The open secret to the value of booking a luxury villa in Bali

So you are considering a vacation on the wonderful island paradise of Bali which has over a thousand temples, that’s why it is called the ‘Island of the Gods’. Excellent. Bali is a delight to behold, but there are some pitfalls for travelers when it comes to the type of accommodation they choose.

If you’re like 70% of tourists who go to Bali, your next thought is probably ‘which hotel should I stay in?’ You’ve made your first mistake, which could make your vacation more expensive than it should be.

Yes, Bali has hundreds, if not thousands, of hotels, so many, in fact, that the Indonesian government is trying to ban further hotel development. The problem is that there are now so many hotels, mainly around the capital Denpasar, that the industry is suffering: too many rooms despite the number of visitors to Bali continuing to grow each year. If the number of South Bali hotels continues to grow at the current rate, it will inevitably put many players out of business.

Denpasar and South Bali, to a lesser extent, now have so many hotels, that they are too often ‘shoulder to shoulder’ against one another, mainly in the busy, noisy and traffic congested central areas of the city. Denpasar has become so populated that it used to take 30 minutes to get from Ngurah Rai airport to a city hotel, now it can take up to 2 hours. The Bali government has built new highways that will hopefully relieve this congestion.

There is an alternative form of accommodation available in Bali, which is usually occupied by around 16.5% of visitors. This alternative is the Bali luxury villa and there are an estimated 10,000 of them spread across this beautiful island. Accommodation in a luxury villa in Bali is not the first thing that travelers think of, perhaps because hoteliers are very good at marketing and spend a lot of money promoting their business.

You may be thinking that the nightly rental rate for a luxury villa in Bali is beyond your vacation budget, but you may be wrong because you probably don’t have all the facts. The open secret is that if you book a group to stay in a private villa in Bali, with its wonderful privacy, peace and space, you could probably save hundreds of dollars that you would otherwise spend on the hotel vacation model.

You see, the key to saving your hard-earned vacation dollars is to make a group reservation at a luxury villa in Bali. This is the open secret of Bali villas. Most of these impressive houses, which are usually built by private owners, can sleep up to eight people or more. This means that you can share the cost of the nightly rental charge among your group.

Let’s see an example. A private villa in Bali, which I know quite well, located on the beachfront, about 8 kilometers east of Singaraja, on the north coast, currently charges US$340.00 per night. Wow, I can hear you say, that’s expensive. But, if you were to get a group of friends or family together to share the cost, each person would only pay US$42.50 per person, per night, certainly a cheap rate in anyone’s language.

And remember, what you pay for a hotel room is just that, a hotel room, unless you spend the money and rent a suite, but that’s a very expensive alternative. Regardless of how you dress, hotels usually base their business model on reserving rooms with a double bed, en-suite bathroom, chair and, hopefully, a table. Oh, and they’ll definitely have a bar fridge, with every item scrupulously cataloged and charged to you, at high convenience rates, adding to your hotel expenses.

When you choose a luxury villa in Bali for your vacation in paradise, you get plenty of space. Typically four or more bedrooms with their own bathrooms, ample living space including two living rooms, plus private patios for each bedroom in some cases. Oh, and then there are the private pools that are pretty much standard for private Bali villas. Most have the pool just steps from their main living room. Even if you have booked a hotel room right by the pool, you will know how much extra you will be charged for this. And it can be a mixed blessing, because in hotels, everyone can use the pool, which can mean unwanted company, noise, crowds, shouting, splashing – you get the picture.

Of course, if you book a luxury villa in Bali, you have your own private pool, accessible only to the people who have rented the villa, unless they want to invite special guests to join them. And, if friendly, personalized service is what you like, you can’t beat what Bali villas have to offer. The Balinese are among the most friendly, warm, sincere and charming group of people you are likely to meet. Just check out the guest testimonials on the many villa sites and you’ll see plenty of enthusiastic references to the high-quality service that Bali villa helpers offer their guests. Guests often comment on the friendly relationships they develop with their Bali luxury villa helpers, far beyond any service experience hotels may offer.

Of course, hotels also have their staff, usually busy with many guests at once, but the most sophisticated villas in Bali have their own villa manager, who is fluent in English and Bahasa Indonesia, probably in other languages ​​as well. The villa manager is hired to ensure that any issues that arise during your vacation are dealt with promptly. If you commit to a luxury holiday in a private villa in Bali, you can expect to get along with the villa manager and the other villa helpers. It is now unusual for some villas to have as many as four or five helpers, so you can expect to receive a standard of service that goes far beyond what many hotels can offer.

Having local Balinese people employed as villa helpers ensures that guests receive the latest and most knowledgeable information on local attractions and must-see places. Often the local Balinese helpers and the villa manager will know of great places to visit that aren’t even listed in popular tourist manuals. After all, they live there and know their own backyard.

Many Bali villas are built by their owners to be a home away from home, so they put their heart and soul into the design to make sure they are as comfortable as possible. Therefore, the décor and ambience of many villas are diverse and varied, reflecting the local Balinese culture and that of the villa owners. Unfortunately, many hotels, particularly multinational ones, are built with profit in mind and can look the same no matter what country they are in.

If you are an eco-tourist, then the obvious choice for you is to stay in a well-appointed Bali villa because many of them are built in particularly beautiful and environmentally attractive locations. Building any villa requires permission from the local village, and they generally welcome the employment opportunities offered by well-appointed Bali villas.

So you can choose from thousands of well-appointed and smartly located Bali villas to stay in for a truly authentic Bali experience. No matter how well hotels are marketed, they simply cannot offer the same cultural integration and atmosphere of a great vacation home.

The real choice you have is between a hotel room or an entire Bali house and the many advantages this offers. If you haven’t yet enjoyed the Bali villa experience, do yourself a favor and take advantage of this opportunity the next time you vacation on the Island of the Gods. Ask anyone who has stayed in a luxury villa in Bali and you’ll find out why they enjoyed it so much.