Our visit to Tegal Sari was a disappointment. This hotel's business practices appear to be suffering from it's success.
Already in Bali and planning to travel to Ubud, we called the hotel for a room for 2 nights for 3 persons. We were told on the phone by the manager that we could have a triple room for one night for $100, and they watch for a cancellation on the second night. We confirmed our reservation by giving a credit card number.
When we arrived, we were told by the check-in staff there was a mistake and the room would now cost $150. The manager was not at the hotel. They admitted, however, that we had confirmed the room for $100. The clerks insisted that if we looked at the room, we would be willing to pay $150. We insisted that we should get the room for the price confirmed.
After a call to the manager, they came back to say we could have the room for the $100 price confirmed earlier, but we would not get breakfast included, and we would be expected to leave the next day by noon. They then informed us that charging the room would cost an extra 1.8%, and if we wanted bedsheets for the third person, that would cost an extra $5.
The check-in staff were clearly embarrassed when having to communicate these messages from the manager. I should point out that Tegal Sari apparently has two websites, one (http://tegal-sari.com/) which does not publish room rates, and one (http://www.tegalsari-ubud.com) that says their most expensive room is Rp. 600,000 (about $65), including breakfast. The staff claimed the $150 price is on their website, but it is not.
Honoring a confirmed price is a basic obligation of a good hotel. Any hotel that tries to pull a bait and switch like this is not worthy of being rated #1 of the 60-some hotels rated in the Ubud area. I felt as if we had ordered a meal at a restaurant and when the bill came, we were told the prices on the menu had gone up since the time we ordered.
Our room was very nice, and maybe you won't have the same problem we did. But there are at least 7 or 8 similar hotels in Ubud, some with even better views and locations, that will not try to push you into a higher price room. Why take the risk?




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