Dirty business

Dirty business

My wife and I are spending a two-week holiday in Bali. On Feb. 15 we got, on the road, a written invitation to visit a new residence, the Risata Club in Kuta. Several gifts were promised, for example free jeep hire which interested us.

We visited this residence. At the hotel reception, a Balinese girl told us they were conducting a promotion because the hotel had been taken over by a new company. She asked whether we had 90 minutes to have a look. We said yes and a young British man was introduced to us. He involved us in a small conversation. Instead of showing us the residence, he tried to sell us a contract for a fictional holiday sharing system. We realized that a group of European hustlers abused the hotel facilities to do their dirty business.

Even though we know this type of scam from Europe, the following facts astonished us:

* A group of con artists use a not too small hotel complex as if it were their own.

* They invite a lot of tourists, show them the hotel, its rooms, use the facilities, and the hotel management seems to tolerate this activity. They have even installed a "reception" of their own.

In my opinion, such people put a shadow on the beautiful island of Bali. I would like to see that behavior stopped!

HANS PETER MULLER

Kuta, Bali