Indulging in a bygone era in an Ubud

Indulging in a bygone era in an Ubud

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne

It is not an exaggeration to say that for such a small island,
Bali has an amazing capacity to cater to all kinds of holiday-
makers, from backpackers to those seeking a more exclusive kind
of accommodation, who do not mind paying for what they really
want.

Generally speaking, when thinking of a more expensive
accommodation, we tend to think of a five-star hotel with an
excellent international rating and some local flavor and
friendliness thrown in.

It is time, however, we modified this mind set. The era of
boutique hotels has dawned for some time in Bali. The attraction
of these hotels lies in their individual styles, in terms of
physical appearance as well as more subtle ambience.

And a boutique hotel, to do it justice, has to be experienced
and savored, not merely treated as a place to sleep, have a quick
breakfast and shower, and leave your wet towels behind.

Now imagine you are visiting Bali, and you have made an
impromptu booking for Tugu Hotel, on the southwest coast of
Canggu.

At the airport you will be met by a driver holding an ornate
plaque bearing the logo of the hotel and your name beneath it in
gold lettering. So far it is not much above your expectations. In
the car you are served with a basket of fruit and drinking water,
and fragrant towels to wipe your hands on after the snack. The
half-hour drive from the airport is pleasant as you see open
space as well as houses and human activities before you reach the
village of Canggu.

When you arrive you may be struck by the understated
appearance of the establishment from outside, as there are no
signs indicating that you are entering the driveway of an hotel.
The only immediate tell-tale is the warm welcome you receive as
soon as you step out of the vehicle.

Then as you are ushered into the house -- for it looks, for
all intents and purposes, like a grand house -- along a dark and
polished wooden bridge, you are flanked by glass-fronted rooms
through which you can see furniture and artifacts from past
centuries, not only attributable to various parts of Indonesia,
but also representing the country's different cultures.

At the end of that long entrance bridge, you come face to face
with a vast ceremonial platform adorned with wooden carvings of
mythological giant guardians mounted on crossbeams, and you
cannot help looking up at the high peaked roof supported by
ornate columns.

You are actually in the Wantilan Agung, a replica of a grand
ceremonial house which, when used in a real ceremony, would
command awe in everyone present. It has no rear walls, and if you
look out, you will see a beautiful garden, and behind a discreet
brick fence, the blue ocean.

And if you then turn around, you will see in locked display
cabinets, a stunning collection of antique artifacts from all
over Indonesia. When you have taken in all the surrounding nooks
and coves, furnished with period furniture and pastel colored
scatter cushions on the floor, you will notice that the large
teak table on the left of the entrance is actually the reception
desk.

If you do not feel like sitting at the table facing the
receptionist, because by this time you may actually feel you are
not in a conventional hotel and do not want to behave like you
are in one, you can choose to sit at one of the settees
surrounding the ceremonial platform, and your hosts will ask you
to choose your welcome drink, and bring all the paperwork to you
with a smile. And only when you are ready will you be led to your
suite, which is another realm of experience.

You are immediately addressed by your name by the staff. Apart
from the fact that they are mostly young and alert, and have all
their faculties working to full capacity, they seem to have been
conditioned to regard all the guests as house guests. And with
only 22 suites this may be more achievable than in say, a 150-
room hotel.

In fact, on the way to your suite, if you ask the staff member
accompanying you, the current occupancy rate of the hotel, you
will be given the exact number with the breakdown in their
countries of origin.

Try the gardener the following morning; ask him how many
guests are expected that day or how many are leaving, you will
similarly receive a definite answer, presumably correct.

Even if you have booked one of the least expensive suites,
Rejang (upstairs with a private spa and massage area, and ocean
views) or Dedari (downstairs with a private plunge pool), it is
still a complete indulgence which makes you wonder what you have
done to deserve it. Of course the trick is to suppress any sense
of guilt and release the deep, hidden suspicion that you are
actually a prince or a princess in the previous life, and are now
relocating into your natural station, albeit only briefly.

All the suites are self-contained living quarters, with
varying degrees of sumptuousness and indulgence, surrounded by
clear and limpid lotus ponds inhabited by real fish. You could
sit on the veranda of your own suite just enjoying these
surroundings all day if you are an immobile type, because you
could ask for your breakfast, lunch, high tea, and dinner brought
to you.

If you are a restless type who has to move around to feel
alive, you are free to flutter around the establishment, enjoying
a massage and a spa at the "Bale Nglamun dan Leha-leha" (Hut for
Daydreaming and Relaxation), sitting in one of the banquet rooms,
having your breakfast at the seaside, your lunch sitting in lotus
position or reclining like a Roman royal on one of the scatter
cushions, your dinner in one of the secluded rooms around the
edges of the Wantilan Agung, visiting the various rooms which
house priceless artifacts from throughout the region, or going
for a jaunt to Kuta and Seminyak.

By the time you have spent three days here, you will have your
sense of guilt massaged away. I have a suspicion that all the
staff have been trained in psychology, because irrespective of
time and the type of requests you may have, there is never a
trace of obsequiousness in their reactions, as if what you want
then is very normal; people often disguise their resentment with
obsequiousness.

The good news in terms of costs is that the suites are
spacious enough to accommodate up to three people without them
having to bump into one another every hour, unless intended.
Split two or three ways, you can afford to have an extended
indulgence, time permitting, without an early rude awakening of a
depleted bank account.

And where else to do this but in beautiful Bali?