In Reply to: bank transfer vs credit card payment posted by ruthrat on Monday, 17. October 2005 at 17:45 Bali Time:
Actually, this is the one and only reason we are not staying for a couple of nights at Tegal Sari this coming trip at Christmas/New Year. Although we are completely happy in the place we stay, we are always willing to try somewhere new, so thought we'd give it a go based on so many good reports. They were completely inflexible about this prepayment policy, and would not accept a credit card number and exp. date without charging anything to it. This was also more than 6 months in advance of the stay. Personally, I am not comfortable paying for a hotel stay I haven't even checked in for yet, and won't even be going there for 6 months. It is not common practice, I can assure you. In all of the other inquiries we made (maybe 40 places in total for Bali) not one other place required prepayment.
There are very, very few places anywhere in Asia that have ever asked us to even pay a partial deposit, never mind pay in full. We paid a deposit for two places we stayed, and that deposit was the equivalent of a one night room charge. We've never been asked to pay in full when booking directly with the hotel. We don't use booking services either, partly because you often need to pre-pay, and partly because in my experience, we've gotten better rates directly with the hotel.
All that said, I've heard no complaints about Tegal Sari. A bank transfer isn't an inexpensive thing...you'd have to check with your bank as fees vary, but I'd count on the transfer fee being in excess of $20.00 US.
It seems most people who post on this board prepay accommodation more often than not, but it's not something I'm comfortable with. What if the room is not what you expected and you want to check out early? What if you are looking around and find somewhere you prefer and want to move? When they've already got your money for the whole stay, your options become very limited. If I were you, I'd try to negotiate with them about having your card as a guarantee but not paying anything...that is standard practice after all. I was unsuccessful, but you may have better luck.
There are also plenty of lovely hotels in the Ubud area...Tegal Sari isn't the only place in that price range, so if you wanted, you could book elsewhere.