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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
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Dear Friends,
Have a question? Below are some of the most frequently asked questions
that we have received and our responses. If you have a question
that's not covered please, by all means, send us an email
and we'll be happy to answer.
Thank you.
| Is
the Rate Quoted per Room or per Person? |
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All rates are quoted on a per
room basis with double occupancy (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. That
said, the rating system is purely objective, for a hotel to
rated 5 stars it must have for example, a spa - however, there
is no requirement that the spa be of certain size or have any
particular equipment or ammenities. As such, some 5 star hotels
that meet the government's objective requirements are a long
way from what the discerning traveler would consider 5 star
luxury. As often mentioned, you get what you pay for, so it
is often better to let price be your guide.
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
in Indonesia.
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 YogyakartaHotels.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 : |
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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. |
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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. |
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Not Received:
Not often, but every once in a while we simply do not receive
your email. |
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No Name:
We do not answer anonymous email (inquiries wherein the sender
does not identify themselves by name). |
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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@yogyakartahotels.com. |
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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 YogyakartaHotels.com? |
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Understanding
that most hotels in Yogyakarta 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 YogyakartaHotels.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 YogyakartaHotels.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 YogyakartaHotels.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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| 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 Yogyakarta? |
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Effective 01
February 2004 there will be 3 different types of visas available.
Free Visa Upon Arrival.
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.
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, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom and United States of America.
*Effective 23 May 2006 Dutch national are eligiable for paid
VOA.
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.
Cost. It has been reported
that there will be two types of Paid Visas available. A
7 day stay visa costing US$10.00/person and a 30
day stay visa costing US$25.00/person.
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 YogyakartaHotels.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 YogyakartaHotels.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 never a fee to change
or cancel your reservation with YogyakartaHotels.com. |
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| Can
you help me change reservations I made with another company? |
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Sorry, no. Inasmuch as we can not verify the
authenticity of the requesting party we can not take responsibility
to forward any commercial communications whatsoever. You will
need to contact the travel agent, hotel or reservation service
that made the reservation in the first place. |
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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
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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 most likely be less than YogyakartaHotels.com's special discount
rates - (read you will probably pay more). That said, since we have
no way of verifying who works for what airline we are not able to
process airline discount requests. You will need to apply for your
discount when checking in.
Regarding travel agent discounts - If
you really work for a travel agency you certainly don't need YogyakartaHotels.com
to apply for a travel agent discount. |
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