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Posted by - ® Carolyn on February 25, 2005 at 7:01 am:
In Reply to: helios guesthouse kerobokan posted by alex on February 25, 2005 at 5:37 am:
I have stayed at Helios. We found it when we were out and about on the streets. The location is fantastic. Rooms are lovely. Pool is excellent and wonderful temperature. I really liked this place but there were a few things that were weird.
I would recommend the rooms at the end of the complex past the pool near the eating area. These rooms have outdoor bathrooms and they are lovely. Beds are comfy. We were the only guests there so it was quiet but the rooms aren't soundproofed so if there was a group there I think it might have the potential to be noisy.
So here comes the weird bit. I walked down the laneway and asked to see a room. The girl and guy were nice, rooms were lovely, I couldn't believe my luck. They showed me the rate which from memory was around 250,000 per night and 300,000 for the deluxe rooms. (Deluxe rooms are lovely but if there are a few guests I wouldn’t recommend as they are right by the pool and the eating bale and if you were in bed and these areas were in use you would hear it and they could see you.) We needed ten nights accom so the manager was happy to take 180,000 (after negotiating) excluding breakfast which was fine as we always make our own breakfast of tea and toast because we go for work and are out of there by 8 am – before most hotels are able to serve breakfast. I shook hands and went back to our other villa to get our luggage.
I got back to my business partner so excited that I had found such a great place. We got in the taxi, turned up and she was stunned – it was lovely. So we then head out for the day and that night the hotel manager corners me and asks me to pay for the duration. I told her we could pay as we go and that it was not normal to pay up front for accom. She was uneasy but relented. We gave her our passports and travellers cheques for safe keeping in the safe. The next day we went to get some papers and our documents were sitting on her desk – not locked away. Weird and given that we had our lap top stolen from our previous villa & hence the reason for our move and we were uneasy. We gave our host our laundry and went on our way with our passports and all documents.
When we returned that night we were asked for our laundry money and for accom fees again. I paid for the accom we had used and our laundry and then was left alone. When I tried to pay only 180,000 I was told I would have to pay the 250,000 not the 180,000 so I had to re explain the price we had agreed on. My host was uneasy but relented again, but clearly unhappy. This continued on for a few days until it just peeved us off enough that we checked out. We go for work and are out most days from 8 am through to 7 pm. Each night we were confronted by this woman asking us to pay like she expected us to run in the middle of the night. To be fair her anxiety increased when she was no longer in possession of our passports but there was no way I was leaving them on her desk!
Apart from all that, I actually loved the place and was a bit peeved that this happened. I would suggest if you paid up front and for your laundry as you handed it in you would have a lovely trip. The place is within walking distance of Le Tebu – fantastic café serving amazingly good food and dirt cheap prices. Le Tebu sits in between La Lucciola and The Living Room, and of course our favourite bar Hu’u. It’s also within walking distance of Bodyworks – all of the places mentioned are within 4 minutes walk. Its so close to the beach too.
I can’t for love nor money find out any info on the net about this place. It was great, but with some weirdness. It looks lovely from the front and has a good guard dog although he can be a bit yappy come 4 am. It’s more in the format of a motel than a resort, but bathrooms are good (go the outdoor one) and the eating area has a large tv and room to relax. We would come home most nights and have a dip, then go down to Le Tebu and have a meal (salads are amazingly huge and filling, pasta is good too and they have authentic French pastries too, plus great coffee and they use lavazza beans), then we would go back and sit in the pool for an hour. It was really lovely.
There is also a villa complex at the end of this laneway called Wilys Villa and that looks great too, although again, I have found out no info on this place. I think the owner of Helios is based in Jakarta and the guest house mainly caters for local market.
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