Staying in the Teak House Built in 1891


 
Decided to splurge and spend my last night of vacation in a beautifully restored Gladak teak house from 1891 (now part of the Balquisse Heritage Hotel). The house is on the grounds of an old estate and is filled with vintage antiques. To add to the surrealistic, dreamlike quality of the experience is the lush tropical foliage surrounding the house and the fact that I seem to be the only person staying on the property this evening. I am also intrigued by the spooky sounds of unfamiliar insects, birds, and night creatures all around me--yet none of them are visible.  

This property is no "cookie-cutter" hotel; in fact, it was a finalist for Condè Nast's award for the world's best design in a new hotel in 2016. I am not surprised as the design and decor really does create a sense of existing in the distant past. It's as though I am residing in the setting of an E.M. Forster novel, if he had ever decided to set a novel in Indonesia. But even better is the hotel's rigorous conformity to environmental standards. When I arrived at the reception desk with a couple of souvenirs in a plastic bag along with my luggage, it was immediately confiscated and replaced with a paper bag as not one speck of plastic is allowed on the hotel property--and I have noticed several other distictive environmental features too.  Loving my stay in this unique blend of futurism and history.

LATE NIGHT UPDATE:  One of the night creatures has just made himself visible. I witnessed some unidentifiable small being about the size of a mouse, half scurrying/half hopping across the floor of my room and I think he escaped by squeezing through a crack under one of the French doors. I already knew this intuitively, but I am now completely certain teak houses built in 1891 are far from air tight.










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