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.
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.
