in Bali" by Colin McPhee, who was amongst the first western composers to "discover" gamelan music, and who built a house in the Village of Sayan between the wars, and wrote about his experiences in Sayan and Bali generally.