We were a group of ten friends coming together (again) in Bali at Villa Jabali, this trip was to celebrate a 50th.
Wow! What a week.
The location of Jabali is fantastic. We love Seminyak. Our faves - Shelter (Hut) Cafe & The Gourmet Cafe and Catering Company for brunch & cafe food takeaways. The Organic Spa & Chill (ask for Yudi) for great massages. Bintang Supermarket (take the back streets rather than JL Raya Seminyak, MUCH less hassle), sunrise and sunset walks to Seminyak beach and the promenade. Dinner at Barbacoa, La Favala and Moonlight (definitely have to make reservations at these three, and at Moonlight, go at 5:45pm and book a table out on the deck to watch sunset around 6:15pm, its simply stunning).
An observation not a gripe…
Six of our group have been several times to Bali, and usually choose Villas with the daily breakfast option. We didn't this time because having first-timers with us we knew we would eat out a lot, but what also affected that decision was the fact that the prices of villas have gone up, and it appears you get less typical-Bali bang for your buck. Its a shame really because a big part of why Bali is such a great holiday spot is how cheap / affordable all the fun stuff is - eating, drinking, tours and shopping.
I completely get putting prices up post-covid. Bali relies heavily on tourism and they are quite obviously still trying to financially recover, but it was a surprise this time, to see the prices the villa charged for extras, like breakfasts (after the first day complimentary breakfast), drinks (from the villa fridge, soda, beer etc), and that they only offer a complimentary one-way airport transfer in a six-seater vehicle, when we were a party of ten!
That said, we still had a fantastic team looking after us daily. Ayu & Eka even arranged a birthday cake as a surprise complete with reigniting candles ? special mention also to Jay.
The villa was great, the pool was brilliant and the communal areas worked brilliantly for us all.
Ive taken a star off for the bedrooms, services and value for money to reflect the above comments, and our only grizzle about the villa - the upstairs bathrooms didn't have hot water for the first two days then sporadically hot/cold afterwards. The staff got maintenance there quick smart but they didnt actually repair the problem.
We’d go back to Villa Jabali, in fact, as a group we started planning our next trip while we were still in Bali, as you do!