Seminyak, Bali
One of the most amazing reasons to visit Bali (and to me there are many) is that you can ball out on a budget. As a 2/3 world country, by American standards, many things in Bali are extremely reasonable. I think there is no other way to stay in Bali, then finding a villa. That’s right as a villa. My sister and I stayed at the Juada Garden Villa in Seminyak, North Kuta. When I booked it, it was based on a 9.0 rating on booking.com and agoda.com. We ended up with a two bedroom villa with a private pool for a little over $500 for the week. Yes, you read that right. Let me tell you about my stay:
Location:
Seminyak is a touristy area. It is a narrow two-lane street that is constantly traffic ridden with motorbikes and cars. This is great because there are plenty of restaurants, shops, and hotels around. There was a grocery store (name) that was about a 10-minute walk from the villa. The villa itself is on the main street but they are set a bit away from the main street which made our stay very quiet, sans the construction of the new villa next to ours. I appreciated that I got the best of both worlds, seclusion and being in the midst of some thoroughfare and walking distance from some cool things, including an illusion museum.
The spot:
The villa was absolutely bomb. I could not have been more pleased with it. It was two stories with separate baths and air-conditioned rooms. It included a full kitchen, water cooler, private pool, and upstairs balcony. There were also two televisions, which did not get any use. All the villas have wi-fi. The staff cleans the villas and makes the beds daily. They also refresh pool towels and put out incense in the evenings.
Amenities:
– Laundry service for about $7 USD per kilogram. You give them your clothing in the morning and they deliver it folded and wrapped in plastic in the afternoon.
– Breakfast. They have a Western, Balinese, and Continental option. They all come with fresh juice for about $4 USD. The banana pancakes and breakfast noodles were both amazing. Your breakfast orders must be made by 6:00 the day before and they will either bring you breakfast or have someone come and cook in the villa. Chile spoiled. What is life?
– The staff can arrange transportation and tours for you. I didn’t do this personally, but it is an option
– Wi-fi
– Televisions
– Water cooler
– Full kitchen and fridge
– Quiet
Potential Challenges:
– The kitchen and porch area are open. If it’s hot that part of the villa is hot.
– Because much of the villa is open, there are critters. Cats, lizards, geckos, giant roaches may all grace your doorstep. This did not bother me personally (I mean private villa in Bali), but it could pose an issue for others.
– If you leave food out and even semi-open you’ll get sugar ants. Learned this the hard way.
– The stairs are STEEP. This was a plus because I got a butt workout every day but, at the same time, my clumsy self was every afraid of eating it on the way up the stairs.
– The water runs on a cistern type system, which means if you take too long of a shower everyone will not get hot water. I definitely had one or two lukewarm showers in the week because my sister washed her hair 🙂 Something to be mindful of.
Final thoughts:
I greatly enjoyed my time at Juada Garden. So much so, that I almost stayed in Bali. Those are my people. I love the fact that you get the touristy buzz but also quiet seclusion. I got to meet the family that owns the property and they are very sweet and accommodating people who did all they could to make me and my sister feel really comfortable.
Sharde’ Searches rating: 4/5 worlds. I would totally stay here again and I think you should too. Here’s the website for Juada Garden: https://juadagarden.com To see my video review on Juada Garden check out my YouTube channel here.
Juada Garden Review | Bomb Bali Villa
Love and Light,
~S
Shardé Searches 