In Reply to: questions re sofitel ??? posted by mandysz on Tuesday, 6. May 2008 at 08:36 Bali Time:
Mandysz we were upgraded from a Deluxe to a Superior. It is room 326. Ask to see that room and look at the toilet. It is disgusting and I have taken a couple of photos of it.There is a rectal wash gadget attached to the toilet but it did not work.The marble in the bathroom is all stained and unkempt.When we arrived I ran the tap in the basin and the water was black...I mean black and full of grit. After a minute I went into the corridor and called a room boy. He said wait 5 minutes and we did so. The water then cleared. The fridge had obviously not been defrosted for some time and the ice buildup would be at least 2 inches thick. The contents were short compared to the bar list. I have been caught like this previously and so made an immediate complaint. The fridge was replaced and contents supposedly corrected but still did not match the list. The beds were comfortable and the airconditioner worked OK. There was black mould in the shower recess but there were good quality toiletries such as soaps, conditioners, shampoos etc. House cleaning was below par for a place rated at this level. Breakfast was very, very good and easily the best of the three hotels visited this time. It was interesting whilst eating breakfast to see the antics of the giant lizard type monitors. A fixed meal at the Japanese in house restaurant was expensive at 900,000 rupiah for two plus wine. Meals at the restaurant close to the beach were of quite good quality and from memory I think a good Australian Porterhouse steak, falsely called a rib fillet was about 8AUD. The chef , when questioned about the type of steak and being praised for the meal, admitted they had run out of rib fillet.
The hotel provides transport from the hotel to Kuta square by mini van and it takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It departs at 9.30, 10.30, 11.30, 2.30, 3.30 and 4.30 and returns upon arrival at the top of the hour.
The hotel is situated almost at the end of a long road and by foot there as very little if any close shopping, so the usual walk out, shop a bit, back to the hotel to cool off then out again is not a real proposition.
I forgot to mention in JBR that we went to Rumours restaurant by cab and enjoyed our meal.
We also are Accor members and I wonder why, as my experiences with hotels under this banner have caused anxiety. Someone has suggested that we are "Whingers" and all I can say to that is go yourselves and check out these premises yourself. I am not for one moment suggesting that Sofitel is terrible but simply that it purports to be something above itself.
Finally the pool is about 150 metres away from our room which is really too far.
Regards Stan the Melbourne man