Bali offers mind-boggling array of accommodation from huge resorts to family-run homestays, and everything in between
Options range from massive resorts to small family-run homestays, writesMichael Taylor
Bali offers a mind-boggling array of accommodation. Apart from massive resorts with several hundred rooms, there are also small family-run homestays, which accommodate guests within the confines of traditional Balinese courtyard homes. And everything in between.
The advantage of the larger resorts is that they can offer more in the way of facilities and activities. At smaller properties, such activities might only be offered once or twice a week.
Smaller properties might lack the wide selection of facilities and activities, but they can offer a more personal touch. Take One Eleven, which is located on a quiet side street in trendy Seminyak. It has only nine 350-square-metre villas, so staff will quickly learn your name. You get a welcome massage in a 35-square-metre spa gazebo within your own enclosed compound upon arrival. You have your own swimming pool, which is large enough to do laps in. Your breakfast is even cooked for you in the kitchen of your villa each morning.
At the other end of the spectrum are homestays or guest houses - they go by various names. Many Balinese families live in an enclosed complex of gardens, living quarters, a temple and shrines. The architecture and landscaping can be truly breathtaking. To earn extra cash, an increasing number of families throughout Bali are opening up their homes to paying guests. Often there are only one or two rooms, sometimes this may extend to as many as 15 or 20.
Rooms are usually tastefully furnished with quality linens and beautiful wall-hangings and other artefacts. They often have intricately carved doors and window frames. Staying in a Balinese guest house not only affords a chance to get up close and personal with the locals, it also represents extraordinary value: rooms can be rented for less than US$15 a night in the off season.
There is one drawback: they don't usually have air-conditioning.
Perhaps representing the best value are the private villas that come with staff. At properties with multiple bedrooms, there is almost always a chef, who prepares gourmet meals at the cost of the ingredients plus a modest service charge of 10 or 20 per cent. Drivers are often also included in the daily rate.
For the price of a standard room at a five-star hotel, 10 guests can be comfortably accommodated at the Villa Bengawan, a sprawling five-bedroom property in Seminyak, which is a five- or 10-minute walk from the beach. Common areas include an air conditioned media and entertainment room, an open air living room with a sofa seating 10, and a formal dining area, which also seats 10.
Lounge chairs surround a swimming pool, which is set amid beautifully landscaped grounds which are dotted with several lily ponds. There is even a fitness room.