In Reply to: Staff posted by hodgeishot on Thursday, 15. April 2010 at 19:48 Bali Time:
the stop sell is probably only from the Creative Holidays, who are a wholesaler and whose products you can buy at nearly any travel agency. you will find that most other wholesalers are still selling the resort.
people who are telling you that the 'new' owner is the 'godfather' of Bali are being a bit silly and over dramatic i think. the owner is an astute businessman who knows exactly what he is doing in this case. he has owned the resort for many years and has recently taken over the management of the resort.
many staff in any given hotel will have you know that they are not being paid 'properly' but the fact is that they usually are being paid as they should by law. the service charge that is added on to your bill goes to the staff usually on the same day they get paid, and this can double their salary. and remember that staff on the front line, such as bar/waiting staff and housekeeping get good tips too. its the sympathy line and it works very well in their favour most of the time.
and remember that most people here who do you 'favours' for no commission are usually telling porkies. there's no such thing as a free lunch. nobody here does anything for free (OK...maybe one or two people, but they are in a definite minority).
another thing to remember is that many of the greediest people are the westerners living here, so dont let anyone fool you just because they are australian! (**i am not necessarily saying that your friends Alison and Kadek are dodgy - merely that there are few people here who will do anything for no return)