Kalapa Resort and Yoga Retreat — Hotel in Pulau Bali

i am writing this now because I am currently staying here and it is a nightmare... I paid quite a lot of money to stay here hoping to have a bath in the huge bathtub and there was no hot water on arrival..we then waited 2 hours for them to try and change the gas etc ..banging and yelling outside the room still at 9pm.. We were offered a shower in the yoga room / storage area which means i have to walk outside over the grass to have a shower. I was only offered compensation because I demanded it and then they came back with 30 min massage which i am not interested in. I asked if they could make this night only half the price as compensation and the lady laughed at me and said its impossible!! we have done nothing but wait around for hot water. I am seriously not happy with this hotel.. It is also a lot nicer online than in real life..It needs maintenance. Its a shame because it could be so beautiful.

I am adding some more to this because it got worse!... After I managed to organise some compensation to not having hot water in the form of a free dinner at the hotel restaurant ( agreed one main meal each and one drink of beer or wine ) they then had me pay for my 2 next nights. As we settled into our new room we immediately discovered the toilet was blocked and would not flush. After quite a long while of deciding what to do some staff members came and unblocked it..spilling water all over the floor of the villa..from the toilet! I later realised that the owner ( a Chinese woman who owns two other resorts in Bali ) was too stingy to get tradesmen in to fix problems with the hotel and instead gets her untrained staff to do jobs that are beyond their knowledge so she can avoid spending more money. This is reflected in the way she has let a beautiful property diminish over the years. Her staff are also illegally under paid and they have no way to complain about this due to the corrupt government in Indonesia.

This hotel is not the real Bali..The staff are all friendly lovely Balinese people but the greedy Chinese owner is exploiting them and ripping off her guests.

After our villa toilet was blocked I was informed our "free" dinner to compensate not having hot water was a set menu of beef rendang curry ( obviously the cheapest option ) ..But I do not eat meat..when I told them this and that I had already discussed one main meal of choice and a free drink they denied it. I had already paid for 2 more nights.. They did not believe I did not eat meat!!! they offered me chicken !

So that was it for me..we went and demanded a refund for the next two nights..they did not compensate me for one night in a dirty villa with no hot water.

I would not recommend this villa , partly because we had bad luck with the hot water and the blocked toilet but mostly because the owner is under paying her staff and cutting corners to avoid spending a cent for maximum gain to herself.

The villas are rustic because they are partly outdoors but that doesn't mean a bathtub would not be cleaned. Also the breakfast is horrible..I will try and add a picture.. A terrible waste of a beautiful property... Hopefully the Balinese get their hands back on this place one day..

The Yoga in the mornings was good..but this is because the teacher is outsourced and you can find her elsewhere..such as the Jungle...

Im writing this review to dispell some of the reviews on here which are too harsh on this resort!

I stayed in the private pool villa.

Cleanliness- I found it to be clean, being surrounded by nature and made of wood it's impossible for this to be immaculate and dust free. The bathroom, sheets and towels were all clean in my room.

The river - some people on here have called it 'an open sewer' this is ridiculous. It's a slow flowing river (and storm overflow) that's has been routed by development in the area. It's a bit murky, but not smelly and certainly not a problem. I saw 1 peice of litter in it during my stay (a plastic bag), thats cleaner than most of Canggu.

Mosquito's- yes there's mosquito's, you're surrounded by greenery and water, welcome to Bali! I didn't use bug spray, left my room door open to the outside, didn't use the mosquito net and I got bitten all of twice. I get bitten way more in my garden in Perth.

Security - in my villa all the doors closed, locked, had a key and a hook-latch. I felt secure as a woman travelling alone.

Privacy- the pool villas back onto the river then there is the walls of residences on the opposite bank. In my time there I saw 1 person walk past. The plant screen is good, but there are gaps. This is necessary to let in sunlight for the pool area not to go rotten. I didn't feel that I needed to close the curtains, and I didn't feel watched or exposed, but everybody is different. There is a curtain that pulls around the bathroom area making it 100% private. There is also curtains to the main room.

Wildlife - Yes you can hear frogs, roosters, circadias and crickets. It was lovely and none of it loud enough to disturb my sleep or peace. There was a Geko poo on my front porch, the Geko was beautiful and its his home. Isn't nature why we book these type of places?!

The paths/driveway - paths are all stones and fairly level, there's steps/stairs to get around the resort so it is not suitible to anybody who is mobility impaired. The driveway is shared among several properties and this resort is at the end. The driveway is a bit bumpy and potholed, but nothing extraordinary for Bali and I navigated my moto up and down it with ease. As did a few cars during my stay.

The staff were great, location great - in a quiet part but only a few mins drive to the busy parts. I enjoyed a yoga class, breakfast was very good.

If you are like the people on here, who are whining that this resort isn't 100% immaculate, sanitised, hermetically sealed from mozzies and hate any living creature beyond humans - go to Nusa Dua! This is not the...

Check in: worst part and the reason of 1 star only. I discovered I have to pay extra bed fees that almost double the price of the room, and even though i already paid an extra guest fee. Responsibility stuck between agent and hotel, and at the end, the hotel did not accommodate and I felt cheated with unexpected price. I suggest they make all their fees clearer if they want to welcome families. A bit harsh to base my judgement mainly on that, but unfortunately I know that is the only way I can help the next family who wants to book with proper knowledge and maybe have the hotel owner to take action and make sure they communicate to their agents the correct price, it is global practice to include the bed in the extra guest fees.

Service: really nice, everybody did their best. Cleanliness is really good and towels changed everyday.

Food: below average, but it does not really matter there are plenty of outside solutions.

Design: the best part of the hotel, very good taste and using natural element. Just loved how the villas fit in their environment. The property has two pools which is creating two different areas. Being said that, this design is not fit for all: i am the kind who still don t understand why you have TV in boutique hotel rooms. Privacy is limited, no glass window so end up with quite a lot of mosquitos and ants. Well we are in the jungle after all and

Location: similar as for the design, i loved the location as it is in a quiet area (minus the soft hammering around as there are constructions going on). You just need to rent a motorbike which can be arrange at the reception.

Conclusion: I would have probably put 4 to 5 star if I were travelling in couple. But with a teenager, the room is too small and you end up sleeping on a mattress on a floor with unexpected fee for it, and with the company...