Island House

10/10

A stunning house, a truly beautiful view, a great holiday location. Our family had a wonderful 8 day stay in this terrific house and we highly recommend it. The island is very quiet but there is enough to keep a family busy for a week, including diving courses and scooter riding (the roads are very bumpy though so you can’t ride at night.) The beaches are generally dangerous so it is not really a swimming holiday although you can paddle down at Mushroom Beach. I would suggest you take some supplies if possible from Bali as there is very little available on the island to allow self catering. Hai restaurant at Mushroom Bay was the better place to dine as we found the nearby Beach Restaurant handy but not always very good. The house staff were fine. There were real privacy issues though as they came and went from the house constantly day and night without announcing themselves. Best to set up an agreement that they call out when they enter. All in all, the location is incredible and watching and listening to the waves crashing constantly was absolutely wonderful. Be warned that the Devils Tears lookout across from the house is extremely dangerous and people have been washed off the rocks there. The sea is wild in this area and care must be taken.

10/10

This house and location is INCREDIBLE! The house sits on a cliff top overlooking the most incredible crashing waves. It is quite isolated on the cliff top.. There are a number of other big houses and some abandoned villas that share the cliff face. Sandy Bay Beach Club is just a few minutes away which was great as we could scoot down and have a yummy dinner. We had some great meals here and they even prepared us takeaway one night which was great. Not many other restaurants within walking distance so definitely recommend hiring a scooter so other beaches/restaurants are more accessible. The villa pool is amazing and the rooms are lovely. Huge big kitchen and dining table perfect for accommodating big groups. The bathrooms are all outside which we liked but may not be suited to every persons taste. One issue we did have is that none of the towels were changed for our entire stay. Given this house is one of the most upmarket villas on the island and we were paying a fair amount between us we expected that at least our bath towels and face washers could be changed daily. We also found at night the house was incredibly dark. It was hard for us to all sit in the living area and we could not read in the dark so ended up retiring to our rooms quite early. We found the staff were nice enough but were not overly friendly and at times we felt like we were putting them out. There is security overnight which is comforting as the house is very isolated from the main beaches and there is no one around. To really provide a luxury experience Villa Island House probably needs to improve a few things but it is hard to fault given the house itself was incredible and had fantastic views.

10/10

Everything about the property exceeded our expectations, from the spectacular cliff-top location, the view across to the waves crashing over Devil's Tears, to the warmth of the staff, especially our housekeeper Ayu. Mark from Nusa Lembongan Villas also looked after us, and was very quick to respond to, and address every one of our concerns and requests. When we arrived, the villa was spotless, but the bookshelves upstairs were dusty, and when I pointed this out, all the books and shelves were wiped down within an hour. We had no problems with the linen as the sheets were spotless, and we had an ample supply of both beach and bath towels. The staff also kept the lawn free of leaves and branches, and tended to the pool. The one night we experienced an island-wide blackout, we were immediately given LED globes for light. Ayu made us a hot breakfast every morning, with tropical fruit smoothies. The standard breakfast includes crepes, so for variety, we asked her to help us buy bacon and sausages from Bali, which she did. The staff come at 7am daily, and perform all their chores thoroughly, before giving you absolute privacy, although we knew they were just down the path from us, if we needed their help with anything, including getting groceries from town on their bikes. While Island House isn't the newest or swankiest of properties, it's the most comfortable and soothing of houses. Its island charm is what has me writing a review after six months, and its genuine appeal is what will have me return.