Never pre-pay a room for more than one night. Never.
Ignore this tip at your own risk.
I should know better. When I arrived in Ubud I hired the driver who picked me up at the airport to take me around town and help me find affordable accommodations. After showing me several places, I chose the least dingy of the homestay options and paid a month upfront. My room shared a wall with the neighborhood temple/recreation center, something I didn’t notice before plunking down my 1.5 million rupiahs. After two days of clamorous Gamelan music and the echoing thwaps of badminton accompanied by the screams of badminton players, I begged the owner for refund. Instead, she offered me another room.
It turns out the taxi drivers here get a 15% commission on the rooms they convince stupid, unsuspecting travelers like me to accept.
Long before my month was up, I began researching better options for my second month in Ubud. This time, determined to bypass the taxi drivers and their financial stake in my choice, I turned to the trusty Internet. Hutama Yoga Rooms, which was featured on the Bali Spirit web site and also recommended by a friend, sounded like an answer to my prayers. “For yogis and quiet travelers,” the web site assured; Hutama even enforces “quiet hours” between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. I eagerly booked and prepaid my room for 6 weeks.
Unfortunately, Hutama was unable to get the abutting family compound to buy in to its “quiet hours.” Hutama makes my loft on the corner of 23rd & 2nd in Manhattan, the noisy apartment that actually drove me out of Manhattan, seem like a sanctuary.
Of course, I have only myself to blame. I assumed since Hutama was run by Americans it would measure up to American standards. It’s also relatively pricey for a homestay, which led me to another erroneous assumption—if it costs a lot, it’s got to be good, right?
Not only is Hutama situated within the Noise Epicenter of the Entire Universe, it’s falling apart. My kitchen and bathroom sinks are eternally clogged. The water pressure in my shower is a trickle. There’s no hot water.
It does, however, provide free filtered drinking water. Maybe I should shower with that?
I’ve learned my lesson. No matter how fantastic a place sounds or looks at first glance or over the Internet, pay for one or two nights to make an intelligent decision if the place will work out for me.
Because the thing is: Any place that requires prepayment is a place that no one would stay in for more than one night.
