Lembongan Harmony Villas

My last trip to Bali was the first time I had stayed on Lembongan Island. Located just off the East Coast of Bali, it takes just 20-30 minutes in a fast boat to get there. After having a bit of help from Lembongan regulars, I booked Lembongan Harmony Villas for my 3 night stay. I was so excited; the photos looked unreal.

Images from www.lembonganharmonyvillas.com

The price for the villa was just right- $120 a night not including breakfast. For a one bedroom villa with a gorgeous infinity plunge pool and beautifully furnished verandah overlooking Jungutbatu Bay and Mount Agung in the distance. It was a view I was really looking forward to waking up to.

Prior to my stay, I had our boat transfers organised for my sister and I by the villa manager, Janu. I thought it was great that they offered this extra service and meant it was one less thing I had to worry about. I was a bit concerned about the booking because it had been organised by someone else (I like organising everything myself), but everything went smoothly.

When we arrived, there did seem to be a bit of confusion about where we needed to go. I later found out that Janu was actually supposed to meet us on the beach when we arrived, but he wasn't there. This wasn't a problem at all, we got to the villa just fine.

We were welcomed in and Janu lead us to our villa- Villa 2. The view certainly did not disappoint. Janu was very thorough in introducing us to the villa, showing us a file that was full of info on the island, what to do, where to eat etc. It was a great resource for a couple of first timers.

A few changes had been made to the set-up since the photos above were taken. Between the upstairs sundeck and downstairs pool and verandah, a bamboo fence had been erected and a shade cloth over the pool. They had added these to increase the privacy for those staying in the villa. It meant that anyone staying in the above villa, Villa 1, could not see through to the verandah area. Their pool however does directly overlooking the sundeck. I didn't have an issue with this because I wasn't planning on doing any topless sunbaking and in my opinion, it was no different than having people at a hotel seeing you enjoy the sun. I was however very disappointed to see that the sunlounges had been moved from the sundeck (see above photos) to the verandah. I can understand that they were moved due to privacy reasons but what was in their place wasn't sufficient; a single chair, 2 foot stools and a table, and where the sunlounges were put instead- squished into a corner of the verandah- made them a bit unpractical to use. The photo of the comfy sunlounges with the beautiful view is a high selling point and their replacements didn't do it for me. We did ask to have the lounges moved back up which the staff did, after asking twice.

With the villa, we were also given a mobile phone. It had numbers of spas and restaurants already saved, as well as the number for Janu. Although he wasn't always on site, we were always able to reach him. I gave him a call one day to organise scooters and 10 minutes later, they were there and ready for us to use. As helpful as he was in this regard, I found him a little overbearing when it came to recommending restaurants to us. The two places we decided to follow up with were a bit disappointing. On our last night, we were on our way out to a nearby restaurant when Janu insisted that we instead order take away from a specific restaurant, telling us how good the dishes were. We decided to do it just because he was being quite pushy and although the food was nice, it wasn't fantastic. It lead me to think that maybe he's making a commission from getting guests to order from certain restaurants around the island.

Inside the villa, we were more than comfortable. Our beds were comfortable and surrounded by a mosquitoe net. There was a TV, DVD player and stereo with an iPod dock. The bathroom was spacious and the villa even had a complete kitchenette and a well stocked fridge.

 

The view over the bay was unbeatable but to get such a great view, the villa has been situated at the top of a hill. You know what a hill means? Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Even for my sister and I, two reasonably fit young girls, we were left puffing and sweating when we'd made it back to the top. If you're on the older side or have bad knees, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're going to avoid the stairs altogether by using a scooter. There is also a couple of blocks in front of and next door to the villa of undeveloped land. I've wondered what will happen to that beautiful view once the land is developed.

All in all, we loved staying at the Harmony Villas. Now that I know Lembongan island better, I don't know that I'd stay there again, but I'd definitely recommend it especially if you're after a quiet and romantic get away with your partner.

You can check out their website here and also their sister villas, Lembongan Sanctuary Villas.

 

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