This is an artist's impression of Harris Hotels Seminyak, an idyllic tropical paradise.
This is the reality. A congested street in a run down neighbourhood. Look at the width of one car as it takes up half the road. Where did all the lovely palm trees go? The idyllic boulevard?
You won't be thinking 'location, location, location' here. Jalan Drupadi is one of the more congested streets in Bali, boasts no street parking and soon no pedestrian paths.
The truth is that this is one of Seminyak's narrowest major thoroughfares. Yes, that is a main road, one that is used by hundreds of cars and motorbikes each day. And anyone who knows Bali, know narrow streets equal traffic jams. All it takes is one car to selfishly stop or a truck to break down and the whole of Jalan Drupandi becomes like an angry ants nest. Shots were taken at dawn.
Check the artist's drawings. That footpath is going to be removed by the developers and the greedy local officials lining their deep pockets. Check out the Harris Hotel pictures above - there will no longer be any pedestrian thoroughfare in either direction of the hotel. How do you expect to walk to on such a dangerous road?? How do you expect to get to anywhere? Actually, nothing is close by.
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Where did all the greenery come from? The luxury cars? The green hills in the background? The truth is you get a pretty dirty street lined with industrial laundries, tattoo parlors and a boys-to-man massage parlor. Family friendly? This is sleazy Semin-yuck!
This is a mirage. It is a lie.
Jalan Drupadi is a particularly narrow, gnarled and dirty street. Frankly, it is a sleazy street. In the Harris Hotel sales blurb, they have the gall to lie that you are surrounded by the best restaurants, you are just 800 meters from the beach, that you are surrounded by exclusive villas. Bullshit! Go and pay a visit to the Harris Hotels Seminyak website! Talk about a pack of lies. For starters, WE had to mark in the position of the hotel on their own map below. Clearly Harris are uncomfortable that their hotel is NOT close to all of the luxury hotels and restaurants and shopping - as you will plainly see - in spite of their claims. What sort of conmen would extol the virtues of their immediate surroundings - yet not mark their position?? [A word to the wise, Harris Hotel Marketing people, we have got screen captures of all this evidence]. And the lies continue when they start to discuss occupancy rates.
Countless businesses have failed, primarily because of the undesirables that loiter here - and drive away the desired customers for middle and high-end eateries, shopping or cafes. There are none in walking distance. Along with the tattoo shop and various 'massage' salons, there is a preponderance of noisy laundries that add to the traffic congestion with their vans coming and going. Many of these places play thumping music until dawn [.. laundromats are renowned to be a mafia business with the young workers high as kites on a concoction of chemicals; they don't care if you can't sleep either].
This is a particularly run down part of Seminyak. It is NOT the glamorous end of town, make no mistake. Had it been the case, presumably Harris Hotels would have marked their own location on the map of Seminyak. If Harris claim a 3-Star down-market hotel like theirs will lead to the locals beautifying the local area, consider what level of local government official accepted the bribes to turn a blind eye to this development. They don't care! What was a beautiful rice paddy, now is a particularly ugly Harris Hotel. See how the local Bali community reacted on FaceBook - HERE
Tattoo & Piercing studio. Undesirable gang types constantly loitering.
Banana Spa. Massage studio with young male staff and very popular with older gay men. Family friendly? Need we point out the significance of the happy banana?
One of a handful of derelict retail properties from failed business on Jalan Drupadi.
Yet another Western restaurant that failed because of the undesirable feel to the neighborhood.
One of half a dozen laundries that play thumping music till dawn every day. Yes, your bedroom is only fifteen meters away. No, the police won't argue your case against the local mafia.
With one exception of La Sal & Kreol, there are no international standard restaurants in walking distance of the hotel. There are mainly 'warungs' that serve only local fare. This is the area of Seminyak where the construction workers of Seminyak are housed and roam.
Don't expect you're in the swish hotel district. Cheap tourist rooms only. Yes, that's the Harris Hotel Seminyak just across the road. Who'd want to lease your investment? These guys are charging US$30 per night. What will they charge when three-star Harris Hotels can't attain that??
Hold on! Did Harris Hotels Seminyak marketing team just claim - here - that occupancy rates in Bali were up around 82.5% over the last five years? Not according to the Jakarta Post. Not according to anyone who understands investment.
Oversupply causes hotels to suffer low occupancy rates.
The rocketing number of hotel rooms in Bali has drastically affected the average occupancy rates, now reaching only 60 to 65 percent, making business quite unprofitable, said a leading figure in the tourist industry. Anak Agung Gede Rai, a prominent figure in the hospitality industry, commented that such occupancy rates were too low for any hotel to survive. “This situation has been caused by an excessive number of rooms in both star-rated and non-starred hotels, villas and other accommodation facilities,” Rai said. “With the flood of tourists coming to Bali, it would be logical for our hotel occupancy rates to increase. But, in reality, we still have stagnant occupancy rates,” said Rai, former director of Bali Tourism Development Cooperation (BTDC).
The Jakarta Post, August 14th, 2012 - here
If you read their website, Harris Hotels guarantee you 8% ROI (Return of Investment) in your first 2 years. They are selling 233 units. Laughably, they claim that 80% of the pokey units are sold. In February of 2013, a local husband and wife went undercover to their sales office in Kuta - and every room they pointed at and asked if this was sold, the local salesmen would say no. It's available? Yes. Very quickly it became apparent that they have sold none. We actually made this point to them and they smiled and said that the Harris Hotel boss instructed them to say many units were sold already, but they could sell us any we wanted. It is a common tactic to fake exceeding demand.
You might want to ask them what happens if you don't hit that 8% investment return they plucked out of the air. Will you get your money back - with interest? Or, will you be lumbered with a perennially vacant unit that you will have to rent for a pittance, if at all? And the future? Ask yourself, after a year of terrible reviews from interested parties on Trip Advisor, will anyone ever want to rent your investment property?? It's so not likely. Nobody in their right mind would invest in this lemon.
We're looking forward to the protests. Six people could close down Jl. Drupadi - let alone a hundred.
Hold on! Did Harris Hotels Seminyak marketing team just claim - here - that occupancy rates in Bali were up around 82.5% over the last five years? Not according to the Jakarta Post. Not according to anyone who understands investment.
Oversupply causes hotels to suffer low occupancy rates.
The rocketing number of hotel rooms in Bali has drastically affected the average occupancy rates, now reaching only 60 to 65 percent, making business quite unprofitable, said a leading figure in the tourist industry. Anak Agung Gede Rai, a prominent figure in the hospitality industry, commented that such occupancy rates were too low for any hotel to survive. “This situation has been caused by an excessive number of rooms in both star-rated and non-starred hotels, villas and other accommodation facilities,” Rai said. “With the flood of tourists coming to Bali, it would be logical for our hotel occupancy rates to increase. But, in reality, we still have stagnant occupancy rates,” said Rai, former director of Bali Tourism Development Cooperation (BTDC).
The Jakarta Post, August 14th, 2012 - here
If you read their website, Harris Hotels guarantee you 8% ROI (Return of Investment) in your first 2 years. They are selling 233 units. Laughably, they claim that 80% of the pokey units are sold. In February of 2013, a local husband and wife went undercover to their sales office in Kuta - and every room they pointed at and asked if this was sold, the local salesmen would say no. It's available? Yes. Very quickly it became apparent that they have sold none. We actually made this point to them and they smiled and said that the Harris Hotel boss instructed them to say many units were sold already, but they could sell us any we wanted. It is a common tactic to fake exceeding demand.
You might want to ask them what happens if you don't hit that 8% investment return they plucked out of the air. Will you get your money back - with interest? Or, will you be lumbered with a perennially vacant unit that you will have to rent for a pittance, if at all? And the future? Ask yourself, after a year of terrible reviews from interested parties on Trip Advisor, will anyone ever want to rent your investment property?? It's so not likely. Nobody in their right mind would invest in this lemon.
We're looking forward to the protests. Six people could close down Jl. Drupadi - let alone a hundred.
Make yourself heard. Write a review on any of the 'Managed by Tauzia' hotels on Trip Adviser now. If they have no no business, they will discover they have no business being in Bali.
JOIN 35,000 PEOPLE STRONG 'Bali - How Much is Too Much?' ANTI-DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK - HERE - AND GET MOBILIZED TO ACT.
JOIN 35,000 PEOPLE STRONG 'Bali - How Much is Too Much?' ANTI-DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK - HERE - AND GET MOBILIZED TO ACT.
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