disappointing budget hotels

spicyayam

I think the main reason for rising costs is electricity/salary/gas/gasoline/tax etc. Booking.com for example charges 15% commission, hotel tax is 10%. Local banjars charge other fees. There is not a lot left over if a hotel is charging $8 per night.

iliketotravel

All these costs exist in the other countries i mentioned. Regardless I was mostly hoping for cheap suggestions rather than a debate of the reasons. :)

iliketotravel

I've travelled more extensively and deeply than the average backpacker in SE Asia. In Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, it was possible to find a nice clean hotel room for $8 usd a night. In some cases this even came with aircon and/or cable TV. I was delighted. Meanwhile I've been to kuta and klungkung in Bali and the offerings have been a let down. 150,000 idr for an acceptable fan room that holds the heat at night, or one place in klungk that was 100,000 and absolutely horrible. I ask a lot of locals how much they get paid and i often hear low figures around 100 usd a month. So hotel prices are out of line with wages. I can only assume that wealthy Australian tourists have pushed the prices up. Are there any real SE Asian bargains left in south Bali or other places?

davita

iliketotravel wroteI've travelled more extensively and deeply than the average backpacker in SE Asia. In Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, it was possible to find a nice clean hotel room for $8 usd a night. In some cases this even came with aircon and/or cable TV. I was delighted. Meanwhile I've been to kuta and klungkung in Bali and the offerings have been a let down. 150,000 idr for an acceptable fan room that holds the heat at night, or one place in klungk that was 100,000 and absolutely horrible. I ask a lot of locals how much they get paid and i often hear low figures around 100 usd a month. [COLOR="#FF0000"]So hotel prices are out of line with wages. I can only assume that wealthy Australian tourists have pushed the prices up.[/COLOR] Are there any real SE Asian bargains left in south Bali or other places?

Welcome to the forum as I note you've made 2 posts. Cannot help with sourcing cheap budget hotels but suggest the very tone of your post #1 creates debate....which I think others would be interested in pursuing. If you just wanted information then you could simply ask the question..but you compared your visits to other countries then gave reasons why the differential...that surely prompts debate such as Spicyayam offered. For example, did you find accommodation in Phuket or Pattaya for US$8 per night as those places would be more comparable to Kuta? My last trip to Phuket wasn't budget, but not 4-starred either, and the hotel cost US$80/night.

DenpasarHouse

Sort of depends on how long ago you were travelling in those countries. Are you sure you're not comparing today's prices with those of 5-10 years ago? Here's a nice place in the middle of Denpasar. Nakula Familiar Inn Here's one in Sanur. Little Pond Sanur Bali Homestay Here's one in Bona (15-20 minutes out from Ubud) Bali Traditional Homestay Here's a few suggestions for Kuta. A backpacker's guide to Bali on the cheap I think the trick is to Google the location name and add the word homestay. Backpacking hostels aren't really a thing here, although I think there are a few now around the Canggu area. Good luck!

matsaleh

Also try Hostelworld. Lots of places between Rp100,000 and Rp200,000. Hostels in Kuta | Book Kuta Hostels with Hostelworld.com

spicyayam

[COLOR=#333333]All these costs exist in the other countries i mentioned. Regardless I was mostly hoping for cheap suggestions rather than a debate of the reasons. :)[/COLOR]

Well you mentioned Australians driving up the prices, so I thought I would add some other reasons why there aren't a lot of cheap hotels in Bali. Since this is more of an expat forum than a travel forum I thought I would add my 2 cents as to why prices are on the increase. Many of my friends run hotels and villas so things like occupancy rates and hotel running costs are often on my mind. I live in Lovina and there are still some cheap places to stay here. I checked the other night for someone and you can get a fan room for 100,000 including breakfast. Maybe the breakfast is some toast and a coffee, but that seems incredibly cheap to me. This is the place: Puspa Rama | Cheap accommodations | Indonesia, Lovina Beach, Bali | Bali Cheap Accommodation - BaliCheapAccommodation.com Actually that is a pretty good website to check out: Bali Cheap Accommodation - BaliCheapAccommodation.com There are some hostels now in Bali, Big Pineapple in Sanur for example has dorm rooms for $7 a night: Big Pineapple Backpackers Bali | Sanur | Indonesia With Airbnb it seems everyone in Bali is now renting out their spare rooms, so you could look there also. Book 1 night and then negotiate with the owner for a cheaper rate if you like the place.

modelt1826

The Indonesian people mostly lower paid will rent a kost which are advertised locally these can be cheap

Braveheart_shaped_box

Three problems. Comparing prices to other countries with different economies and situations. Bali is an out and out 'tourist destination'. Living in the past. Prices of utilities and infrastructure have continued to rise, electricity, water, gasoline, kerosene, basic food items all add up to increased prices but you still get sweaty, duck toed, red faced, rucksack toting 'packers' staggering around clutching a dog-eared copy of 'Lonely Plantpot' that assures them they can get a 'shared taxi' from the airport to Ubud for USD2 ... but only if they haggle!

davita

Braveheart_shaped_box wroteThree problems. Comparing prices to other countries with different economies and situations. Bali is an out and out 'tourist destination'. Living in the past. Prices of utilities and infrastructure have continued to rise, electricity, water, gasoline, kerosene, basic food items all add up to increased prices but you still get sweaty, duck toed, red faced, rucksack toting 'packers' staggering around clutching a dog-eared copy of 'Lonely Plantpot' that assures them they can get a 'shared taxi' from the airport to Ubud for USD2 ... but only if they haggle!

Absolutely agree with the above. If I may add that the Indonesian Government is shying away from 'packers'....as anyone who reads Indonesian business news can attest. They want quality tourists which means 'money'. They are NOT promoting tourism by simple numbers..... but by arithmetical equations. Last month (BPS report by JakPost today) says that Singaporeans were the biggest visitor to Indonesia. It's like a merry-go-round...corrupt Indonesian officials park their ill-gotten wealth in a Singapore bank from which 5.5 million Singaporeans benefit such they can holiday, and spend their money, on pirated products from Bandung. With a system like that who needs penny-wise backpackers...:apathy:

Braveheart_shaped_box

Something that really annoys me about 'Lonely Ripoff' is their spinoff 'books'. One in particular which I won't help promote by mentioning it by name features 'real travel stories' and boasts 256 pages of which 54 are empty, another 22 feature only the title of the chapter, two are wasted with a cheap and nasty world 'map', the 'index' stretches over FOUR pages and the last three pages are adverts for their other waste of trees publications. The text is double spaced size 12 font (promoted as easy reading). The content is not bad but is ultimately let down by the packaging. Greedy barstuds!

mugwump

Braveheart_shaped_box wroteThree problems. Comparing prices to other countries with different economies and situations. Bali is an out and out 'tourist destination'. Living in the past. Prices of utilities and infrastructure have continued to rise, electricity, water, gasoline, kerosene, basic food items all add up to increased prices but you still get sweaty, duck toed, red faced, rucksack toting 'packers' staggering around clutching a dog-eared copy of 'Lonely Plantpot' that assures them they can get a 'shared taxi' from the airport to Ubud for USD2 ... but only if they haggle!

Love to see someone rag the "Lonely Planet". Their outdated, inaccurate doggerel needs to be criticized if not totally ostracized for what they unabashedly receive their largesse.

spicyayam

I think Tony Wheeler was a genius for selling the company when he did. BBC made 'mistakes' on Lonely Planet deal, says report - BBC News

oih

.. and Maureen Wheeler .. who bagged the 1999 Australian Business Women's award for most Inspiring Business Woman .. no genius, just business theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/13/1208024958613. html theage.com.au/victoria/lonely-planet-now-even-lonelier-20130719-2q9x8. html smh.com.au/business/lonely-planet-sold-local-future-uncertain-20130319-2gdbh. html eight

Markit

Is this an Australian thing? Lets all get together an **** on a fellow Ozzy that "did good"? Actually it's English - they do it better.

oih

Lonely Planet rocked by fraud scandal - Travel - theage.com.au success

Braveheart_shaped_box

Lonely Planet rocked by fraud scandal - Travel - theage.com.au success

Would not be the first time such a thing has been suggested, I often wondered if their 'reviewers' existed in an alternative reality. The absolute classic being the LP description of the Bambu Homestay, Surabaya. Sadly the premises seems to have finally been flushed down its own open sewer/bathroom facility as I cannot find it online, if only I could backdate that event.

Markit

BraveWhit your mask seems to be slipping there JoeBox :icon_e_surprised:

kiteman

Markit wroteIs this an Australian thing? Lets all get together an **** on a fellow Ozzy that "did good"? Actually it's English - they do it better.

Actually, Tony Wheeler IS English and I agree it is an "Australian thing" known locally at least as "tall-poppy syndrome". i.e. if they stick their head up high then knock it off. This perhaps was the root of the exclusively Aussie expression "pull yer bloody 'ed in". I didn't think "oih"'s post was intended to be derogatory anyway.....

kiteman

iliketotravel wroteI've travelled more extensively and deeply than the average backpacker in SE Asia. In Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, it was possible to find a nice clean hotel room for $8 usd a night.

The original poster has makes a legitimate point depending on the angle you take. In the mid 70's almost all losmens/homestays throughout Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia etc were 50c a night (no AC). This was when an Aussie Dollar was worth Rp500 and a US Dollar was worth Rp400. At that stage an average wage in Oz was $20 a day so a night in a losmen was equal to 1/40 of a day's wages. Today that equates to about $200 a day wages so about $5 a night for a room..... or Rp 50,000 to 80,000 and he is quite correct I think in saying that this is now difficult to find. There are no doubt many other things that have not become as inflated over the same period. The original poster is probably a proper backpacker...... that is...... a traveller who covers a lot of miles with a backpack in order to experience places that "tourists" don't ever get to. Most modern day"backpackers" only actually backpack from the airport to a taxi and from the taxi to the hotel foyer. IMHO a true backpacker rarely drinks alchohol (or takes any form of recreational drugs), does not hang out at nightclubs and restaurants and seeks out places to stay that are far from the tourist masses. In this way he/she can take a longer holiday with the amount of money that they have saved. There's nothing "tight-ass" about it. It's just financial logic. These are usually high quality personalities and we should encourage them and maybe give them a bed for a night as is custom for any travellers in Indonesian culture. I have been given amazing generosity by Indonesian people in out-of-the-way places and I will be the first to try and pass this on to the next generation if I am able to.