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Old Sep 10, 2022 | 2:13 am
  #299  
TOMFORD
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Originally Posted by clubeurope
Very sad to hear of your experience, especially on the comparison with WA BKK; despite that, I hope you otherwise had a relatively pleasant stay in Bali

Kila has actually been receiving some soft renovations, mainly with the installation of the automatic TOTO toilets and new Bang and Olufsen speakers in each suite, along with an iPad (although I did prefer the old Bose/iPod setup). As I understand, they won't be doing a major renovation/redesign (and personally, I personally hope a redesign does not occur), instead, the maintenance team very diligently touches up any part of the suite that has been subject to wear and tear. Alas, some minor hiccups do happen from time to time concerning the hardware of the suite (as I observed during my last stay).

The provision of those local pods, as another user has mentioned, is traced to Aman's inclination to stay local as much as possible, of which Nespresso pods, by design, are not.
Finally, the 21% tax and service charge is a standard fee in most if not all Indonesian hotels, of which the 11% is a government-sanctioned tax.

I agree with FlyerEC that the Nusa Dua Villas are in excellent shape in no small part due to Michel B. During my last stay, Kila was still managed by Ernst L, who was an outstanding GM, although I am concerned to hear about the current situation.

Design aside, the rooms were showing signs of age - gaps in the sliding window pane sealing, rough edges around the cabinets/doors/furniture, window screens getting stuck, flimsy knobs for shower, metal clips on hangers being entirely rusty, etc. Not really design flaws, but just wear and tear from use/age.

I like the current GM. He came from Aman Kyoto. My TA has a good relationship with him too. I don't think staff's deficiencies can be attributed entirely to the GM. Maybe the bar in Bali is just set very low, that's why everyone raves about Kila. Or maybe TAs just get a bigger commission from Aman because of its higher price so they all push the brand.
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