Bali questions?

[hojacat]

Planning to return to Bali after almost 10 years and have a few practical questions that hopefully some people here can help me with:

•  Is Grab or any other ridesharing app easily available in Bali? Remember reading 1-2 years ago about taxi drivers protesting the presence of Grab in there. Can you order a Grab straight from the airport?
• I remember guys had no problems going straight to my room but all of them had to register at reception. Some asked for my first and last name and what surprised me at that time, a few of them knew my name and nationality even though I had given them only my room number, so I guess they were provided to them by reception when they registered.          Do you think is better to pick up guys straight from the lobby as I don't want to give them my credentials? Do they have to register if you are with them?
• Are there any proper gay saunas in Bali? I've heard of Elegantz in here but that sounds more like a massage place to me (plus someone mentioned that it got busted by police a few months ago)

[Moses]

41 minutes ago, hojacat said:

Is Grab or any other ridesharing app easily available in Bali? Remember reading 1-2 years ago about taxi drivers protesting the presence of Grab in there. Can you order a Grab straight from the airport?

I'm just from Bali.

As of 2 weeks ago Grab is working on Bali well. Yes, you can order Grab from Airport, for it you should reach Grab's booth, because only there is parking lot where driver may pick up you without problems. You can reach any location by Grab, but you can't order Grab from some locations where local community forbidding Grab to pick up passengers.

If you haven't Grab app on your phone you may book taxi with help of Grab's staff, if you have app then just book your car and wait on the sofa there - parking lot is in 20 meters from that place.

The basis of self-government in Bali is a unit that is best translated as "village"***. Each village has a meeting house, where the heads of families living in that village gather about once a month to decide on self-government issues. They have the right to declare their village a place where only local drivers can accept orders from passengers. This is where you can't order a Grab from the app and will have to either leave the village or take a local taxi from the village stand.

*** another option for translation is "quarter".

 

41 minutes ago, hojacat said:

I remember guys had no problems going straight to my room but all of them had to register at reception. Some asked for my first and last name and what surprised me at that time, a few of them knew my name and nationality even though I had given them only my room number, so I guess they were provided to them by reception when they registered.          Do you think is better to pick up guys straight from the lobby as I don't want to give them my credentials? Do they have to register if you are with them?

Registration is still mandatory, but you may meet them in lobby and register them yourself, or you may stay in low key villas where nobody cares about visitors.

Few masseurs reached me without problems - I picked them in lobby and register myself with their ID. I mean masseurs, not "masseurs".

 

[floridarob]

17 hours ago, Moses said:

Registration is still mandatory,

Would vary by hotel I'd say....I've stayed in an Ibis type hotel and 5 star, neither was concerned who was with me....in the Ibis type they just walked up to my room.