Bali - where we stayed

Over the years, I've stayed in various parts of Bali. In my opinion Jimbaran Bay, too isolated. Nusa Dua, even worse. Kuta, too much of a circus. In recent years, I've always looked to stay in or around Seminyak.

Whether it's a good thing or not, one is spoilt for choice in Bali - regardless of the budget. So the best thing is to start with which area you want to stay in & work from there.

Villa Uma Sapna was introduced by my BFF, a regular of Bali. They have a special promotion going on & we paid US$100 for the room which also came with daily in room breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, transport to the airport & a 2 hour spa package for each person.

It's very well located which is not often the case for villas in Bali (some of them so remote that taxi drivers have a hard time finding the place). 3 minutes walk distance to Jalan Oberoi & Jalan Raya Seminyak.

We love the room, the service was great & even though the hotel doesn't have a restaurant, the meals served in the rooms were excellent. While we were there, we decided to spend one night in Ubud so had to check out & then check back in again - breaking our minimum 7 days for the promotion, they graciously said it was okay.


When I made the reservation, I didn't book a room with a pool cos I thought it was more a novelty & that we probably wouldn't make use of it. We were upgraded upon check in & it was the best thing ever.

We used the pool everyday especially now that she can swim (yes ! says the proud maman). It was the perfect size for her & she would jump in eagerly whenever she had a chance.




The only disappointment was the main pool. As you can see, it's not very big & since we like to swim - the fact that we couldn't find a nice beach & that we don't have a decent pool in the hotel was a let down.So even though the little one enjoyed the private pool, her parents didn't get to swim very much.

Our hotel in Ubud was a last minute decision. Since we had reservations for Mozaic (which we subsequently had to cancel, sigh), we thought we might as well stay the night in Ubud. And since we have Komang, the driver with us, I have the luxury of choosing a hotel outside of Ubud town. Most hotels have regular shuttle service to town anyway.

Do not stay in Villa 19. The room was huge but....... humid - so humid that the wall was dripping wet (I kid you not). Which means it was musky. To make matters worse, the air con though working, didn't seem to cool the room down at all. When we complained, the hotel management claimed that they were aware of problems in that room (!) but we did get feedback from other guests that their rooms were humid too. A good thing we stayed for only one night.

Apart from the room, the hotel is the type of place that one would want to stay in Ubud. Done in an elegant Balinese style. It sits on a gorgeous location. Amidst the trees & away from the bustling activity of the town. The villas are scattered around the grounds & are accessible via golf carts.

The infinity pool is beautiful. Lovely setting.

Villa Uma Sapna
Jln Drupardi no 20xx
Basangkasa Seminyak
Bali 80361

The Payogan Villa Resort & Spa
Jln Cocoa 2,
No 77 Bnajar Bunutan
Desa Kedewatan
Ubud 80571