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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
Dear Friends,
Have a question ? Below are some of the most frequently asked questions
that we receive and our responses. If you have a question that's
not covered please, by all means, drop us a line at stay@lombokhotels.com
and we'll be happy to answer.
Thank you.
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Is
the rate quoted on a per room or per person basis?
What
is the difference between a Star Rated Hotel and Melati Hotel?
I
wrote to LombokHotels.com but
have not received a reply. Why?
How
does the reservation system work with LombokHotels.com?
All
rates are in US Dollars - Can you quote in Australian Dollars?
Some hotels are 'Preferred Hotels' - what
does this mean?
About
my privacy - what do you do with the information you collect?
There
is no link for some hotels. Why?
Do
I need a visa to travel to Lombok?
Is
there any fee to cancel a reservation?
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| Is the Rate
Quoted on a per Room or per Person? |
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All rates are quoted on a per room
basis with two persons occupying the room.
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| What is the
difference between a Star Rated Hotels and Melati Hotels? |
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Hotels in Indonesia are rated along
guidelines established by the Government. By and large there are
3 categories: Star; Melati; and Losmen. Within each of these categories
there are various levels. The Star Category has levels 1-5 with
5 being best. Melati Category has 3 levels 1-3 with 3 being best.
Losmen are not rated.
Briefly:
Star rated hotels are fairly easy to distinguish between - the more
stars the more services and facilities you can expect. A one star
hotel will not have international direct dial telephones in the
room or 24 hour room service - a 5 star hotel will.
Melati hotels are more difficult to define. Some Melati hotel especially
the level 3 (many now being marketed as Boutique Hotels) can sometimes
be "nicer" than a 3 star hotel. Some owners of Melati
hotels prefer not be star rated for personal reasons. Other Melati
hotels just don't have the facilities to be rated in the star category.
Therefore the old saying "you get what
you pay for" really applies here. However to give an idea
in general, Melati l hotels often do not have air-conditioned bedrooms
and no hotel facilities to speak of. Melati 2 may or may not have
air conditioned rooms and may have a few facilities such as a restaurant
but lack services such as room service - direct dial telephones
and so on, and Melati 3, usually have air-conditioned rooms, restaurant
and sometimes room service but may or not have direct dial telephone
service. Again it depends on the room rate.
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| We wrote to
LombokHotels.com but have not received a reply. Why? |
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We do our best to reply to all legitimate
e-mail inquiries within a few hours. However, if you have not received
a reply it is more than likely due to one of the following causes
:
- Incorrect E-Mail Address: More often than not,
the email address provided to us was incorrect. Please check that
your email address is correct and resend.
- Incorrect Date: We sort email by date and if
the date on your email server or computer is wrong we may not be
aware that you have sent us an e-mail.
- Not Received: Not often, but every once in a
while we simply do not receive your email.
- No Name: We do not answer anonymous email (inquiries
wherein the sender does not identify themselves by name).
- Spam Filters: Some ISPs (AOL, EarthLink etc.)
have filters to protect users from receiving unsolicited email.
Please make sure that you set your filter to allow you to receive
email from stay@lombokhotels.com.
- Other: Without a confirmed reservation, we do
not provide contact details for any hotel & ignore such requests.
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| How does the
reservation system work with LombokHotels.com? |
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Understanding
that most hotels in Lombok are smaller, family owned and managed properties
the reservation system in most hotels is not autoamted and as such
the process is as follows:
First, after you have found a hotel to your liking, click on the
reservation form, fill in all the blank fields and submit.
If room is available on your requested dates you will be given the
opportunity to submit your credit card details to process the reservation
immediately. However be advised that the hotel will review the reservation
for final confirmation. Likewise, if the room is not available for
the dates requested you may still submit the reservation and be
placed on a wait list. We will keep you advised of your request
and suggest alternative accommodations as needed.
All hotels require a deposit or credit card to confirm the booking
(to cut down on bogus reservations). We do not 'bait and
switch' - hotels that are fully booked are posted in advance
(click
here to view).
That said, if you do not submit your credit card details when making
your reservation you will need to forward your credit card information
within 24 hours or the reservation will be cancelled. We will provide
you with the location of our secure server or, if you prefer, you
may email or fax this information. Please be advised that LombokHotels.com
will not charge any amount to your credit
card. We only pass this information onto the hotel. Once we have
the credit card information we will email to you the hotel's confirmation
number or code.
At that time you are subject to the hotel's cancellation policy
(usually 72 hours prior to arrival or one night's stay is charged
to your account by the hotel). However each hotel
has its own cancellation policy which is posted on the hotel's reservation
form. Read this information carefully. If you have
any changes to your booking you must advise us accordingly. We confirm
all cancellations with the hotels.
However there are a few international hotel chains, most notably
Accor Hotels (i.e. Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Sofitel and All Seasons)
that have automated reservation systems with instant confirmation.
In these hotels (look for & logo) the reservation system is
as follows.
First, after you have found a hotel to your liking, click on the
reservation form, fill in all the blank fields and submit. If the
hotel has rooms available you will be advised of the rate per room
per night. Should you agree with the rate(s) and wish to make a
booking you will be directed to our secure server to submit your
request. You will need a valid credit card to submit and process
the reservation. The reservation, along with your credit card information
will be sent directly to the hotel. The hotel will immediately advise
a booking confirmation number. (Be advised that LombokHotels.com does
not receive your credit card information in any format whatsoever.)
Once the reservation is confirmed by the hotel you are subject to
the hotel's cancellation policy, usually 24-48 hours prior to arrival
(using the hotel's time) or one night's stay is charged to your
account by the hotel). However each hotel has its own cancellation
policy which is posted on the hotel's reservation form. Read this
information carefully. If you have any changes to your booking you
must advise us accordingly. We confirm all cancellations with the
hotels.
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| All rates are
in US Dollars. Can you quote in Australian (or other) Dollars? |
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Sorry, no. The rates are quoted by
the hotels and, for any number of reasons are in US Dollars - it
is not up to LombokHotels.com.
That said the hotel will, by law, settle your bill in Indonesian
Rupiah at the day's prevailing exchange rate. Most hotel's use an
internal exchange rate (which may include commissions or service
fees and thus differ from the 'market' exchange rate posted by Bank
Indonesia). Whilst usually the exchange rate is fair sometimes it
is out of date (especially in smaller hotels). If you believe the
hotel's exchange rate is unfavourable, the best thing to do is to
go to the nearest ATM machine and withdraw funds using the bank's
ATM foreign exchange rate or offer to pay directly in US Dollars
(traveler cheques or cash).
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| Some hotels
are 'Preferred Hotels' - what does this mean? |
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Since staring LombokHotels.com in
1999, we have made countless site inspections at hotels all throughout
Lombok. We have conducted quarterly rate surveys and have received
a fair amount feedback from our clients - so much so - that we feel
confident in pointing out which hotels provide the most value for
money in any given price range.
Preferred hotels are those hotels where the management has, over
the years, demonstrated an effort to offer superior value for money
in terms of facilities, customer service, friendliness and cleanliness.
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| What about my
privacy, what do you do with the information you collect? |
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We value your privacy as much
as we treasure ours. When we contact a hotel to confirm
a booking we only provide to the hotel that information which the
hotel would normally obtain during check-in or registration. We
do not use any of information you have given us for any other purposes
nor do we sell, rent or give your information to any 3rd parties.
We never have and we have no plans to do so. For more information
please click
here
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| There is no
link for some hotels. Why? |
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It is not always possible to have
information on every hotel. Some hotels choose not to be listed.
Some hotels do not meet our criteria or standards - this is especially
true of Losmen (budget hotels) where one gets what one pays for.
That said, we still provide the name and current room rate for such
places as a public service (we make no money from this - really)
to let people know that such accommodation does exist but we do
not recommend it.
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| Do I need a
visa to travel to Lombok? |
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Effective 01 February 2004 there are 3/three different types of visas available.
Free Visa Upon Arrival (Free VOA). Citizens from the following countries (primarily ASEAN) will retain the Free Visa Upon Arrival status - Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Morocco, Chile and Peru. The permitted length of stay is 30 (thirty) days.
Paid Visa Upon Arrival (Paid VOA). Citizens of the following 63 countries will be able to apply and pay for a visa upon arrival to Indonesia - Aljazair, Argentine, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazilia, Bulgary, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greek, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Islandia, Italy, Japan, Lao PDR, Latvia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Nederland, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Panama, People's Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Quwait, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Swedia, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.
Cost. Effective 26 January 2010 a thirty (30) day stay visa costs US$25.00 per person (adult and or child). This visa can be extended for another 30 days at the immigration office. (Please note that the seven (7) day stay visa previously available is No Longer Available as of 26 January 2010.)
Other Paid Visa. Citizens of all other countries will be required to obtain a visa prior to their entering Indonesia. You will need to contact the nearest Indonesian Embassy for details and an application.
For more complete and up to date information it is best
to visit or call the Indonesian Embassy nearest you.
Entry & Departure must be through one of the following airports:
AIRPORTS: Polonia (Medan) - Hang Nadim (Batam) - Simpang Tiga (Pekan
Baru) - Tabing (Padang) - Sukarno-Hatta (Jakarta) - Husein Sastranegara
(Bandung) - Juanda (Surabaya) - Sepinggan (Balikpapan) - Supadio
(Pontianak) - Ngurah Rai ( Bali ) - Selaparang (Mataram) - Sam Ratulangi
(Manado) - Pattimura (Ambon) - Frans Kasiepo (Biak).
SEAPORTS: Belawan (Medan) - Batu Ampar (Batam) - Tanjung Pinang
(Riau) - Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) - Tanjung Mas (Semarang) - Tanjung
Perak (Surabaya) - Benoa and Padangbai (Bali) - Ambon (Maluku) and
Bitung (Manado).
BORDER POINT OF ENTRY : Entikong (West Kalimantan)
Citizens from other countries that are "not" in the list,
and planning to visit Indonesia are required to obtain a visa.
REQUIREMENTS for Visa Upon Arrival:
A passport valid for 6 (six) months beyond their intended length
of stay. A return ticket, or outgoing flight ticket. Completed immigration
card (supplied by air carrier) International Certificate of Yellow
Fever Vaccination is required for those coming from / stopping over
infected area must be presented at the Port of Entry.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS to apply for a visa in your home country:
A passport valid for 6 (six) months beyond their intended length
of stay. A return ticket, or outgoing flight ticket. 2 passport
size photographs and proof of sufficient funds to support yourself
while in Indonesia.
Be advised that visa requirements may change without notice and
that LombokHotels.com makes no representation as to the accuracy
of the above information. To get the most complete and up to date
information please visit the Indonesian Embassy nearest you.
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| Is there any
fee to cancel a reservation made with LombokHotels.com |
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No. As long as you abide by the hotel's
cancellation policy (usually 24 to 72 hours advance notice; fyi,
each hotel's policy is different and the hotel's policy will be
written on the hotel's reservation page) there is no cancellation
fee.
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Just what is the
#1 FAQ ?
Q. We work for XYZ Airline or ABC Travel Agency - can we
get an airline or travel agency discount ?
A. In most cases hotels will give a discount for airline
employees - the amount of the discount varies from hotel to hotel
but it is important to know that the discount is based on the hotel's
published rate.
As such in most cases the airline discount will be less than the
special LombokHotels.com rate. Furthermore, since we have no way
of verifying who works for what airline we are not able to process
airline discount requests.
If you work for a travel agency you certainly don't need LombokHotels.com
to apply for a travel agent discount. |
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