We’re so pleased we decided to book the larger space in this shared villa, as we had a huge living area and kitchen space, as well as the bedroom and bathroom.
The bed is firm but comfortable. The pillow isn’t the best but is adequate. There’s a good size cupboard and a good number of hangers. The bathroom is small - a shower, toilet, sink and mirror, but perfectly adequate. The shower is great - good temperature, good pressure, and consistent. The rooms are made up every second day and new towels are provided then.
There is a separate air conditioner in the lounge and the bedroom. The air con in our bedroom stopped working after the first night. We found the women who look after the villas and they got the maintenance man to fix it straight away, which was great. Unfortunately a couple of hours later it broke again but we didn’t bother to get it fixed as the air con from the lounge was strong enough to cool the bedroom too. But it’s probably another thing they could look at, as it will hopefully be an easy fix.
The views out the lounge room are great - palm trees and lush greenery. The couch isn’t in front of the TV but that was fine for us as we didn’t watch the TV (but we did check and it worked). There’s a good little narrow table with 4 chairs which is perfect for eating at or as a little desk. The wifi is good too.
We did discover that one of the windows in the lounge leaked quite a bit, but it was only a problem for a couple of hours on one of the days when the torrential rain was pounding on the window. In normal rainy weather it was OK. Having said that, it’s probably worth them trying to fix it because a lot of water came in (and we were just lucky that they had provided extra towels).
The kitchen is fairly sparse, but does have a good size mini-fridge which works really well (you just have to turn the dial around when you arrive). There is a big 20L spring water dispenser which they replace when it’s nearly empty. There is one small frypan and a good set of crockery and cutlery along with a small chopping board and knife. There’s a stove top kettle and a drip coffee thing that we didn’t use.
There are also 4 wine glasses, cups and mugs (but you’ll need your own bottle opener). If you really wanted to cook you might need more pots and pans and utensils, but it was perfectly fine for us to make simple sandwiches in (although there are so many great, cheap places to eat that you really don’t need to cook unless you’re there on Nyepi like we were).
As with most places in Bali, a few little ants manage to get inside, but there weren’t many and they stayed out of the bedroom!
The only downside to staying on the ground floor of the shared villa is that the pool and grassed area is right out the front of your room. This is both a pro and a con and it really depends on your neighbours. We had neighbours who used the pool quite a lot which is fine but they also sat on the chairs immediately in front of our room, which are obviously meant for the room occupants only. But for the most part it was fine and we all shared the space well. The pool is a good length and was clean (albeit highly chlorinated) and a good temperature. It was very nice to sit on the sun loungers and have a dip on hot days.
The shared rooftop is fantastic - lots of spaces to sit and a beautiful breeze in the afternoon.
Breakfast is included and is provided at Casa Restaurant a few metres away. We had the scrambled eggs and omelette and both were delicious. My partner had the cafe latte which, if you’re not a complete coffee snob and just want a decent coffee fix, is fine. They were lovely at Casa, and gave us fantastic supplies to make our own breakfast on Nyepi when no-one is working.
There’s no reception or office on site - check-in happens in your room when you arrive. At this point, you also get the breakfast menu which you take down to Casa before 3pm (and then each day before you leave, you give them your order for the next day). The women make note of when you’re having breakfast and service your rooms while you’re away, which works perfectly. There’s not heaps of English spoken, but their English is definitely better than my Indonesian! And they’re all really helpful and lovely. Check out is as simple as telling the Casa staff when you’re leaving and pulling the door closed behind you.
Overall this is a great place to stay in Balian - clean, tidy, centrally located and with all the amenities you need. We really enjoyed our time here.
