The Purist Villas — Restaurant in Pulau Bali

Tldr: I would consider to return mainly because the staff are wonderful, everyone pleasant, friendly, efficient and speak very good English. All of them kindly and helpful. Extremely welcome feeling from the first moment. |I would describe it to be a good four-star casual boutique mini resort, becoming in some areas a little bit worn down where paint and wood etc. needs replacing and updating. It isn't a five-star resort, although the service could befit a top class hotel.|Pool villa has large wooden deck and rectangular infinity edge plunge pool overlooking the bamboo, deep enough and long enough to swim a few strokes. An outdoor dining area. Bedroom has a beautiful woven high ceiling with a ceiling fan. Wooden sliding doors to the patio and to the dining area. Really it's like a small house so it's definitely a vill, quite romantic. Large bathroom with huge stone tub and separate shower. The air conditioning is very noisy and only just sufficient. It takes a very long time to cool down the room despite the very high ceiling and at night it can get a bit clammy. The bathroom is not air conditioned and the shower is outdoor fun but very humid.|The main bedroom floor is paved in river pebbles of about 3 cm average which looks beautiful, but in fact is a little bit uncomfortable on the feet. They do provide however woven grass flip-flops to wear while you're staying. Also batik cotton robes although far too small for my size.|Dining table outside and refrigerator in wooden cabinet with kettle and cups. No coffee machine, only one packet of instant coffee per day and two tea bags per day. One of each variety. Copious water provided in glass bottles.|King size wooden bed with mosquito nets, I find it comfortable. The bed linen was of fairly basic quality but clean, sheet and blanket rather than duvet. Ikat style fabric used for the bedrunner and seat cover etc. Daybed of wood: uncomfortable for sitting on without as it has an upright 30 cm high wooden back and no cushions. Watching television can only really be done from lying on the bed because it's so uncomfortable. |Interior design items are all Indonesian or Balinese style knickknacks like baskets and art objects and some wooden doors on the wall etc, rustic Balinese ambience - for example, some stone statues, handmade metal table, etc. Lighting is from lamps and so pretty dark in the room at night. You can't see anything if you drop it!|Room cleaning was good but only on one evening has turndown service happened, although I'm not that bothered so have not telephoned to ask them for it to be done. If I wanted extra water I just telephone and they brought it.|The outside deck is quite worn and has some wonky planks that move when you walk on them. The wood needs oiling or treating and is very dry, the railings etc. are all made from this very old and dry wood. The brown lounging cushions are all very stained from being left out a lot in all weather and of course it rains a lot here. Occasionally when it storms the staff does pack them away in a corner but mostly they were left out unless I put them away myself. But they need replacing & look tatty. There is no shade on the balcony, such as a parasol and no colour. One of the lovely Balinese style brightly coloured parasols would really improve the outside area.|Communal areas all have a similar rustic vibe and are kept tidy. The compound is built on a hillside next to a deep valley with a small rivulet in the base which you can hear trickling, especially when the rain is heavy. The hillside is covered in a thicket of giant bamboo with some tall coconut palms also, so the environment is totally green and nature. Planting in the compound is lush and the gardeners work hard to tidy up, falling leaves, etc. Lamps hang in baskets from bamboo. Lots of statues around the place to give an arty feeling. There is a concrete drainage stream through the middle of the compound with little bridges. |The trees are full of varieties of birds that you can hear singing all day, lots of butterflies and some local squirrels that chase each other and chatter. Small bats come out at dusk and fly around which is also lovely. Steps up and down through the compound are marble and get slippery whenever it rains. Staff do alert you to the slipperiness. The compound is not accessible to anybody who has mobility issues around steps.|The spa and small gym are in another hillside area with a nice view of the nature. |There are two small pools that have lounging areas next to them but again no parasols for shade. That said, there are only about a dozen rooms and some of the villas have their own pool so it does not feel crowded at all. It is definitely a boutique environment. |The restaurant is small and can get quite noisy with some dubious choices of pop music playing. Food is very fresh, healthy and simple, it arrives quite quickly, nicely plated and with accompaniments. Everything I've had has been tasty. The kitchen does well with a relatively small menu of Indonesian, a few Balinese and international dishes. It is plant-based with a few hints of cheese and additional options of fish/seafood. |Breakfast is a la carte but you can have as much as you want and includes a plate of fruit beautifully cut, freshly made smoothies or juice, teas and coffees including barista, a basket of pastries, as well as your hot items or healthy bowls. |In the afternoon for a couple of hours they offer a free afternoon tea like many hotels in Ubud, with small savoury and sweet bites, including some Balinese sweets which are absolutely delicious and again nicely presented.|The location is down a side lane of one of the north-south streets out of Ubud, not much easily accessible close by, 5 minutes walk to a couple of restaurants, 10 to 15 minutes to the nearest massage places or coffee shops and half an hour walk to the centre of Ubud. The road is very narrow and the traffic in Ubud and much of Bali is absolutely atrocious, with constant jams of trucks, cars and motorbikes. There is no footpath. If it rains you will get very wet as the drainage floods quickly. The hotel will drop you into Ubud four times per day if you book in advance. (However, as you can imagine the last one is about 5:00, so too early for dinner realistically) However, you have to make your own way back, but there are plenty of chaps offering a ride and it is about 70,000 rupiah to return to the hotel. You could walk back in 30 minutes approximately but I would not advise it after dark as there is no street light and again the traffic is really bad. Of course it is also very hot and sweaty! |That said, the hotel really feels a bit like an oasis as you can't really hear the traffic noise, it is masked by the sound of the running water in the drainage channel and from the rivulet down below in the valley although you cannot see it. You cannot see the villas on the other side of the valley, just a glimpse of a patio or their lights at night so it is quite secluded and you do feel away from the frenetic crazy crowds of Ubud.|Overall I have felt very cared for...

We had an amazing experience on our honeymoon at The Purist Villas in Ubud. From the moment we arrived, we were treated with such warmth and generosity. They gave us a detailed personal tour of the hotel and amenities along with welcome drinks. They also went the extra mile to decorate our bed with flowers, prepare us a floral petal bath and gift us a cake for our honeymoon.

We stayed in the River Villa 3 and it was beautifully decorated and private. We loved the fish pond and the amount of space we had in our room. Our room did not include a private pool, but we mostly had the pool next to our room to ourselves and spent many tranquil afternoons there. While there were other guests at the resort, the design of the resort made it such that privacy was easy to find and we often felt like the only ones there.

The free breakfast was ordered á la carte and we particularly loved the banana pancakes and vegetable oven sandwich. There was also complimentary afternoon tea every day, which was a beautiful buffet spread along with your choice of coffee or tea. We appreciated the free 5-min shuttle service to Ubud centre 3x daily. We also enjoyed the massage at the spa and dinners ordered to our room. They provide free insect repellent spray, which was a thoughtful touch.

The staff went above and beyond in making us feel welcome. They made the effort to ask us about our day and remember little details about our plans. We felt much at home because of their hospitality.

If we had to give any minor constructive feedback, it was that the pools could be a few degrees warmer, but that didn't stop us from enjoying it.

Special thanks to Roy, Choki, Depi, Puriani, Yuli and the rest of the Balisimo and concierge staff for their smiling hospitality and service. We would highly recommend The Purist Villas to anyone looking to be pampered and can't wait to...

This is a very difficult review to write for me as I have a conflict that will become clear a little later. For reference I am a frequent business traveller and have been fortunate to stay in some top hotels as a reference. Firstly the property is beautiful and the staff, particularly in the restaurant are top notch. Breakfast whilst limited is delicious and varied enough for everyone. Our room was very well appointed, clean and tidy. The staff again are amazing as they seem to know when you leave and pop in and clean or turn down. Every time we went for breakfast the room was cleaned when we came back. It's a bit of a walk to the city centre (around 20 minutes) on a road with no sidewalks and lots of holes. I fell down one on my way home in the dark one night. But we walked it every day. There is a supermarket and a few restaurants (Warungs) within a few minutes walk so you don't need to go to town and there is a shuttle 3 times a day. Our room was a pool room, a good size with a deck, sun beds and an undercover sitting area. Here is the difficult part of the review but I believe it needs to be said. We had money taken from our safe. Each time it was 10% of what we had in IDR. No foreign cash was taken, I guess they thought we wouldn't realise, and indeed we thought it was us the first time, but by the third I spoke to the management. To be fair they were both attentive, apologetic and waved an amount from our bill at the end, although they could not find any evidence on their cctv. I'm not saying this to put you off. Indeed we will return but with a more careful eye and a different strategy with our money. After our event we looked on more 1* reviews to find we were not the first this had happened to so take heed but do stay, it's an...