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.

[hojacat]

On 2/19/2025 at 9:23 PM, Moses said:

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.

Thanks @Moses Was the wait at the airport for the car to arrive long ? Looks like Grab has moved into this meeting-point model in all the airports it operates. The one at BKK though it's so poorly run and the wait is quite long. Luckily I learnt my lesson and now only order Bolt and take the car on the 4th floor when I land ion there. It has been pretty and fast though in other places like Cambodia and Vietnam.

[Moses]

4 minutes ago, hojacat said:

Was the wait at the airport for the car to arrive long ?

about 7 minutes

 

[hojacat]

On 2/20/2025 at 2:38 PM, floridarob said:

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.

Thanks @floridarob Sounds more like what I experienced in the Philippines where it depended on the hotel and sometimes even on the time of the day. I think Vietnam is still the strictest when it comes to hotel guests.

[hojacat]

6 minutes ago, Moses said:

about 7 minutes

 

That's not bad at all.

[floridarob]

5 minutes ago, hojacat said:

Vietnam is still the strictest when it comes to hotel guests.

Colombia will give them a run for their money as will many Rio de Janeiro hotels..... Cuba would too, but not worth the bother of going there presently.

[hojacat]

23 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Colombia will give them a run for their money as will many Rio de Janeiro hotels..... Cuba would too, but not worth the bother of going there presently.

Well, considering the safety level on the first two places you mentioned, it's almost understandable they have to do that.

In Vietnam on the hand, it's just outdated bureaucratic manners. Luckily Airbnb exists, so I can enjoy the company of Viet guys at any given hour without having to worry about the judgement of a front desk.

[Moses]

It's high time to remind you that SiamRoads has its own guides on Bali  
I personally used Kadek's services and I can say that he is an ideal guide with a comfortable large car for excursions and a jeep for off-road trips to volcanoes.

And he, as a native Balinese, is an endless source of knowledge about how society in Bali is organized, about the local religion, about the culture, traditions and everyday life.

https://siamroads.com/kadek-guide-on-bali-indonesia/

[Olddaddy]

13 hours ago, Moses said:

It's high time to remind you that SiamRoads has its own guides on Bali  
I personally used Kadek's services and I can say that he is an ideal guide with a comfortable large car for excursions and a jeep for off-road trips to volcanoes.

And he, as a native Balinese, is an endless source of knowledge about how society in Bali is organized, about the local religion, about the culture, traditions and everyday life.

https://siamroads.com/kadek-guide-on-bali-indonesia/

I will be in Hanoi next month, can you recommend me a tour guide ??

Maybe I could use different guides for different days ?.

I want a guide who will take me and my Filipino🇵🇭 boyfriend to gay bars ,dance clubs ,and boat rides ,City 🗽🏙️🌉walks 

I'm NOT into War history museums 🪖

[Moses]

On 2/26/2025 at 11:58 PM, Olddaddy said:

I'm NOT into War history museums

War history museum is in HCMC, not in Hanoi.

David - Leo - Bryan - Freddy. But with high probability David and Leo are already busy. Empty calendars on their page means only what they aren't booked via main website, but SR has 3 websites, 4 twitter, 2 Instagram, 3 Facebook and 1 TikTok, + returning customers contact SR directly. The only way to know it for sure is to book and wait for confirmation or decline from guide (typically within next 24 hours).

[Olddaddy]

I'm going to Hanoi March 24th

Is it too early to book ?

[Moses]

6 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

Is it too early to book ?

Siamroads has 90-days horizon of planning.

More information is here https://siamroads.com/faq/