I’ve written before about how I think many travel brands could be doing a better job creatively generating revenue. With so many companies having liquidity issues, I don’t understand why we’re not seeing more travel brands incentivizing paying now for travel at a later date.
Along those lines, I think it’s worth highlighting an incredible promotion at the Alila Ubud in Bali. Alila is part of World of Hyatt, and this is a property I’ve been wanting to check out.
Alila Ubud is offering rates of 2,500,000IDR (~162USD), as follows:
- Book by May 8, 2020, and stay by December 22, 2020 (pre-payment is required, but you can cancel up to 24 hours before arrival)
- You need to email [email protected] to take advantage of this
- You’ll receive a guaranteed upgrade to a villa at the time of booking
- You’ll receive complimentary daily breakfast, plus complimentary daily lunch or dinner (though the way they phrase it is strange — “daily one-time lunch or one-time dinner for two persons”)
Just how good of a deal is this? The rate of ~162USD per night is roughly in line with their lowest rates.
But the villas are typically priced about 2.5x as much as the standard rooms, and you’re guaranteed to get one of those. Furthermore, you’re getting daily breakfast and either lunch or dinner.
You’d also presumably earn World of Hyatt elite credits, since this is a rate booked directly with a hotel.
The issue here — and probably the reason they’re pricing this so attractively — is that there’s uncertainty. We don’t know when it will be practical to travel again, and for many of us Bali is far away.
I can’t wait to return to Bali sometime soon, though for me I don’t think it’s going to happen this year. If I lived in the region and were planning on visiting Bali this year, I’d jump on this promotion in a heartbeat.
Anyone plan to take advantage of this amazing Alila Ubud promotion?
(Tip of the hat to Loyalty Lobby)
Booked Six Senses Uluwatu for April 2021- they had a great deal for villas few months ago. That said, Alila Uluwatu looks amazing. At some point, would love to stay there as well.
Trying to decide between Alila Uluwatu or Six Senses Uluwatu. Any recommendations?
Hey Ben,
Just FYI - I spoke with the property. The rate is non-refundable. You cannot cancel and get your money back. Instead you can reschedule your stay for a date, I was told up to three months after my original reservation.
I decided it wasn't worth the uncertainty.
I emailed, as stated in article, to ask about rate, availability etc. Sent on 4/29. No reply yet.
Hoping this works; looking for Nov stay.
@Christian said: @Ben – As a side note, while you’re trapped like the rest of us, maybe you could make mention of deals like this more often for the duration of your lockdown. If nothing else, at least we can dream.
Those Virtuoso "upgrade at check-in and breakfast" deals won't work for me.
@Lucky
Thanks for the alert, Lucky. It's nice to get some non-virus content for a change, and all things considered, it's a great deal despite the concern some have about the hotel going bankrupt! At least the virus a silver lining for some.
@David
As fascinating as your positioning flight into HK and dual citizenship status and plans to self isolate and forward travel into Asia are, what relevance is it here?
Given Indonesia is the hardest hit country for the virus in all of southeast asia with the highest mortality rate for the region and that we won't have a vaccine by December and they have one of the lowest testing rates of any country in the world it just seems like a bad idea to even think about planning a trip there.
Things are really tough in Bali right now, so I'm not surprised. My wife and I made friends with a driver there and we keep in touch. Pretty much anything involved in tourism has been crushed.
@Ben - As a side note, while you're trapped like the rest of us, maybe you could make mention of deals like this more often for the duration of your lockdown. If nothing else, at least we can dream.
Quite apart from the possibility that international borders will still be closed to non-essential travel, be aware that Indonesia is a real worry to epidemiologists. It is not Taiwan. Testing is a shambles. The spread is exponential. Things will get a lot worse there, sadly, before they get better.
$162? Gimme a break. You can stay in a fantastic hotel in Bali for $40.
The Alila Ubud is a category 3 property, requiring 12,000 points per night. The $162 rate likely does not include taxes, which would push the all-in rate close to $200. If you are a Globalist or know one who can book it for you, you probably should go with points as that would give you more flexibility at a decent implied value with most of the same benefits. Their normal pre-paid rate even seems to...
The Alila Ubud is a category 3 property, requiring 12,000 points per night. The $162 rate likely does not include taxes, which would push the all-in rate close to $200. If you are a Globalist or know one who can book it for you, you probably should go with points as that would give you more flexibility at a decent implied value with most of the same benefits. Their normal pre-paid rate even seems to allow cancellation until 24 hours before check-in, though, so perhaps it is a wash. If you go, you definitely should get a suite. The standard rooms are cramped close together. I've stayed at the property and would recommend a visit, though getting around Bali is a bit of a pain and taxis in Ubud are much more expensive and harder to get than farther south in Bali (I don't think Blue Bird operates in Ubud and if Grab does, it doesn't have many drivers). The property is not really within walking distance of Ubud town.
Guri, that's pretty much everyone. Sorry to sink your boat, but I'm renting a massive two-story house in Jogja that is also $12 a day. That doesn't mean I can't take a few days to enjoy a nice hotel and some pampering. No matter how nice your house, nothing wrong with getting away. Pretty sure hotels are actually designed *for* people who already have houses.
@Guri, great for you. But You're comparing apples to dragon fruit or hotels to long-term rentals. I could stay home and spend nothing, but I want to vacation.
And when I vacation, I don't want to cook my meals let alone shop and do dishes. I want to be pampered and be close to a spa. I could a la carte those services, but why when I've just traveled 10K miles over two days? Compared to a similar property in Santa Barbara or San Sebastián, this rate is solid.
It is a great deal, especially for a 5-star hotel like this one. $360 a month in Bali, does that include breakfast and full-service facilities? This is not comparing apple to apple.
I paid $360 a month for 2nd floor of a Villa for a month in Bali.
$12 a day.
The world has changed and i am not going to pay $162/night when i van stay for a month for the price of 2 nights.
Good luck to you all.
If you've got an extra few hundred bucks sitting around, could be worth the gamble. I would assume even a lowly Explorist would be upgraded to a pool villa when reaching out directly. Add in the daily breakfast, lunches and transfers, this is a great deal. My guess is the hotel would let you move your dates to 2021 too as worst case. Just did this for another luxury resort I pre-paid - no one wants to let go of your cash once they have it.
TravelinWilly
Nope, you're fine if the provider goes bankrupt. It's right in the Chargeback Guide Page 49 in this Mastercard example:
https://www.mastercard.us/content/dam/mccom/en-us/documents/rules/chargeback-guide.pdf
It's not rocket science
This is so shady.
"pre-payment is required" Even at 20% deposit, I'd skip.
Unless you're in front of the hotel now looking to stay tonight, I'd rather not speculate on this.
No thank you! Too many mosquitoes for me!
That isn't a good deal for Ubud. I get your struggling for content, but at least post a real deal.
RCB
Many cards won’t issue refunds in the case of bankruptcy.
It’s not rocket science.
If they go bankrupt then you get the money back from your credit card company, it's not rocket science.
They should extend this to December 2021. Snowball's chance in hell of this actually being usable if you don't already reside in Indonesia.
"pre-payment is required, but you can cancel up to 24 hours before Arrival" - doesn't help if they're bankrupt until then...
I wouldn’t prepay anything - even if they say it’s refundable they could be out of cash or go bankrupt. This goes for any business in the travel & hospitality industries. On top of that there’s the uncertainty of which borders will be open and flights operating.
I am supposed to be in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur around Thanksgiving. This would be a great addition/substitution but I believe the likelihood of me being able to go on that trip is around 30%. With that in mind, I don't think I will be purchasing this
Incredibly beautiful, well thought out and isolated hillside resort with an excellent staff. A good place to decompress. Just recently thinking that this was the highlight of my last trip to Bali and I was looking to stay here again.
At these rates, it is a great buy. They offer all of the amenities one would expect of a 5* property. There is a shuttle service to downtown Ubud and paid airport service.
Will probably position myself into HK later in the year (dual citizen, so I can still fly to the city despite travel bans), then self isolate for 2 weeks before heading off to the rest of Asia for these great deals. Assuming infection numbers stay low in that region of the world, of course.