Singapore Expats

My parents are visiting my husband and me in April, and I am planning to take them to Bali or Lombok for a week. Does anyone know of any good villa websites, or can anyone recommend a villa in a quiet, beautiful location that we could hire? I've never been to either of these islands, and could do with some helpful pointers.

Thanks!

Are you looking for a completely private villa, or would you be OK with a hotel-type shared setup (many villas, one pool etc)? I love Tony's Villa in Seminyak (Bali), but it's a shared setup. Then again, that's why it costs under US$50/night in the off season...

For Bali and Lombok in general, take a look at these:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Bali
http://wikitravel.org/en/Lombok

I much prefer Bali: it's quite different from anywhere else, whereas Lombok is just another poor Indonesian island.

Thanks so much. The websites you provide are really useful. It's amazing how googling seems to throw up a massive amount of very poor websites, but these are really intersting. Amy

We've recently stayed at this one in Seminyak, Bali: http://www.villakubu.com/ We had one of the one bedroom villas (Villa X) and it was fabulous. I can only imagine the larger ones will be even better. The staff and service was great too. It's really spoilt me, will be demanding my own pool forever more.

Friends recently stayed at: http://www.serenevillas.com/miavilla/home.html and loved it so much they hardly went out.

Others stayed here: http://www.coconuthomes.com/ and really rated it too.

We've just come back from Lombok but stayed in a hotel on Gili Trewangan. It has some places that sleep 4 but is not self-contained or self-catering; just a hotel: http://www.hotelombak.com/ We liked the place but the food really was a let down.

We've previously stayed at this one: http://www.quncivillas.com/ on Lombok itself. The villas at the main location are really hotel rooms and very stylish/minimalist, but we loved the hotel as it's small and the food was great. Since we went, they've built the private villas: http://www.thequnci.com/ which look fabulous and might suit your needs. I can only imagine that the high quality of service at the hotel will be exceeded at the villas.

Lombok is a lot quieter and less touristy than Bali, but Bali seems to be changing since the bombings - much more upmarket and less drunken Surf-dude (if you stay out of Kuta, which I would recommend you do!). Seminyak and Ubud seem to be the places to be.

If I can dig out the URLs that people gave me when I was looking for Bali villas, I will edit this post. I agree with you that there are many sites but not many good ones, and photos can be very deceiving!

Thanks so much for your thoughts - really, really helpful. There are some really good properties on the sites that you recommend.

Cheers, Amy

Here's a URL I promised you: www.balismile.com

Remember that, since the two bombings, occupancy in Bali is still down and good deals can often be done directly with the property.

Just wondering, as many of the prices in Bali seem to be in USD, are the villas, hotels etc. also charging in USD or is it ok to carry just rupiahs?

Another related question: do they offer very poor exchange rates in Bali, i.e. is it better to exchange currency in Singapore?

Thanks!

They will probably bill you in Rupiah anyway!

Personally, I would try to pay almost everywhere by credit card, and definitely only change money at banks, hotels, reputable changers. It's easy to get confused with such large numbers and you hear some horror stories about people getting ripped off when changing to Rupiah, particularly in Kuta, Bali.

Definitely try a hotel on Gili Air or Gili Trawangen or Gili Meno. You can see these little islands off the northwest tip of Lombok. Do not go to Padang Bai and take the ferry - I would highly reccommend instead to take a flight to Lombok then taxi then boat. There are no cars on these little islands only small horses and carts that take you around.

They are being taken back by the ocean due to some explosive fishing around the reefs but they are trying hard to curb that.

i stayed in villa ombak in gili t when i was there last year. Its a great place to relax, nice quiet environment with some great food on the island. there are no motor vehicles on the island because its very small. if you are looking to relax, i highly recommend this place.

silkair is having a promotion now to lombok, $168 per person excluding tax, two to go. check it out. this price is alot cheaper than what i paid last year!

www.villalehaleha.com Heaven on Earth - i should know, i built it!

Just spent 4 days at Villa Ombak on Gilli Trawangan island, great if you want to chill out. Not to much to do if you are not into water sports though

www.hotelombak.com


John

What did you think of the frozen mixed veg with everything, John? Even in the thai curry! If they can get fresh salad daily, and boats come and go every few minutes, I figure there is no excuse whatsoever for it - they're just cost cutting.