When I visited, the hotel was already open to guests who picked their way through tangles of cables, and sun darkened workmen putting the final touches to the rich decor and landscape. My dust and paint spattered foster son Iping, was working on the mural in the restaurant.

While finding your way to your room might prove to be a tad difficult after a night at the bar, the arrival is worth it. The hand of Phillip Starke, the bearded black clothed enfant terrible of international design, is to be most clearly seen in the hotel rooms - well-designed spare but functional spaces, with comfortable beds and a vaguely nautical feeling. In keeping with the music focus, each room has its own sound system.

But you don't have to be a paying guest. The wild at heart public can be part of the HRH drop-dead trendy scene. Rock the night away at the emblematic Center Stage which is where the action is. Use the pool, and rent the numerous pool-side cabanas which provide shelter from the intense beach heat. The cabanas have phones by which to order Mediterranean meals and drinks on wheels, (the waiting staff arriving on roller blades or tiny bikes). Or choose from one of the HRH's great venues to eat: The late-night corner noodle shop provides a touch of Singapore with its Asian cafeteria-style food. The Peking Duck, succulent roast pork, noodles of infinite variety provide temptations too good to resist. The upstairs Gamelan restaurant provides a la carte and what looked to be an excellent lunchtime buffet. And of course keep an eye out for the Big Events.

"We are an oasis in Kuta. An entertainment complex with no rival. We provide a familiar comfort zone to those used to our Cafes. We can even jazz up boring regional meetings with our sunset rituals and post-conference performances. Why use other facilities?" Why indeed?

With the arrival of this latest monument to pop culture, the internationalisation of Bali is almost complete. All in all its just another chink in the wall - to the purists that is. But to those who admire elan, it signifies a new age of travel indulgence.

So Welcome to the Show. See you Center Stage!