And so on to my favourite part of the entire holiday. Forget nice hotels in Singapore, the open air Hyatt, trips on the A380, elephant rides, this tops the lot and is something that I will never ever forget.
Originally, back in August when booking this trip Mum had advised us to book a full 10 nights in the Bali Hyatt however, a few months later, she told us to amend this to 7 nights and that she’d arrange the last three. She told us nothing more than that.
Even before anyone stepped foot onto a plane speculation was rife. Where were we going for those last three nights? There was talk of boats, villas, beaches, private chefs and even the thought that we might be flying back to Australia for the wedding.
We’d been instructed to meet Mum in the reception of the Hyatt at 12 after checking out of our rooms. Two mini-bus style taxi’s awaited us plus a small van for the luggage. Mum was still tight lipped.
After travelling for about 40 minutes we turned off of the main road and onto a narrow country lane. Where were we going? After a few bumpy minutes we arrived in the driveway of an enormous villa. Even still, we couldn’t believe it as the staff helped us out of the taxis and welcomed us to the Ylang Ylang villa.
I was completely blown away. I get that feeling very, very rarely. This place was just unbelievable. I felt as though I was on MTV Cribs! The luggage was taken care of by the staff and we moved into the lounge area where another member of staff was standing by with wine and cold beers which were gratefully received. I still couldn’t believe it.
The Ylang Ylang is a 6 bedroom private villa located in south east of the island overlooking a secluded beach. It is fully staffed with waiting staff, a full time personal chef, cleaners and grounds keepers as well as security. There is an infinity pool and two Jacuzzis. Both master suites also contain large baths. Each bedroom sleeps up to two and all are en-suite.
Let me show you around…..
The main lounge, entrance and dining area
The view of the infinity pool – the bedrooms are located at either side
Looking back at the villa
One of the master suites
The large bath in one of the master suites
The view from my room
Looking at the photos now I’m still blown away by it. Forget every hotel that I’ve ever stayed at, there has been nothing like this before.
After we started to settle down a bit, everyone chose their rooms and their luggage was duly delivered accordingly. It was then time for lunch which our chef Kadek had prepared for us. All of the food was pre-ordered prior to our arrival and Mum had already sorted out the drinks earlier in the week. Wayang and Dewa served us lunch which consisted of sandwiches and chips. I’m not a fan of tomato so asked if I could have mine without, not only did I receive tomato free sandwiches they remembered this for the remainder of the stay. I didn’t have to mention it again. Amazing service.
A word on the staff. We had 10 staff during our stay. Our personal chef Kadek prepared the most amazing food for us at our request. The waiting staff, I guess you could call them butlers (but that would indicate a stuffiness, which there wasn’t) were Wayang and Ketut tended to our every need and the manager Dewa ensured that everything ran smoothly.
Having an entire villa as our playground took a little while to get used to. We felt inclined to ask if it was ok to do things, such as, whether we could go for a swim, or put on some music. Dewa informed us in the most sincere terms that this was our house now and we could anything we wanted to and that himself and his staff would be here to make sure that we were completely taken care of, perfect.
And so, we had to try out the pool. Like kids we ran to our rooms to get changed and excitedly jumped into the pool. At this point, Wayang appeared with fresh towels for us all and laid them out on the sun loungers.
We spent most of the afternoon in the pool and exploring the villa. Often one of the staff would come over to offer to make us a drink. I can’t describe how well looked after we were, we didn’t have to lift a finger.
For all of us, this level of service is something that we’d never experienced and there were several conversations about how the staff were treated by other guests. At all times we treated the staff as friends and invited them to join us for a drink etc.
After some time in the pool I decided to go and read a book under the gazebo near the sea. All I could hear were the crashing of the waves and some splashes in the pool.
Looking back at the villa from the gazebo
The beach
Dewa came over and asked my Mum what we’d like for dinner and what time we’d like it to be served. We decided on a BBQ and so Kadek and the other kitchen staff went out to do the shopping. All we had to do is let them know if we had any particular preferences. Having had Balinese satay on a couple of occasions before we all agreed that this had to be on the menu.
We’d agreed a time of 8pm for dinner at about 6pm the staff came out into the garden to start setting up. This was no ordinary BBQ with a few plastic chairs and paper plates. The guys took the entire dining table including candles and table decorations down to the bottom of the garden and set everything up.
The BBQ set up
Kadek and the staff then cooked the most amazing BBQ food that I’d ever had before and while doing so kept us topped up with drinks. At 8pm we were invited to help ourselves to dinner. We had satay, fish, steak, rice and two different salads. The guys even set up a small table and set up all of the drinks to act as the bar. It was simply an amazing experience.
The next morning and most of the afternoon was spent totally relaxing by the pool. Unlike the Hyatt there was no need to be concerned with finding somewhere to sit or any annoyance from other guests. We received some excellent service from the guys again including Wayang overhearing my comment that it would be good if we had some inflatables to much around with in the pool. No sooner was the comment made and a lilo, ball and rubber ring were produced. Amazing again. Throughout the day guys kept us topped up with drinks, from a cool beer, a diet coke or a full on G&T nothing was too much trouble.
This however was not just any other day. This was the day that my Mum was getting married to her partner, my step-dad (to be, at the time). They’d both moved over to Australia from the UK about 5 years ago and had decided to get married about a year prior to actual day. Well this was it.
The wedding was to take place in the grounds of the villa, overlooking the sea. At about 4pm people started arriving to set up the garden and arrange the flowers. They did a brilliant job.
Setting up for the wedding
A trail of petals
The main flower arrangement, looking towards the villa
The wedding took place at about 6pm. We’d got ourselves out of the pool and changed and as the sun was low in the sky Mum and my Grandad made their way out of the master suite towards Mum’s partner and the guests.
The wedding was perfect and intimate. There were only 8 guests, myself included. The priest performed the religious ceremony and then two officials performed the legal service. The whole thing was complete within 30 minutes to a few tears from Mum and the ladies of the group.
After the service, and a few photos we headed up to the 1st floor of the villa for the drinks reception. This took place on the roof terrace overlooking the pool with the sun setting over the sea. It was very memorable as we watched the sun go down with a glass of champagne.
The view from the roof terrace
The staff had cleared away the sun loungers and had set up the dining table beside the pool with their immaculate attention to detail as ever.
The dining table for the evening meal
Dinner was fantastic as always. Mum had chosen the menu a few weeks ago and everything was great. However, just after finishing the main course it absolutely tipped it down with rain! Everything was getting soaked so we ran inside but then took pity on the staff so went back outside to start grabbing everything to take it indoors. This was pretty funny and actually added to the day. As a few of us were pretty wet anyway we decided to go for a dip in the pool, fully clothed. Well why not?
After drying off, the staff and reset the table inside and we had desert followed by a few more drinks. We all went to bed very full, a bit drunk but beaming from a fantastic day.
The next day going to be our last day in Bali and in typical fashion we spent the day rotating between the pool, the two Jacuzzis and the sun loungers, briefly stopping for lunch. I spent the afternoon finishing off my book and taking in the beautiful surrounds so that I could recall them during moments of stress at work.
As the sun started to set I grabbed my camera to get a last shot of the villa.
The villa at dusk
We’d asked Kadek to prepare her favourite Balinese dishes for us for dinner which again was fantastic. This included a succulent beef rendang curry which had a bit of a kick to it! We’d joked with the staff that fireworks would be good for the final evening and to our surprise, they’d taken us seriously and proceeded to put on a short fireworks display to much laughter from everyone.
Fireworks on our final night
After the fireworks I gathered everyone up for group photos, including the staff. We invited them to join in a final drink with us which they did.
We all got to bed about mid-night, not looking forward to our 5am start in the morning.
Verdict on the Ylang Ylang Villa
What can I say? The single most amazing accommodation experience I’ve ever had. Nothing could possibly come close, except a repeat visit. The villa itself was fantastic, modern and comfortable but so sophisticated. The staff were all amazing. The level of personal service that they all gave us was unbelievable and the quality of the food that Kadek prepared for us was on par with some of the top restaurants that I’ve been too. So much so that on the last night we asked her to join us and we gave her a round of applause and my Mum gave her a big hug.
Whilst Mum had taken care of the arrangements I found out later how much the villa had actually cost. As we stayed during the low season the rate was $850 US per night. That sounds like a lot on the face of it, but don’t forget that rate is for up to 12 people and includes use of all the facilities and the staff, so in short, significantly cheaper than a hotel.
Mum has wet my appetite for private villas, frankly now I’m spoilt. A hotel just won’t do it for me anymore!
I can’t recommend the villa more
^.
Take a look at their website:
http://www.theylangylang.com.