With more than 10,000 temples spread across Bali, this

island paradise is on the wish list of many Indians. I

recently had the opportunity to visit Bali thanks to an

invitation from Andrew Khoo, M.I.H, General Manager, Hard

Rock Hotel, Bali (HRHB) in August 2012 who feels India is a

very potential Market. “India is a big market for us as there are a

lot of Hindu temples. I have been very close to this religion and

even in our hotel we have a small Lord Ganesha temple. We

expect to tap the families and honeymoon couples,” said Andrew

Khoo. I could truly sense his soft corner for Indians.

Fandy Lo, Asst. Marketing Communication Manager, HRHB

had been in touch with me since December and finally in June the

plans crystallised. We coordinated with Malaysian airlines that

flew me business class (as it has fast connections - surprisingly

there’s no direct flight from India to Bali).

On arrival do keep USD 25 ready so that you can quickly get

the visa on arrival. The immigration process is also quick, though

it took quite some time for the baggage. The airport area is quite

crowded and you have to keep a look out for the hotel pick up

person.

Staying at HRHB has its own advantage as its one of the few

five star hotels close to the airport and in spite of traffic it took us

20 minutes to arrive at the hotel. The entrance is impressive with

numerous guitars. On arrival I was met by Fandy Lo and

Rohaizad Puteh, Director of Sales and Marketing, HRHB. I was

led straight into a bar for my check in. Looking surprised (never

checked in at a bar) Rohaizad said that 'Centerstage', the place

where we were sitting doubles as a lobby, a bar, a live rock venue

and even a rock museum. In the check in packet you will also find

- a free drink voucher which can be redeemed at the bar; coupons

to redeem at Hard Rock Hotel merchandise shop.

From outside the hotel is doesn’t seem so large but its spread

across three hectares having 418 tribute rooms, luxury, deluxe

and kids suites with six food and beverage outlets Lil’ Rock –

Kids Club, Tabu Teen Centre, Boom Box Recording Studio, Rock

Spa, Body Rock fitness center and a Rock Shop – Hard Rock

Merchandise Store.

HRHB is Asia’s first Hard Rock Hotel. The hotel is a part of

Hard Rock International (HRI) that has a total of 181 venues in

58 countries, including 142 cafes, 18 hotels and 8 casinos. Hard

Rock owns the world's greatest collection of music memorabilia,

which is displayed at its locations around the globe and this was

amply displayed all over the hotel.

The hotel is one of the best for families and was chosen as a

H o s p i t a l i t y

Global Destinations July - Aug 201312

RockOn@Hard Rock Hotel, BaliThe Family Friendly Hotel

The sprawling Hard Rock Hotel, located in Kuta Bali’s famous entertainment and shopping district and just across Kutabeach makes it a perfect hotel for Indians on a vacation or honeymoon says Chandragupta Amritkar

winner in the Top 10

Family Hotels cate-

gory by TripAdvisor

in its 2013 Travellers’

Choice awards. I

think it deserved it as

I saw many kids and

parents enjoying

themselves in the

pool. The hotel has

the largest free-form

swimming pool in

Bali. The pool twists

and twirls along the

resort making it a

sunbathing paradise

(and a feast to the

eyes as you watch the

wet happenings by the pool – kids, men, women laugh and enjoy

the pool while you can have a drink or a snack at the poolside

Splash Bistro restaurant). It also serves as a stage for outdoor per-

formances and volleyball matches. There are 22 poolside cabanas

nestled around the swimming pool e quipped with tables, chairs

and day-beds. The Shack Bar located at free form pool is another

place to have some delicious food.

I was staying in the Deluxe Premium Room and from my room

I could walk right into the chill out pool a much smaller swim-

ming pool right outside the ground floor balcony for guests stay-

ing in the Deluxe Premium Rooms and Suites. For those who

don’t want to go to the free-form swimming pool and want no

crowd this would be a good option.

The hotel has 418 rooms of which 242 are Deluxe Rooms, 134

Deluxe Premium Rooms, 10 Deluxe Premium Pool Access, 11

Loft, 8 Deluxe Suites, 8 Kids Suites, 2 Luxury Suites, 2 Luxury

Kids Suites and one King Suite. The best rooms are the Kids

Suite spread across 64 m2 featuring one deluxe master bedroom,

one living room with two day beds, a dining table and an addi-

tional kid’s complete with Play Station 3 and other children'

entertainment and toilet amenities. The presidential suite spread

across 224m² is fit for "The King". It offers a deluxe master bed-

room and a deluxe guest bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a fam-

ily room featuring a king-size daybed, living room complete with

home theater system, LCD TVs, dining room, kitchenette, and

additional washroom.

If you are in a group and get rooms in different wings you are

bound to spend some time tracing the best path. So ideally try to

get adjacent rooms. Also it will take a bit of experience to move

from room to the lobby, kid’s zone, gym and various restaurants.

Do use the map.

For the food lovers there’s a wide choice of restaurants. Apart

from the restaurants on poolside there’s the Hard Rock Cafe fac-

ing the Kuta Beach that features ‘live’ band performances and

hefty portions of burgers including vegetarian burgers. The rock-

ing crowd is here upto 2am daily, and till 3am on weekends. Starz

Diner is HRHBs all-day dining restaurant offering both indoor

and outdoor seating for up to 210 diners. New York style 'Hard

Rock Beach Club (HRBC) Deli just adjacent to Starz Diner has

some excellent pastries, brownies, cappuccino and chocolates. I

did pickup some chocolates to take back and my family relished

them. Though the hotel is provides free WIFI at HRBC one can

check your emails or surf the net but unfortunately at a price.

The quality of food is good (Indians will appreciate the paratha

and the curry sauce). Apart from these options there are quite a

few Indian restaurants too in close vicinity including Bali Indian

Food restaurant. The surrounding area has lots of eateries - local

delicacy, fast food etc.

The rock star experience is not complete without an hour or

two at HRHBs very own Rock Spa. Rock Spa is located next to

the pool and offers a wide range of body therapy and treatments

to restore and balance the mind, body and soul. I had two Rock

Spa experiences. The first was the Traditional Balinese Massage.

This 60-minute relaxing massage using Balinese technique. The

oils used are Lavender, Geranium, and Cedar Wood. I also had a

60-minute Foot Reflexology on the last day. During both treat-

ments the welcome drink was made of ginger, lime and honey.

The fitness center boasts a fully equipped gym, sauna and

steam rooms, hot and cold plunge pools, available free of charge

to all hotel guests. Experienced instructors are there to guide the

guests through various calorie-burning programs and exercises.

The Hard Rock Hotel Rock Shop has an extensive range of

Hard Rock designer wear, souvenirs, cool gifts and funky acces-

sories. I picked up a nice T-shirt for my daughter with the HRHB

logo and she loved it.

HRHB also offers MICE facilities that features a range of

themed parties and events in any of their entertainment spaces. It

can be conventions, conferences, incentive programs, weddings

and banquets in various sizes of rooms including a ballroom

boasting a capacity of 400 -450 people.

H o s p i t a l i t y

Global DestinationsJuly - Aug 2013 13

Lil’ Rock Kids Club and TABU Teens ClubThese two are what I am sure many Indians will

like as we love to travel with our kids, grand chil-dren, extended families and friends with families.For the little ones, Lil' Rock Kids Club has numer-ous fun activities and games. From Lego building toPlay Doh modelling, Balinese dances, TreasureHunts and Beach Club Party at Sand Island. Kidswill get Lil’ Rock ID Club for daily access to Lil’ RockKids Club & all Lil’ Rock activities, Gift Pack, FreeSoft Drink & water at dining outlets for the entirestay, free lunch daily at Lil’ Rock Kids Club. The kidsclub is the best value for money.

For the young adult (13 – 17 years old) there’sthe TABU Teens Club. Spread across 252-square-meter, TABU offers a nightclub equipped withmulti-purpose DJ Booth, Internet and GamingLounge with WII, Xbox Kinetic and PS3 facilities,private cinema area, bar and lounge with chill outarea and pool table. Tabu is exclusively for youngadults, age. There’s also the recording studio /karaoke (boom box) that offers Karaoke rooms aswell as a state-of the- art recording studio.

HRHB also offers a 5m high Rock Climbing Wallfacility that offers three levels of difficulty. Locatedat the poolside area, trained instructors are avail-able to assist the more adventurous guests,whether beginners or experienced climbers.

Also known as the Island of a Thousand Temples, Bali is a

majority Hindu island located in Indonesia, an over-

whelmingly Muslim nation. The island is famous for its

number of temples, about 18,000 temples and tourists visiting

Bali often say the island appears like there are more temples than

houses. How true, as I could see this as a fact as our vehicle

moved across the Island. “Almost all houses in Bali have their

own temples,” said Fandy Lo, Asst. Marketing Communication

Manager, Hard Rock Hotel, Bali.

The hotel was kind enough to arrange a tour of the Island and

we left at 8.30am in the morning from the hotel located in Kuta,

famous for its beaches and shopping. Our first stop was Besakih

Temple or Mother Temple, the biggest Hindu temple in Bali. Dur-

ing the 2 hour-long drive relished the wonderful scenery - the

forests, rice fields and villages.

Besakih Temple is open to visitors all year round and there’s a

small official entrance fee. The temple is sadly exploited as a way

to shake tourists down for money in the form of donations. But if

you need a guide (it’s not compulsory) you can pay the donation

and hire one. To enter any temple you must be appropriately

dressed with a sarong and sash. Take your own sarong from the

hotel or they can be rented at the entrance of each temple. If you

plan to visit many temples it's better to buy one and use them

throughout your visit.

To reach the temple complex, you have to stroll up a footpath

for about 800 meters, which can be a healthy walk. Alternately

you can rent a motorbike offered by the locals. The temple com-

plex is massive and awesome. From far it’s an impressive com-

plex of pyramid-like temples, extending up the mountain. The

temple is located in the plateau area (one can feel the cool atmos-

phere) with Mount Agung as a back drop. It is situated 3,000 feet

up the slopes of Mount Agung in East Bali. From the top of tem-

ple area one can see the beautiful nature.

The word “besakih” is derived from ancient Javanese words

“wasuki” or “basuki” that means salvation. The temple consists

of 22 temples. It was built based on the concept Tri Hita Karana,

a Hindu concept on the balance between human, nature, and God.

Surrounding three main temples dedicated to Shiva, Brahma and

Vishnu are 18 separate sanctuaries belonging to different regen-

cies and caste groups. Religious ceremony is often held in the

complex. One of them is Ekadasa Rudra ceremony that is held

every 100 years. The first recorded mention of its existence

comes from an inscription dating back to 1007 AD.

Pura Besakih made the world spotlight in 1963 when it’s said

that the temple remained untouched when Mount Agung erupted

while the villages around the mount perished. A visit to Pura

Besakih is truly a spiritual experience into the heart of Balinese

religious and cultural life.

From here we proceeded to the Sacred Monkey Forest located

in Ubud, Padangtegal. It represents a sacred Balinese Hindu site.

The Monkey Forest is dwelt by hundreds of monkeys. These

monkeys are believed as Gods Guard of Pura Dalem Agung Tem-

ple in the middle of forest, estimated built in the middle of 14

century. There are three Holy Temples in this monkey forest –

Apart from Dalem Agung Temple there’s Holy Bathing Temple,

next to the stream and Pura Prajapati Temple (the cremation tem-

ple), alongside the graveyard. The forest itself is beautiful and

well worth the walk around. In case you are not comfortable with

monkeys its advisable not to take in any food to avoid contact

with the monkeys.

After an Indian lunch we proceeded to the rice terraces,

designed very beautifully with exquisite hollowing rice field. I

have seen many tea gardens in layers in India but these rice ter-

D e s t i n a t i o n

Global Destinations July - Aug 201314

The Island of a Thousand Temples

races were amazing. We reached there and Fandy mentioned they

will look great if was a sprinkle of rain and it rained heavily for

an hour or so – the only time that it rained during my stay. The

rain truly added to the beauty of these terraces. The view was

heart warming and joyful. We had coconut water which was

sweet.

After it stopped raining we went to Gua Gajah, or Elephant

Cave, near Ubud. Built in the 9th century it is actually a temple

that is tucked within a cave. The entrance to

the cave is an ornately carved demon's mouth.

Once you enter the cave, you see Ganesha, a

set of 3 shiva lingas on one end and some

other idols of gods. There is a pool located in

the middle of the cave courtyard with statues.

The temple is also known for its dense canopy

and waterfalls on the temple campus. A little

path leads to a waterfall, rice fields, and some

Buddhist stupa fragments. It is on the

UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

Late in the evening we went for the Kecak

dance. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey

Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 75

or more performers wearing checked cloth

around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up

their arms. Besides these dancers, there are also other dancers

who portray the characters of Ramayana as Rama,Shinta,

Ravana, Hanuman, and Sugriwa.

Using a rental car with a driver is certainly cheaper than taxis

(around USD 50-60 per day). The drivers are usually English-

speaking and they can also act as informal tourist guides recom-

mending good destinations and restaurants.

D e s t i n a t i o n

Global DestinationsJuly - Aug 2013 15

Entering its 19th year, the Indonesian annual travel mart, the

Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) or ‘Pasar Wisata

Indonesia’ will this year take place in Padang, the capital city of

West Sumatra. After being held for two years in Bandar Lam-

pung, this premier tourism event is scheduled to be held on 18 –

21 October 2013 at Grand Inna Muara Hotel & Convention Cen-

tre. TIME is organized to promote Indonesia as a tourist destina-

tion in the international market and at the same time raise the

country’s image as a global travel destination.

“The shifting of TIME to West Sumatra is aimed at promoting

West Sumatra to the international market and speeding up the

development and improvement of infrastructure, tourism facili-

ties and tourism attractions in the region, so that at the end the

destination could establish itself as a global travel destination. It

will attract more tourist arrivals to the island and speed up the

improvement of infrastructure and encourage more investors to

the region to develop new hotels as well as tourism attractions,”

said Meity Robot, Chairwoman of the Steering Committee of

TIME 2013.

Various destinations in

Sumatra are equipped with a

good variety of quality hotels

as well as cultural, natural

and man-made attractions.

“Hosting TIME would allow

international buyers to take a

closer look at the products on

offer and aid local tourism

stakeholders in selling their

products overseas,” she

added.

This year also the organiz-

ers expect top industry policy-makers, sellers and buyers of

Indonesian tourism products and services will be participating.

The annual mart is run on a yearly rotating basis to promote as

much provinces to the world as possible in the future.

Last year, TIME in Bandar Lampung attracted 83 buyers from

28 countries dominated by India, Singapore, China, The Nether-

lands, Australia, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates, with 74

Indonesian sellers occupying 60 booths.

TIME 2013 is organized by the Indonesian Tourism Council

together with the Provincial Government of West Sumatra and is

fully supported by the Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy

of Indonesia and the entire tourism components in Indonesia.

TIME 2013 is also supported by Garuda Indonesia as Official

Airlines, other supporting airlines, Association of the Indonesian

Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) Padang, Indonesia Hotel and

Restaurant Association (PHRI) Padang, Indonesian Conference

and Convention Association (INCCA), and Pacto Convex as the

event organizer.

‘TIME’ moves to Padang