In Reply to: Alum Kul Kul posted by traveller on Tuesday, 18. July 2006 at 17:23 Bali Time:
Hi Traveller, you probably wouldnt expect the sort of reaction from your question.
I will try my best to communicate(English is my second language, I am Asian and my grand father was from China but I am sure I have equal amount of sense & money and hopefully manners too)
We stayed at Alam KulKul in June & are very happy with it. We went there with an open mind & expectation- holidays, to relax, bringing some business to Bali in a small way, proximity to good restaurants & beach, good location, got a good price for a reasonable villa with a plunge pool and this is not 4 Seasons Jimbaran.
Alam KulKul is a 4-star hotel. (no amount of kuta sand can change that) I recall their previous version of web site indicated that but the current version does not. Different hotels catagorise the rooms differently. Live and let live. AKK shows all the room types with plans & prices in the web site. They are very clear. You may wish to check the plan & picture of the room type that you are going to book/have booked to set the expectation of product/price ratio right. We managed to get an accurate feel of the villa from the web. We did bargain for the villa & got a good deal:)
If you have booked & happen to not like the look of the room/villa in the web, may be u call the manager and bargain. This is Bali and you can bargain. Better act than feel unhappy after that or let it ruin your holidays or feelings.
The hotel entry is well designed with clever use of a small site. The design detailing is commendable without resorting to use of expensive material or ornate references. The club room is well furnished with an acceptable variety & amount of food & drink. It is clean, comfortable and the air-con is working normally. It is only accessible to the villa guests. You are allowed to use the club room even after checking out and while waiting to catch a night flight.
We had complimentary cheese, biscuit & fruits in the room. The minibar size is quite similar to other hotels'. Nothing to shout or complaint about. Just a functional piece of equipment hidden behind cabinet. I was grateful I had that for the cold water. I dont use the drink from the minibar so cant tell you if they are expensive. I am sure there are other regular minibar users and can be more helpful here.
The bathroom is longish & quite spacious, with a semi outdoor sunken bath with a rain shower above. The abundance of natural light gives a good feeling. I guess all villas should have this feel.
I have no problem watching TV. The size is acceptable (abt 21 in or more?). I was just recovering from a minor illness but my eye sight did not fail me and I was able to enjoy the world cup. BTW, if it is SIZE in TV that anyone feels is a paramount criteria, pl check out Sheraton Laguna. The TV is flat screen (abt 42 in) ideal for all purpose, entertainment, recuperating or hibernating. We stayed there last month too. But if absolute quietness is needed 24HR for say recuperating, then must stay clear of the renovation areas.
The breakfast is good (though not exeptional). The juice, mee goreng & ommlette are tasty and that is good breakfast for me.
The location is good, quiet and near to the restaurants in Seminyak. The beach across the road is not crowded and the security is ever helpful with the trafic.
The area outside (being the end of Jaln Pantai)can be perceived as dark at night but really it is of no different from walking from say sheraton laguna to nusa dua galleria at night. If you feel uncomfortable, just take a cab and you will make 1 more cabby happy & help him to put food on the family table .
The spa is within the hotel and may be more expensive than outside. Then again so is the price for a can of coke when you compare inside & outside hotel. I guess it is there, and convenient & you decide if you want to use it. The pools are above average but decent enough to relax. I didnot see many children in the hotel or a big packaged tour group. The guests I saw were from many cuountries (saw people of dark skin, light skin, yellow skin that is me, etc) quite representational of the world we live in nowadays. They all look level headed to me.
Most importantly, the staff is friendly and they are nice people. I wish that they are able to keep their job in this difficult/demanding tourist market with continious visitors to their hotel.
That was my first stay at AKK and enjoyed it (guess the clear expectation with reference to the price paid, helps too)
Hope it helps.....
enjoy your holidays.....