The Telephone Pub, Restaurant & Karaoke Lounge
114/11 Silom Soi 4, Bangkok, Thailand 10500
Tel (66) 02 234 3279, Fax (66) 02 632 7115
www.telephonepub.com
and receive a 10% discount.
Festive Season at Spartacvs Bali
Christmas has come and gone once again, but we at Spartacvs will remember it very well. It was our first Christmas at the Hotel and our Managing Director treated all the staff to a Christmas Eve party for all the hard work they had put into the Hotel since its opening. There was plenty of food to go around and all you can drink across the bar, by late evening several of the staff were not capable of riding their bikes home safely, so were given rooms to sleep it off in. By Christmas Day the hotel was at 100% capacity and remained that way till after the first week in January.
On New Years Eve the Hotel hosted a exotic gay art exhibition in the Hotel grounds, which proved very popular with the guests and visitors, needless to say many of them stayed on to celebrate the New Year at our bar, mainly because of the torrential rain that spoilt a lot of pre-organised plans. As midnight approached the bar was in full swing, even the staff were in party mode, but exactly ten seconds after midnight, the whole power grid in our area was blacked out, of course that didn't deter our gusts and staff, so out came the candles and the party raged on till the early hours of the morning, thankfully power was restored at about 2.30am.
All in all it was a very wet Festive season, but the sun finally came out around the 5 th January and although we have had more rain this wet season than the previous 3 years, the Hotel occupancy remained quite high. Our first promotion for the New Year came on the 26 th January and as all Aussies know, it was Australia Day. This year was the 220 th birthday for Australia, so our bar was decorated with Australian flags in all sizes, we played nothing but Australian music all day and night, the bar sold icy cold cans of Fosters beer, our BBQ was well under way by 7pm and to set the whole night off, a fireworks display around the pool at 9pm.
We are now fast approaching Chinese New Year on the 7 th February and again the Hotel will gear up for another celebration, quickly followed by Valentines Day on the 14 th February. We have already received many bookings for February, it seems like the Hotel just may go to 100% occupancy again, so if you have plans to visit Bali this month and would like to stay at Spartacvs, please submit your bookings at the earliest moment.
Next month Bali will celebrate Nyepi, it is a Balinese "Day of Silence" that falls on Bali's Lunar New Year (7 th March 2008). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation.
Observed from 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. The main restrictions are: no lighting fires (and lights must be kept low); no working; no entertainment or pleasure; no traveling; and for some, no talking or eating at all. The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali's usually bustling streets and roads are empty, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the Pecalang , traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed. Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.
Spartacvs will operate as normal as possible during the 24 hours of silence, our gates will be closed and locked from 6am on the 7 th March till 6am the following day, the only exception will be in a medical emergency. The one good thing about being in a Hotel for Nyepi is that our guests can still wander around the Hotel grounds, swim in the pool, frequent the bar and restaurant, compared to being in a private house, where you can not even venture outside the front door. Depending upon our occupancy we will roster enough staff to cater for all our guests for 24 hours and although it is a logistics nightmare for our Senior Management, we will still provide all meals, drinks, security and comforts during this period.
Spartacvs "on the move"
Since we started our refurbishments at Spartacvs on 1st August 07, and opened the hotel for business on the 1st September 07, a stray Bali dog has taken refuge on our premises. She is white in color and very friendly, we have named her "Dusty", all she asks for is a pat on the back and a feed every now and then. Most days you will find her laying in the shade at our front gate, otherwise playing in the street with the other stray dogs, sometimes she brings a male dog to the hotel with her, for a free feed and cold drink of water, could be her boyfriend? It would be nice to see other establishments in Bali doing the same, then maybe there would be less undernourished stray dogs roaming the streets.
On a lighter note, our hotel had the privilege of accommodating the owner and his partner ( Wayne & Ice ) of the Telephone Pub located in Bangkok, Thailand, here in Bali for a weeks holiday. The Spartacvs staff made the guys feel very welcome and formed a very good friendship with them, to the degree that Wayne & Ice have now placed a banner for Spartacvs on their website ( www.telephonepub.com ) and offering a 10% discount on food and drinks, by producing the Spartacvs Member card when paying the bill. In return, the hotel is also offering a 10% discount on room rates, bar & restaurant for guys producing their Telephone Pub Member card. The Telephone Pub, Restaurant & Karaoke Lounge is Bangkok's oldest gay bar, well known for their gimmick of placing phones around the bar, so that guys can phone a stranger and strike up a conversation, leading to many things !!
It's the festive season fast approaching and to avoid disappointment, we recommend you book early as possible for your Christmas holiday at Spartacvs, where clothing is optional in a private and secure environment, we look forward to your company.
Christmas and New Year Eve Party
Apparently the patter of little feet have been heard around the hotel, yes our adopted female stray dog "Dusty" has had a litter of pups, but has them hidden somewhere close to the hotel, hopefully she will soon bring out to show us all. We at Spartacvs keep striving to improve the hotel, so as our guests check out, we ask them for their comments on how we can make their stay even more enjoyable.
Where ever possible we try to implement these suggestions and ideas, so now once a week the hotel will have a Aussie style BBQ (barbeque) around the pool, at a nominal price, its also a great chance for our guests to meet their fellow guests and staff in a more relaxed atmosphere. The hotel has also installed smoke alarms in every room for your added safety. Another new addition to our Deluxe and Superior rooms is a small mini bar, stocked with beer and soft drink, plus a small basket of potato chips and other confectionary, and complimentary bottle drinking water is now also available in all rooms. As the Festive Season is fast approaching upon us, Spartacvs Bali is gearing up to decorate the hotel with small Christmas trees aligning the fish pond and colorful fairy lights around the pool area, with the centre of attention being our main Christmas tree, to be located in the bar area, with small gifts placed around the bottom. For those who would like to join us at Spartacvs Bali we will be providing a special lunch menu for our guests on Christmas Day, with all the festive trimmings, to make your stay away from home, a little more enjoyable. Hopefully Santa will not forget to drop in and visit us on his hectic schedule on Christmas Eve.
We are also planning to have a special get-together on New Years Eve, before our guests venture out on the town to celebrate. As a reminder, anyone planning to stay at Spartacvs Bali over the Christmas New Year period, please book early to avoid disappointment.
