YES. we believe so. To be sure there have been demonstrations and unrest in Jakarta off and on over the last few years as Indonesia lurches towards its own form of democratic governance but all in all Surabaya has not experience such demostrations. Regarding crime, Surabaya is not any more dangerous than any other large city and much safer than most (click here for safe traveling tips).

More information about traveling to Indonesia can be found here:
http://www.usembassyjakarta.org   United States
http://www.dfat.gov.au/consular/advice/indonesia.html   Australia

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 BaliHotels.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 BaliHotels.com to apply for a travel agent discount.

All rates are quoted on a per room basis with two persons occupying the room.

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.

Melati hotels are more difficult to define. Some Melati hotels 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 here.

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.

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 :

- 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.

- 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.

- Not Received: Not often, but every once in a while we simply do not receive your email.

- No Name: We do not answer anonymous email (inquiries wherein the sender does not identify themselves by name).

- 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@balihotels.com.

- Other: Without a confirmed reservation, we do not provide contact details for any hotel & ignore such requests.

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 SurabayaHotels.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.

Sorry, no. The rates are quoted by the hotels and, for any number of reasons are in US Dollars or Indonesian Rupiah - it is not up to SurabayaHotels.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).

As well be advised that many hotels (especially smaller properties) in Bali add a surcharge of 3-5% if you pay with a credit card. Better to ask the hotel in advance if any surcharge will be added. If so, the best thing to do is to go to the nearest ATM machine and withdraw funds using the bank's ATM foreign exchange rate and pay cash.

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.

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.

Effective 01 February 2004 there are 3/three different types of visas available.

Free Visa Upon Arrival (Free VOA). 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 (Paid VOA). 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 costs US$10.00/person and a 30 day non-extenable stay visa costs 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 BaliHotels.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.

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 SurabayaHotels.com.

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.