After spending the previous couple of weeks in Sumbawa trekking, camping and in a range of substandard accommodation, we decided to finish on a high note. So despite being significantly more expensive than other accommodation in the the area, we booked into the Baha Baha, opting for the more expensive “Sunset View” rooms, both a double and twin room to accommodate our family. We were looking forward to big, new, air conditioned rooms. Sadly, we were disappointed.
The rooms are BIG, but they are big and empty with nowhere to put our luggage other than on the floor. The TV remote in one room was missing and could not be operated without it, and the air conditioners in both rooms were barely effective. We came to the conclusion that the AC’s where either too small for the room or that they were struggling with the power supply as the units in both our rooms seemed to stop and start intermittently for no apparent reason. The ceiling fans wouldn’t go any faster than a slow spin despite 5 speed settings so unless we left the main glass sliding doors open (not an option over night for security reasons), the rooms were hot and stuffy.
The bathroom vanities are much higher than standard with an even higher basin. My 12 year old and myself, an average height woman, found it virtually impossible to lean over the basin to clean our teeth. Also strangely, the mirrors weren’t hung, there were no towel racks or even a toilet roll holder. It left me with the distinct impression the rooms had never quite been finished. In one room, the bathroom door would not shut and the door lock on the sliding doors onto the veranda of the other room kept jamming so we had to use the rear door entrance and walk around. Additionally, neither room was serviced at all during our stay.
Meals in the restaurant were mixed. The cook seemed to have a love affair with pepper to the point parts of our meals were inedible without leaving our mouths burning. After learning our lesson the first day, we specifically requested no pepper but to no avail. On our second night, 4 of the 5 of us waited over 1.5 hours for our meals. Yes they were busier than the previous night, but best I could tell, they only managed to serve 3 meals to other people whilst we were waiting.
The final straw for us was when we arranged a transfer to the fast ferry for 6:45am on our last morning. When speaking with the manager that last night, he told me he would have the bill ready for us. However, when we went to check out, reception was closed up with no sign of any staff. The driver was waiting for us, luggage loaded and after 6:45 came and went, he finally rang someone on his mobile. 10 min later, a staff member who had obviously been roused from his bed ambled across, followed shortly after by the manager. By the time we paid the bill, we were running late through no fault of our own. The manager ended up driving another couple to the ferry, arriving before us and subsequently helped us purchase our tickets which diffused some of our annoyance.
On the positive side, the swimming pool is lovely and my family really enjoyed having the pool table, table tennis and board games to keep us entertained.
Basically, the manager and staff seem nice and were helpful but if they are serious about filling this mid-range niche, and charging the sort of prices they’re charging, they need to be more professional. This property isn’t a surf camp were patrons are paying 100.000-200.000Rp per night for basic accommodation. If they can get this distinction into their heads and make the improvements that are needed, and fix the air conditioning, I think the Baha Baha has the potential to be really good.
