We have had two wonderful weeks at Villa Nirwana, and enjoyed the sea-view, and the relaxed feeling we will return home with. 2 adults+1 child 4,5yr.
While you can sit at the patio and watch the ocean, the pool and house has a large garden in front, giving you a very private feeling. There are other holiday houses at either side, but plantation has already grown to make sure you feel some privacy.
The pool is large and has given us many hours of fun, and it fulfilled all our expectations. We did not use the beach as there is a lot of garbage there and it is simply not clean enough to bring a child to bath and play there. The beach is cleaned daily indeed but the amount of litter is simply too large. We did however see other people snorkelling further out in front of the house.
The staff did good food (better Indonesian than international), and was always ready to cook dishes not in the menu.
However, be aware of:
• Bats. Under the roof of the house a number of bats are staying. The issue is not with them being there, but rather the bat-poo left the contamination risk this poses.
• Cats. Many stray cats running around, these are feed by the staff, and will run both in and outdoors. While stray cats might not be possible to entirely avoid, there is no reason to make them feel welcome.
• Noise. It has been quite annoying to wake up as early as 3:30 for the first mosque calling (they last for app. 5 minutes and then starts again non-stop from 5:00-6:00 – every day of the week). Even with the aircon on and windows closed it is loud. We tested and found that in the single bed bedroom the noise from the mosque is not heard. Bring a good pair of earplugs if you are sensitive to noise.
• Transport. While its possible to walk to a nearby small shop to buy ice cream, mosquito repellent and the like, you might feel a bit in the middle of nowhere. As we where travelling with a small child renting scooters was not an option. It’s possible to book driving through the villa (to go shopping/ trips etc), but we found the price not transparent at all.
As previously mentioned, this is not our first visit in a villa similar to this in the area. What we found most noticeable when compared to our previous visit was that the vibe was different: We did not have quite the same homely feel we did on our last visit.
The big question is, would we come again? For us having to pay a lot to do a small shopping trip, as well as the issues with the bats is the biggest concerns.
