In Reply to: Sorry, but I disagree posted by merrilau on Thursday, 15. February 2007 at 22:27 Bali Time:
All I said was that my experience was that, as wonderful as the hotel is, it was just too quiet and isolated for me as a solo traveler. If you're seeking isolation and total peace and quiet then it's perfect. If you want to be able to easily get out and explore - particularly at night, I would think somewhere a bit closer to the main street is a better idea. If you want to interact with other guests, try a different hotel.
Yes, I did do some level of research, but we're talking about 2 years ago so I don't remember where or how much research I did. What I did find though, was that it was a lot further away from things than I had expected. The "maps" I'd seen were typical of Bali mud-maps. They were rough ideas of where the hotel sits in relation to everything else. They also showed it to be a bit closer to the main drag than it actually was. I'm sure I even read someone's post saying it was a "pretty easy walk" to the monkey forest and the main road. TS wasn't actually my first choice of Ubud hotels. I can't remember now which one was, but it was booked out - though much closer to town.
Like I said, lovely hotel but way way too quiet for me when I was on my own. I have no problems traveling solo and have done it 3 times now (twice in Bali and once through the USA). I just found that the other guests at the hotel kept to themselves. In fact I didn't encounter a single other english speaking guest while I was there. I had the same thing in the restaurants where I ate around the hotel - all non-english speakers (french, japanese etc). So socialising wasn't really possible either.
I had been sort of counting on there being a bar/pub/restaurant that I could hang out at of an evening and have a beer and chat with others, but that didn't happen.
The only other suggestion I'd make is to skip the room I stayed in - Room 17 deluxe room (ground floor). Really beautiful room and great view from the patio/verandah, but the path to the new rooms runs right across the front, so there's no peace or privacy. Also, room service breakfast took over an hour to arrive, so get in early or you could be waiting a while.