KARMA HOUSE — Hotel in Pulau Bali

Karma House is a great find and it could be a great stay for a few days in Ubud, if you know from the beginning where you’re going and you have the right expectations. They could make it really good with not much effort and very little expenses and maybe they will update soon.||Positives: Good location, very close to Ubud Market, Royal Palace, Jl Raya Ubud and Jl Monkey Forest but on a quiet alley. There are a lot of homestays on that alley and Karma is the last one. Most people go to bed early in the area so it’s very quiet after 10. I suggest you take the cheaper rooms with no AC because you get the garden and a small stretch of jungle just for yourself with a lot of birds and other wild life. The natural soundtrack in the early morning is absolutely great. The other rooms are in the yard, together with the family. Wayan and her family are very nice and friendly. Breakfast is simple but good and you have it on your own porch. They have the cheapest beer in Ubud (including the supermarkets). The place is very affordable.||Negatives: Being a bit remote there is no car access all the way to the house and coming back at night is a little dark (but very safe). The wild life could be too much for some, especially the insects. You should have some mosquito repellent. Because there is no AC the room is humid and you should keep most of your clothes outside. But the real problem is that everything in the room and bathroom looks and feels a bit old, dated and somehow run down and the walls are moldy and the room smells bad. It’s all about the high humidity. Oh, and some areas are dirty and dusty, not cleaned for a long time.||I had a very nice time at Karma House because for me the positives outweigh the negatives and the peace and quiet right in the center of Ubud at a very affordable price were more important but in the same time I wasn’t looking for a resort, I wasn’t looking to rest or spend time in my room so I didn’t need much for...

It’s a homestay so you’re sharing the property with the family who live here, albeit in a hotel style bedroom and set up. The good points of Karma house include the morning breakfast which was always a good portion and tasty and the central Ubud location. ||||However, there were quite a few negatives including WiFi that I could barely get to work throughout our stay as it was so unbearably slow, the room was infested with ants and in particular the bathroom (which resembled a prison cell with its metal door and grey walls) Any item left on the floor would be covered in ants. Lack of air conditioning made the room uncomfortably hot and difficult to sleep at night. Biggest gripe was the lack of ‘essentials’ - not provided shampoo or body wash was one thing however we also weren’t provided toilet paper or hand soap which felt a tad ridiculous. During our stay our towels were also never replaced despite an extended stay and most people showering twice a day with the heat and humidity. ||||Door locks are just padlocks and the general area did have rats and lots of ants and insects. I do not want to give a bad review as I did appreciate the budget price and subsequent budget accomodation provided however there is certainly areas for improvement. Stay here for the location, just around the corner is an alleyway full of the cheapest and best restaurants in all of Ubud and a great laundrette, Royal Palace is just a couple of minutes...

Booked for 2 nights, STAYED 2 MONTHS! I wish I could do more to repay them for their great hospitality, but what I feel that I can do is highly recommend their homestay. In the heart of downtown but at the bottom of a dead end street so it’s away from traffic noise, no dogs, no roosters. The family will give you privacy, but if you need anything just ask. They have a great breakfast menu to choose from. The omelette comes with toast and fresh fruit. My favorite. I went from a non AC room to a top balcony room with AC and a view, totally worth the extra couple $. Yes, there are bugs and geckos, that’s Bali. The rooms were clean, the shower was always hot and the WiFi worked. The WiFi wasn’t the fastest, welcome to Bali... but it was the best of any of the places I stayed and for that they got me to stay. I was able to build a website and an ecommerce site in my room. (Good for Ubud) Maybe I’m biased because I got so attached to this place, but there are so many wonderful reasons why I did. Enjoy your stay, keep Bali beautiful, use less...