I went for a site visit at Bulgari Bali and the contrast between my experience there and any hotel in Bali (nevermind a 'luxury hotel') was stark. I don't think I've written about it on FlyerTalk before, but basically, even with a meeting with the marketing team arranged well beforehand, this is what happened. This was many, many years ago, but:
- Reception staff were not at all welcoming. I will stop short of saying they were 'rude', but in the hospitality industry (that too, 'luxury') and particularly within the context of the incredibly warm and welcoming Balinese community, their actions were certainly rude. I will mention at this point that none of the three reception staff were actually Balinese. Basically, we were never offered a seat (we kept standing to see how long it would take them), they somewhat abruptly asked why we're here, no drinks/fresh towel offered despite the heat and humidity. The whole ordeal between arrival and finally getting someone to follow up on why I'm actually here took a good 15 minutes, all of which were spent standing.
- Marketing staff completely forgot about their scheduled meeting and couldn't show me around as the reps were in a day long meeting (and/or the rep wasn't on site. Not a clue - that was the excuse I was given anyway)
- The three reception staff, all idly sitting there and clearly not very busy, instead of getting an appropriate rep or the General Manager or someone to show me around the hotel, asked the buggy driver to show me around. Bless him though - he was Balinese, and the most welcoming staff I met at the resort. A very nice guy, clearly trying his best. The whole tour lasted all of 15 minutes unfortunately.
- There were several strands of toilet tissue paper strewn on the floor near (outside) the bathroom by the lobby
- Maintenance was pretty poor in some places with bits of the floor coming off.
- Personal opinion of course, but the whole place seemed completely soulless and dead and somewhat eerie. Which isn't to say it was empty - the main pool was quite crowded for a luxury hotel. Bulgari Bali just feels 'off'. Perhaps it's a bit of a biased opinion due to what went on prior - hard to say.
- Weirdest/most bizarre 'bye' of all time. We just....left following the buggy driver dropping us off again at the lobby. No one to see us off, no thank you for coming etc. Reception staff were enjoying some jokes among themselves.

Contrast with a walk to InterContinental Bali - perhaps not a 'proper' luxury hotel:
- We walked there unannounced as we were staying at Four Seasons, after dinner. We arrived at the lobby a bit confused and rather sweaty from the hot, humid walk. We mentioned we aren't from the hotel - we were just walking, unannounced, from a heavy dinner and came across the resort. We were immediately asked to take a seat, cool off, and some welcoming drinks and fresh, cold towels were brought out. Someone came over and asked how they can help. I told them I stayed at this resort many, many years ago when I was a kid (back in about 1998 or so). They said they were happy to welcome me back after many years, and I asked if I could walk around the property. They sent someone to show me around the property and also show me the rooms and ask about any differences since my stay but I told them I was rather young to remember fully.