iDrink Inna Bali Heritage Hotel

Inna Bali

For decades this was THE main hotel and social hangout on the island. What Raffles is to Singapore and the Peninsula to Hong Kong was Inna Bali to Denpasar.

First Bali tourists

In 1924 the Dutch Royal Postal Service (Koninklijke Pakketvaart-Maatschappij) launched a weekly steamship route between Bali and Batavia (Jakarta), Singapore, Semarang, Surabaya and Makassar. Passengers disembarked in Bali on a Friday morning, made a round trip on the island by car and left on Sunday. They slept on the ship or in rest houses.

Inna Bali the 1st international hotel

Four years later, the same shipping company opened the first international hotel in Bali: Inna Bali.The hotel’s large terrace quickly became the favourite hangout of the Dutch colonial officers, and surprisingly the menu still offers typical Dutch snacks like bitter ballen (diepfried meatballs) and poffertjes (mini pancakes)

Nice to know

Famous guests include Charlie Chaplin, JF Kennedy, Sukarno and also India’s first president Nehru.