Is your Bali guestlist real? How to tell the official one

The real guestlist at Savaya, Zumana and Desa Kitsuné is the venue's own registration page for that night. It is free to join, each person in the group registers themselves, and a digital ticket arrives at the email address they entered. If someone asks you to pay to be "added to the guestlist", what you are buying is not the venue's guestlist: at best it is something else, at worst it is nothing.

ARGY

Zumana

GuestlistTable

SAVAYA WEDNESDAY

Savaya Bali

GuestlistTable

ZENIA

Zumana

GuestlistTable

SAVAYA THURSDAY

Savaya Bali

GuestlistTable

DESA KITSUNE FRIDAY

Desa Kitsuné

GuestlistTable

ARTBAT

Zumana

Table

Each night above with a Guestlist button links to that night's official registration page. A night with only the Table button is ticketed only: there is no guestlist to join, real or otherwise.

What the official guestlist is

At these three venues there is one official guestlist page per night. Joining costs nothing. On a night that has a list, it gives complimentary entry before the cutoff shown on that page and a reduced entry fee after it. That is the whole offer: standing entry, no reserved space, and no guarantee. In the venues' own words: "Registration on the guest list does not guarantee complimentary entry."

Because the list is free and every guest registers themselves, there is nothing for a third party to sell. Keep that in mind and most of the questions below answer themselves.

What a real registration looks like

You open the night's page and fill in a form. It asks for:

• the number of guests, by female, male or unspecified;
• first name and surname, and gender;
• your "Island Status": living in Bali full time, here for a few months, or just visiting;
• your Instagram and your nationality;
• an email address (WhatsApp, postcode and date of birth are optional);
• acceptance of the terms, and a captcha.

Then: "You will receive a digital ticket at the email specified." That email, in your own name, from your own registration, is what a real guestlist place looks like. The field-by-field walkthrough is in how to register for a Bali guestlist.

Two rules make the list hard to fake. "Guests are required to register individually for each event they wish to attend", so every person fills in their own form, for that night only. And "If any fake information is entered into the guest list form, you will not be added."

Anyone charging for "a guestlist" is selling something else

If money changes hands, it is worth asking what for. The honest answers are limited:

• A ticket. Some nights are sold by ticket. Official tickets are sold only through each venue's own ticketing channel, and tickets bought anywhere else are refused at the door. At Savaya, tickets are primarily for standing room only.
• A table. The only reserved space at these venues, with a minimum spend the venue sets for each night. A table exists once the venue has confirmed it, and not before.
• An arrangement. Anything that is neither of these is a private promise made by someone who does not run the door. The venue's terms say management can refuse entry, close an event or cap capacity at any time; nobody outside the venue can promise otherwise.

Resold tickets

The rule is short: an official ticket comes only from the venue's own ticketing channel, and a ticket bought anywhere else is refused at the door. A resold ticket, a forwarded ticket or a ticket from an unknown seller falls on the wrong side of that rule. If you want a ticket, start from the night's page, not from a message.

Red flags

• A fee to be "added". Joining the real list costs nothing.
• A promise of guaranteed entry. The venues guarantee nothing, not even to people on their own list.
• A "guestlist" on a ticketed-only night. Those nights have no list at all. On FirstBali they show only the Table button, and the event page says so.
• A screenshot to forward to your friends. Each person registers individually, on the night's page, and receives their own digital ticket by email. One screenshot shared around a group is not a registration.
• No form, no email. If you never filled in the venue's form and never received the digital ticket, you are not on the venue's list.
• "Valid any night". A registration counts for one event. If the night is cancelled for bad weather, it is not transferable to another.

Where to find the official guestlist

Start from the night itself. On the FirstBali events page, every night with a list carries a Guestlist button that opens the venue's own registration page for that date. The same pages are reachable from each venue's page: Savaya, Zumana and Desa Kitsuné.

How FirstBali fits

FirstBali sends you the link to the night's official guestlist page, and you register yourself, like everyone else; nobody can do it in your place. For a reserved space, FirstBali books a table with the venue on your behalf; the minimum spend is the one the venue sets, and the table is yours only once the venue has confirmed it. If you are unsure whether a link or an offer is genuine, ask the concierge before you send anything to anyone.

Read next: the Bali guestlist guide, ticket, guestlist or table at Savaya and how table booking works in Bali.