Land of the 5-Star Resort?

Mar 1st, 2009, in IM Posts, Opinion, Travel, by Chris

View the original article here.

11 Comments on “Land of the 5-Star Resort?”

boy Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:25 am
sounds very commercial, although to certain extent the list is true.

I read another 1000-places book in Gramedia, it adds more places:

1. Toba Lake
2. Bromo Mountain
3. Raja Ampat
4. Bunaken
hary Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I have stayed at the Amanjiwa and the Four Season’s. Having said that, I have also stayed at the excellent Ministry of Coffee for USD 40 in Jogja and the brilliant Kembali Villas (USD 25) in Amed, Bali.

The luxury places are quite an attraction in themselves. The real question is what the traveler wants from his holiday hotel. Needless to say, I spend most of the 24 hours in the luxury Hotel when I am splurging. My motivation is to enjoy a slice of heaven and remind myself why I work so hard when I am not on holiday.

I have also stayed at the Source in Bali. It has 24 villas and was fully booked when I was there. Again, supply flourishes when there is a demand. Clearly, there is a steady demand for high end accomodation.

Do note that guests at these resorts actually do visit places around them, albeit in a Lexus SUV!!!

To add to her list, I would venture
1. Komodo/ Rinca for the dragons
2. Sunrise at Bromo
3. A Kecak performance by moonlight at Tanah Lot
4. Diving at the Gili Islands to see the Manta Rays
5. The Ramayana Ballet at Borobodur
6. the Hurau Valley outside Bukit Tinggi.

I agree that Hotels have no place on such a list. Perhaps the book was sponsored, in part, by the aman resort group. Terlalu obvious deh…
ET Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hiking/bike-riding in Central Bali

This could be an experience by itself, particularly if you enjoy the paving of once pristine rice-fields to become parking-lots for needless restaurants, hotels and decrepit shops to cater for the tourist cattle. Go and have a look at the Ceking terraces in Tegalalang and come back to tell me that you were not disgusted.
Mike Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Lists like these are very subjective and are just the author’s point of view. If you have the money, an expensive hotel can be an attraction in itself.

I have only flipped through the book, but I think it is more for arm chair tourists. And I don’t think anyone can help adding up how many places you have been to.
timdog Says:
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Kinda worth coming back for… maybe… hey, it’s an idle moment, I’m having a cup of tea, so what the hell!

These list books are stupendously vacuous and banal. There is an absolute glut of them at the moment (501 Places, 1000 places, 1001 places, 100 cities, 500 adventures blah blah blah)…
Most of them seem to have been put together in offices by people who haven’t actually been to the places in question, using wikipedia and other guidebooks (possibly also written by people who haven’t been there) for research…

They are relatively quick and easy for publishers to put out; they are designed as birthday and christmas gifts, and doubtless very few of their readers will ever go to any of the places involved…

BUT – this has to be one of the worst examples, and given the prominance of HOTELS for f%&%sake, it’s hard not to assume that money has changed hands, that inclusion in this book has been bought, which makes it somewhat objectionable…

On the rest of the list – “must see lists” are not the way to approach travel to a foreign country.
Someone who spends 12 hours in Soekarno-Hatta Airport, with their eyes open and their senses switched on will probably get a richer, more valuable cultural experience than someone who trots around around Indonesia frantically ticking off “must sees” from their 1001 places to see before you die list…

And though pure indulgent selfishness usually steers me well clear of environmentalist hand-wringing over airmiles and carbon emissions, travelling to the other side of the world just to see a frickin’ HOTEL does seem kind of obscene to me…
ET Says:
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Someone who spends 12 hours in Soekarno-Hatta Airport, with their eyes open and their senses switched on will probably get a richer, more valuable cultural experience …

Especially on a Friday afternoon when the gates are magically turned into prayer rooms and all kafirs are requested to go and wait elsewhere.
Lairedion Says:
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 pm
On the rest of the list – “must see lists” are not the way to approach travel to a foreign country.

So what is the right way? I wouldn’t recommend spending 12 hrs. at Cengkareng to anybody.
Burung Koel Says:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:08 am
It is getting harder and harder to find the ‘right way’. Either the travel guide writers are in the pocket of luxury hotels (as in this case) or they are culturally insensitive party animals looking to hook up with others of like mind (anything produced by Lonely Planet in the last 15 years). Personally, I prefer to get my travel information more leisurely and with greater intelligence. Books on Indonesia by writers like Simon Winchester (Krakatoa), Giles Milton (Nathaniel’s Nutmeg), Nigel Barley (Not a Hazardous Sport) are a pleasure. Especially if you are stuck in Cenkareng for 12 hours! Like him or loathe him, I also read everything by Paul Theroux. He is someone who can deliver the essence of a place in a few deceptively simple paragraphs.

/Book Review Section of IM
Rob Says:
March 6th, 2009 at 12:03 am
If I had the time, or the inclination to do so, I am sure that I could come up with a book titled “1001 things to see and do in Indonesia before you kick the bucket!”

My very own bucket list…
schmerly Says:
March 6th, 2009 at 10:48 am
So I assume the kicking of the bucket is the last “1″ on the list?
Burung Koel Says:
March 8th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Or perhaps “Cremation – Balinese style”?