Villas are great places to enjoy your holiday. The advantage of a villa over a hotel room / suite, is privacy and independence. Some people are happy to take a private entrance, pool, kitchen etc. over 24 room service and villas are abundant in Bali. Many hotels offer a choice of standand block rooms or private villas with their own perimeter wall and pool. for family groups or honeymooners this can be a great way to go. There are also privately owned villas which are just stand alone properties. Looking around online you’ll see some high prices quoted, but slightly away from the action in places like Kerobokan you can find cute, modern places with very nice facilities, 1 bedroom, and pool for US$60 a night. Seminyak is a hot spot for villas and you’ll find quality if expensive places on the beach side of Jl. Seminyak, just north of Jl. Double Six.
Behind Bintang supermarket in Seminyak there is actually a lot of open land still used to graze cattle! The narrow lanes that connect that area with Jl. Dhyana Pura offer a multitude of cheap looking long term villa rentals plus a few nicer places. One of those is Dyana Villas, which offers neat 1 bedroom places with pool for $120 a night.
Dyana Villas
Jl. Abimanyu, Gang Bunga Kecil
Seminyak
(0361)734775
Down on the Bukit peninsula there is a lot of villa development, including large blocks of luxury villas situated close to the southern cliffs. To the SE of Pecatu, quiet tarmac lanes wind through cattle and corn country to clifftop developments. Large groups of Javanese men housed in makeshift swatter camps nearby providing the cheap labor. Assuming you doon’t need an clifftop location the Bukit appears to have plenty of open land on which to build. Of course reality can be way different, but the Bukit does have a great location with its proximity to Kuta / airport. Exploring the Bukit is fun as it is an instant step back in time. One can easily imagine how Bali was 35 years cruising past quiet villages along rutted lanes.
The south coast area is highly accessable and local single lane tarmac roads are often available, thoguh not marked on tourist maps. The SE corner of the Bukit, south of Kutuh is also a great place to explore. It is possible to connect with the road to the Nikko Bali and Bale hotels, after crossing a section of heavily rutted terrain. That’s where the Bukit starts to get surreal. High priced luxury meets Balinese kampung with a sharp dividing line. Keep heading NE and you’ll finaly come to Nusa Dua where the dividing line is marked by a front gate and guards, welcome to paradise. All in all the Bukit is a handy place to visit for a day, or even enjoy a relaxing few days at on of the cliff tops guest houses run by locals. Awesome views and ocean breezes are free.
