In Bali, there’s one type of place to stay that’s rarely found elsewhere in the world.

You see, a lot of Malaysians go to Bali and stay in hotels.

Not because hotels are nice. It’s because we are so used to it, we don’t look out for other accommodation options.

 

There’s nothing wrong with hotels. The thing is, hotels can be found everywhere else in the world. After a while, they are just the boring same ol’ same ol’.

Seriously, who wants same ol’ same ol’ when you’re in Bali?

In Bali, the thing to do is to stay in a private villa.

This makes sense especially when you’re travelling with a group of six or more. Instead of booking 3 separate hotel rooms, it’s so much better to book a 3-bedroom private villa, and have the whole entire place to yourself!

For a wonderful 2 days, everything you see in these pictures belonged to us!

The tables, the lounge decks, the chairs, THE POOL!

Everything!

It was like something straight up of an MTV rap star’s videos. We were in our own paradise and we didn’t have to share it with strangers we don’t know.

Not only that, we had our own butler, our own security guard and chef to cook for us whenever we felt hungry.

That means you can play the music as loud as legally allowed, swim in the pool naked, throw your own Playboy Mansion party if you wanna (but must BYO Playboy bunnies lah).

Can you swim naked in a hotel?

No you can’t.

Unless you don’t mind holidaying in Bali for a very long time in jail.

 

In Bali, there are literally hundreds of private villas in different shapes and sizes  throughout the island.

Almost all of them are extremely spacious, tastefully designed and amazingly well-equipped – all ready to rent alongside the services of an entire team of villa staff.

Because Bali is such a popular holiday spot, a lot of people invest their own private villas here on the island. During most parts of the year when they are not around, these villas are rented out to holidaymakers.

The villa we stayed at – Villa Jajaliluna, is one such private villa.

Villa Jajaliluna is owned by an Australian family. It is a quiet sanctuary hidden inside a narrow alley, just off the main street of Seminyak.

The location is what made this villa such a winner. While most villas are located in the middle of nowhere, this one is literally just around the corner from KuDeTa bar, which means it is walking distances to all the conveniences.

The villa compound is ridiculously HUGE.

As soon as we enter, we were greeted by this large T-shaped swimming pool flanked by 3 separate pavilions.

To the left is a dining pavilion and a lounge area to chill at.

To the right is a two-storey building with 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 separate lounging area.

There were soooo much space to move around/play hide-and-seek/do cartwheels in.

We couldn’t believe we had so much space. It’s mindboggling.

So mindboggling that I saw Taka hugging a beach ball, drifting aimlessly in the pool.

I think he was still in awe.

My room alone have a grand total of two standing showers and one outdoor bathtub.

I didn’t have the chance to use the outdoor bathtub, but I let the girls have fun in it. They enjoyed bathing under the stars.

I had to resist the urge not to peek. I was scared they might smack me over the head, THEN I’ll be seeing stars.

But the good looks of the villa is just one thing. The fantastic staff is what made staying here all the difference.

Just about anything you want them to do, they’d do it willingly.

During our stay, we had our clothes cleaned, our massages arranged and our private chef cooking us a FEAST from the groceries he bought for us from the markets.

It was the very definition of bliss. We were living like kings.

Why go all the way to Ubud to have Babi Guling when our private chef can make it fresh from our kitchen?

Villa Jajaliluna is just one of the many, many private villas in Bali available for rent by BHM Villas. It is great for family holidays, company trips and even buck/hen nights.

At US$825 a night, it seems a little expensive at first, but when shared among 10 people, that works out about the same as staying in 5-star hotels – except we get to have EVERYTHING.

Now you know why I go to Bali every single year.

It is a kennysia.com tradition to travel to Bali every year.

There’s a lot of reasons why Bali is the place I go to do my retreat every year: cheap flights, friendly people, amazingly good food. The biggest attraction for me is the fact that Bali is the only place I know where the range of accommodation options is virtually limitless.

In Bali, you can do home stays for RM15 a night, or rent a luxurious multi-bedroom private villas with your own swimming pool, chef and butler.

I write this blog entry especially for those who had partied through Kuta, done Bali on the cheap before, and are now returning to look for something a bit more.

Although luxury in Bali does come with a hefty price tag, it is not completely out of reach for most people. On average, a very well-serviced, luxurious high-end hotel here would cost around USD200 (RM650) per person per night.

But I think about it this way. Instead of flying to Paris for a supposed romantic holiday then stuffing myself inside a cramped 3-star shoebox hotel, I’d rather fly to Bali, splurge on a beach-front suite and be treated like a king.

Truth is, there not many places in the world that gives as good a bang for buck as the hotels and villas in The Island of Gods. During my most recent trip to Bali  2 weeks ago, I had the privilege of being hosted at some of the most beautiful hotels I have ever experienced personally.

The first was Ubud Hanging Gardens.

If I were a girl and my boyfriend wants to propose to me, this is the place I’d want him to do it. Otherwise, not only would I not accept his proposal, I’ll probably throw the ring back at my boyfriend, scream “YOU THINK I SO CHEAP AH!?” before hurrily taking off and leaving him alone in the dark.

But I digress.

Ubud Hanging Gardens is an absolutely fucking stunning hotel.

Pardon my language, but there’s just no other way to describe it. The road heading towards the resort was narrow, bumpy and ridiculously difficult to find. I spent 4 hours circling the entire Bali island in my rental car and cannot find it. In the end we gave up and requested for hotel pickup.

But once we arrived, it was like clouds have parted and we arrived heaven on Earth.

Words cannot do it any justice.

Ubud Hanging Gardens is one of two Balinese resorts by luxury hotel group Orient Express. It’s called “hanging” because when we looked out into the distance from our room, we literally felt like we were hanging in the air. We were so high up that all we could see were the tops of the trees below.

The view here gotta be seen to be believed.

Despite what its name suggest, the resort is not actually located inside the intensely crowded and touristy Ubud town, but quietly tucked away on top of the hill in the middle of the forest, about 30 minutes away. There was literally nothing at all within the vicinity of the resort.

What they offer instead, is the ultimate in serenity and luxury.

The villa units themselves aren’t particularly huge, but they are well-designed to take advantage of the breathtaking surrounding views, and make us feel as close to nature as possible.

Each unit is located on the hill slope. So instead of taking the lift from the lobby, we have to go to our rooms using this cute little funicular train.

It was the best place in Bali to recharge and rejuvenate. On top of it all they got free internet access, outdoor bathtub and my favourite – the heated infinity private pool.

I LOVE the private pool!

All of them are built in such a way to resemble Bali’s cascading rice paddy fields. It was very relaxing and very romantic.

But the private pool wasn’t the best thing about Ubud Hanging Gardens.

Just outside the restaurant, overlooking the forest, is the resort’s most jaw-dropping feature: the double-storey freeform infinity pool.

It was breathtakingly AMAZING.

Imagine being able to swim right up towards the edge of the pool and do this.

It was pure magic. This is the closest thing to swimming above the skies.

You can see in the picture that there’s a Balinese temple perched on top of the hill in the distance. At night, they light up the temple so it looks as if it was floating in the air.

 

Overlooking the edge of the infinity pool. Don’t worry, I won’t jump.

After our stay at the Ubud Hanging Gardens, we returned to Seminyak where all the restaurants, shops and parties are located. This time round, we stayed at another equally stunning hotel called Anantara Seminyak.

This hotel is not located high on the hill nor in the middle of a dense forest.

I came to Anantara Seminyak for jaw-dropping ocean views like these.

It’s less “green”, more “gold”. In fact, there’s a million-dollar view right from the balcony of every beach-facing Ocean Suite. I thought sunset at Ku De Ta was amazing. I obviously ain’t seen nothing yet.

Anantara Seminyak is targeted towards honeymooners and those seeking for a stylish romantic getaway.

This is not where you’d come if you want some quiet “alone time” in the forest to meditate. For that, stick to Ubud.

If you wanna impress a date, this is perfect.

Start the evening with a romantic candle-light dinner by the beach.

As night falls and temperature drops, take her in to your hotel suite for something a little bit more cozy.

She will be impressed as soon as she opened the door.

First, she sees a nice walk-in wardrobe.

Further down the marble corridor, she sees a spacious bathroom area, complete with aromatherapy soaps, a Jacuzzi bathtub and a rainshower with three different options for massage.

You can’t help but to grin…

…because you know the bathroom is see-through.

Next, THE BEDROOM (oh yeah, baby).

The bed is built-in, oversized, sexy and extremely comfortable.

She’s in awe. She knows she wanna spend the night here.

So you put on some music on the Bose Sound System.

Hopefully something more Barry White instead of Owl City.

And the rest… is up to your imagination. Heh.

The suites at Anantara Seminyak is my idea of the ultimate bachelor pad.

It’s not exactly where I’d bring my mother to, because let’s face it, who wants to see their mother in the see-through bathroom?

The suites at Anantara may not have their own private pool, but who needs one when you can sit in the outdoor jacuzzi soaking in the ocean view?

A night’s stay here cost USD450 so it’s really for those who have a bit more in their pockets.

Without spending that much to sleep a night at Anantara, it’s still possible also to enjoy the famous sunset over Seminyak at their stylish rooftop lounge. Lots of jet-setting, mojito-sipping, good-looking people to see here.

You can’t help but to be one of them.

Besides, there’s nothing quite like sitting on a plush daybed, sipping designer cocktail, listening to cool chill out music playing in the background while watching the sky changes colour as the sun goes down.

It’s my third trip to Bali, and still it ranks as my favourite holiday destination in the world.

Yea, it’s true that Bali can be done very cheaply. A lot of first timers stay in Kuta because it is cheap. But Kuta is possibly the worst possible place to stay in Bali.

The problem with Kuta is that the dodgy nightclubs, the drunken Australians, the overpriced souvenir shops, the traffic jam and the drug pushers all ended up making me more stressed than I was before I left for holidays.

I go to Bali to recharge my batteries and to forget about work for a while. Places like Ubud and Seminyak did the trick for me.

Last year, I stayed in this hotel in Kuta. We arrived so late that the reception counter was closed. In the end, the person checking us in was actually the hotel’s security guards.

These two muscular guys were not just the hotel’s security guard and receptionist, they were also the hotel’s housekeeper.

When we called the reception and asked to put in an extra bed for us, guess who came to our rescue?

Yes, the same two security guards.

Made my Bali holiday looked like an episode of CSI.