flying MD

Greetings from the Royal Villa (#214) at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay!

I was told that IC Bali had to give up their lounge (airport management has other plans for this area). No lounge, no immigration service.

Dina moved to Atlantis the Palm Dubai 3 years ago, but has been gone from there as well for a while (the same goes for the ex-GM of IC Bali who brought her there). Norbert Vas took over for one year. Ryan South has been there for two years now.

I can not justify paying for what they are asking for their "old" Presidential Villa (Green Villa) and not so pretty new villa, which replaced the ex-Red Villa next to the Club pool. The place is overcrowded, all beach wooden umbrellas are taken by 8am (they do not execute removing left items from "taken" chair lounges if you are gone for more than 60 minutes).

The Club Lounge is fine, but should not be used as a substitute for a dinner. Cocktails/snacks are fine, but you really want to have a full dinner.

The Four Seasons (stayed 5 times at Sayan and 4 times at JB) is my new home and I totally love it! They are taking such a good care of me. Amazing!

stimpy

IME Ambassador services always does the right thing. It sounds like you have documented proof that you were wronged so I would definitely give them a call.

Not sure I would pay $124 for this service alone. The IC is a very short drive from the airport so a taxi is going to be cheap.

IC6A

A hotel is a hotel regardless where it is. A room is a room regardless how much you pay for that. Compare with two hotels is comparing two hotels not orange and apples...lol

Meet and greet is one very important element in the Club offer. The rest of Club offer is not worth much without the meet and greet. And after a carefully what you called maths and economics, my conclusion is you can do much better to stay in JW Marriott Phuket even they do not have a Club...I am not paying for that any way. But instead I can use the saved USD$200 per night to spend in expensive restaurant for nice dinners.

Last time I was in Bali, I had a chat with a pool attendant. He told me that his salary is USD$120 plus any other shared service charge pool. And I was told that in the Holiday Inn the attendant there only paid USD$100 per month. (I might be wrong with wrong exchange figures in my head in that time as I had few drinks)

The point is Bali should not be more expensive than Thailand. Without Australian there Bali would be a ghost island. If you like to be ripped off in Bali by paying Asutralian price in one third world country you are welcome.

morepointsplease

So I replied to the letter I had from the IC Bali Club re the end of the arrival service. I included the terms of my original booking which did clearly state the inclusion of this service as part of the rate, and asked if they were likely to offer any replacement benefit or even cover the use of the Bali Concierge service still being used.

Here is the response I got from Michael (who has so far all through our dealings been quite consistently following the rules in a polite but not massively helpful way)

Thank you for your email. We understand your situation and we are certainly sorry for what has happened.

This inability to extend the service is out of our authority as new Government regulation is put in place. As you are aware this service is a part of Club InterContinental Privilege's where it is not offered or commercialized to other guest for any cost they would pay.
Having said this, we wouldn't replace or compensate this with any refund or other compensation.

Please do accept our sincere sorry on the situation which is completely beyond our control.

Please do feel free to contact me should I can be of any further assistance for you.

Warm Regards,

Michael
Reservation Department

Austman

Yes - that's what I got too (more or less). But clearly the service still is going by other operators - I saw it last week.


"We are pleased to inform you that the abolishment of the Club Airport Lounge and the immigration assistance is beyond our control as this is the new regulation from the Indonesian Government at Bali-Ngurah Rai Airport.

We are sorry that we are unable to offer you any compensation."

flying MD

I think you should not accept it. Have them handle this by another Arrival Service and pay for it. They can do that, right?

People at IC Bali (the Balinese working at the hotel) are very nice and friendly. Some of them became my friends over the years and I frequently invite them for lunch/dinner. I can not say the same about the current management. They are not very customer friendly and quite indifferent. When Dina was there it was different.

Contact GM to resolve this issue to your satisfaction.

MD

wpyeh

was thinking about a trip to IC Bali in May, seems to me I need to think twice for hotel choice without the airport service.

hoggig

I'm a little confused by the importance people are placing on the airport transfer service.
We are arriving on July 21st and of course the transfer was a nice bonus but in all reality is it going to affect our stay? I doubt it, 1 hr out of 2 weeks isn't going to break the deal.

Chinatrvl

Although I'm going to get flamed for saying that
You'll be perfectly fine without assistance. Apparently, you can have bad luck when many int'l flights are arriving at the same time in DPS. Also consider that 99 % of all tourists manage to immigrate in DPS without assistance.

However, my experience is that DPS is a breeze compared to SVO Moscow, Macau Ferry Terminal, SYD, KUL LCCT, Atlanta, JFK, etc.......
But, take my opinion with caution, as others' (the majority's?) and yourMMV...

flying MD

It is not about the assistance. It is about listing a benefit in the rate which is not provided.

hoggig

I agree, in terms of experiences it can't be as bad as KUL LCCT or Langkawi Ferry Terminal. I'm sure after 20hrs travelling it would have made the clearing of immigration more tollerable but on the other hand I always thought the immigration assistance was a security liabillity.
Now, had I paid extra just for the service then I would expect a refund but without seeing the breakdown of hotel overheads/margins it'd be hard to say if it's billed as part of the room rate.

Chinatrvl

Regarding RATE

Regarding ASSISTANCE
Apparently, others had less luck with immigration in DPS.

I stand by my words, if I can survive Macau Ferry or KUL LCCT, then DPS is a walk in the park. Regarding the rate description, compensation should be sought thru Amb Services. Let's not continue with this useless discussion, unless there's an update from the service center/ hotel regarding the rate description change.
I also have it in the room description for the upcoming easter stay, and will mention it at the club, but not fight for anything.

hoggig's question was regarding assistance, not regarding rate.

HLS2002

disregard

demue

Hmm so did I get it right that now there is not even a car transfer any longer when you book a club room? I mean yes it is only 50K Rupiah after arrival and maybe 20-25K so just wondering? I think if you charge 360 USD a night you can still at least offer a car service if you know the arrival flight & time. Even if it means a guy being stationed at the airport with a sign waiting. Sorry that or you lower your rate. Overall that's just cheap.

I have been torn anyway if it is worth a 150USD premium over a Classic room for a Club room to get a suite upgrade (using a Bogo). I like the breakfast options and for now I'm confirmed in a Balinese Suite which I hope will change to something even better as they are too far away from the beach for my taste.

I maybe better off value wise with Classic and upgrade to Singaraja Duplex Suite. Hmm thoughts, thoughts.

morepointsplease

no i think you still get the car, there would be no excuse for that as you say..

if you are confirmed in Balinese suite (can you see this on your reservation? Mine has just gone 'not viewable online' which I'm hoping is a good sign but not sure about that if you know what you have..), and you downgraded to classic, I wonder what that will do to your upgrade..