Fabulous Week in Bali

We enjoyed a one-week stay with 4 other couples as part of my wife's 52nd birthday. This is a beautiful property with incredible staff. We had never been to Bali before and thoroughly enjoyed the country, property, and the island. Teresa, the property owner, was very responsive to us via email. They collect a security deposit and staff fee via international wire transfer. Once we were there, we selected daily menus for the staff to prepare for us. Food is served family style. We paid in IDR for those items, at cost, every few days. There are several ATMs nearby which helped make this work. It took a few days for staff to realize we were "American" eaters so wanted bigger portions. The food itself was delicious, especially those items that are local in origin, so we had no trouble finishing everything that was put in front of us. Teresa also had outstanding recommendations for restaurants, which we took advantage of. She arranged for a private room at one of them which made us feel very special. The property is gorgeous and immaculate. The architecture is stunning - just a small example, the main villa has an outdoor bathroom that is an island surrounded by a Koi pond! There is easy access to the beach down a few stairs. The swimming pool is just the right temperature and stunning. Everyone everywhere was super polite and gracious - this seems to be part of the culture. Through Teresa, we arranged a private tour of the island. Services like this, as well as restaurants, were incredible values. A 1-hour in villa massage wound up costing about 15 USD. Fancy dinners out were never more than $35 per person, even with drinks, apps, and deserts. A few things to expect when you're there: 1) There are lots of mosquitos at night. The staff put out incense but to really solve the problem you need to use DEET or some other highly effective repellant. 2) Some nights there is loud music from the nigh clubs further down the beach. The thatched roofs seem to make it sound louder than when you're outside. Bring well-fitting earplugs and you'll be fine. 3) The internet is high speed but was interrupted frequently - not sure if that's an issue with their network or Bali internet service in general. We mentioned to the staff and they did take action to remediate this. Would not plan on being able to do any high-power business teleconferencing. But when you're on vacation, it's great to be able to upload photos and make plans. 4) Canggu has a reputation for 'night life' and one of our drivers laughed saying it's not where "people your age" typically stay. We noticed this in the restaurants - we were often the oldest people there. We enjoyed that aspect, however. It felt like we were hanging with the cool 20-30 somethings for a week. 5) Traffic is present and makes travel times relatively long. There isn't any public transport on the island, and few stop lights. Most people ride scooters around. It is incredible to see them weaving in and out of the cars and yet it all just flows. 6) Local beer is easy to get, wine is very expensive, due to duty taxes, roughly 3x what we would pay in the US. We had the staff buy us beer and brought in our own vodka and rum from duty free. Staff were always ready to make us smoothies to which we added our own libations. These are just FYIs: none of these issues prevented us from having the time of our lives during the week and leaving with the feeling that we could have easily stayed longer. To sum up, an outstanding stay, wonderful host and staff, beautiful property in a fun and gorgeous location. Highly recommended to anyone who needs time to relax and enjoy the food, culture, and laid-back vibe of Bali!”

Fantastic house right on the beach and lot's of private space

Ombak Luwung has everything you could want as it absolutely beachfront - we loved our stay - there can be some noise from the local party scene at night but this did not detract from a great stay”