Villa Gembira

8.6/10

Wow. Villa Gambira is a fabulous place. And excellent value. The walled gardens are expansive and delightful. We wandered around trying to identify plants and admiring the landscaping skills. The Villa is well designed with spacious garden areas and large rooms. The two master en-suite bedrooms are either side of the central living area – consisting of lounge, dining and kitchen – overlooking the koi pond. We started naming each koi! There were just the two of us. So we occupied only one of the two bedroom suites. But, both were complete in themselves: each having a king size bed, walk-in wardrobe and en-suite. A wonderful touch was the 3 water coolers. It saved us lugging large water bottles from the local supermarket and was a more sustainable solution. The staff were delightful and such fun and maintained the Villa daily. There was a linen change every 3 days. American breakfast was included in our daily fee. Given neither of us is American – and we like to embrace the local food – we asked for mie goreng and special nasi goreng respectively instead. No problem. And no extra charge. In fact, John can eat Nasi Goreng for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Not joking! We had lots of fun in the pool which has a lanai. It is a good size. We have few niggles. So minor it would not deter us from going to the Villa again. Indeed. We intend to do so: It would be preferable to have a door bell to the villa. This would help with privacy a bit to forewarn guests when the cleaners and gardeners want to do things. OK, strangely, John and I are cooks. So sometimes, we preferred to cook ourselves steak, seafood and/ or prepare a salad for dinner. While the kitchen was well equipped with full size fridge, gas cooktop, microwave and utensils, there were no spotlights over the kitchen sink nor stove top, making it difficult to see. I am not very good with stairs. So, John had to help me in and out of the open air bath tub which had two stairs up and down into the covered tub with shower. Also, although there were shallow stairs into the pool, the pool itself was a uniform 5 feet deep. We would have preferred it to be at least graded in depth. I think that would be better for kids and games in the pool. Although there was not an abundance of restaurants along the nearest main street – Julan Batu Belig only a 2 minute walk away up our Gang – there were sufficient. Warung Sabot being our favourite. Watercress is more of a hip burger place that does breakfast until 4pm – no lunch menu – and dinner. Strawberry Fields, about a 10 minute walk east made great breakfasts and brill smoothies. There were many local convenience stores in easy walk. But if you wish a more extensive range, Supermarket popular ( a Pepito brand) was only a 7,000 rupiah (flag fall) taxi drive away. We’d always tip to 20,000 rupiah anyway. There were plenty of taxis plying up and down Jalan Batu Belig. The Villa is about a 30-40 minutes’ drive to Ngurah Rai airport. About 90,000 rupiah by taxi. There is an authorised money changer just across our gang from Julan Batu Belig. We advise not to use the unauthorised ones. They offer a slightly better exchange rate but are usually dodgy. If you are not familiar with Bali, we also advise catching the Bluebird range of taxis. They must turn on their meter. There are independent taxis ( often painted blue and with similar logo on the roof) who want to argy bargy with you. If you want to do that, then by all means!

10/10

The bedroom was spacious and well appointed with a huge bed, tv and DVD, air con and a lovely bathroom. The kitchen was great with everything you need. The kitchen staff were fantastic and even made us dinner when we requested it. The pool was awesome as was the bali hut where we lazed after having a swim. Lovely gardens and a beautiful pond where you can sit and watch the large Koi fish for hours. All in all the best place I have stayed in while holidaying in Bali and this was my 8th trip to the island. Well done to all concerned. We will be back and thanks again. Mark and Sonia

8.4/10

We had an amazing holiday in Bali. The villa was stunning and the the staff couldn't do enough for us. The villa is in a great location only 10 minutes walk to the beach. There is a good variety of restaurants nearby and we especially liked Warung Sabat which was fantastic value for money. We will definitely be coming again.

7.6/10

our stay went really well, special mention to our cook and room service, villa very well located nearby the beach and a commercial street

10/10

Villa Gembira is an amazing place to stay. Location is between Seminyak and Canggu, and that's just perfect! A few minute walk from the beach. Bedrooms are a dream. Place is nice and calm, no loud cars driving there. Would want to go back immediately! Watch out, because when you type Villa Gembira in Google Maps, it gives you another location that is not correct. Please use Villa Senang when you use Google Maps, that's the name of the Villa right next to Villa Gembira.

10/10

We had a lovely stay at Villa Gembira and the villa provided a real haven for us after long days out. The kids loved the pool which was perfectly situated at the back of the villa with lovely stones leading to the raised Balinese lounge area too. The maids were really friendly and cooked breakfast for us everyday - bacon and egg which the kids really enjoyed. Most of all, we loved the location. Batubelig is situated a little further out of Seminyak but for us it was perfect - quiet, sophisticated with some beautiful restaurants nearby (our favourite being Watercress - a real treat and a short 3 minute walk from the villa) We also loved the french patisserie on the main street in Batubelig who make the best cream puffs! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this villa to anyone, the bedrooms were beautiful with air con and large comfy beds, whilst the outdoor bathrooms were a real treat. The only point to note is that the two bedrooms are quite far apart so if you're travelling with younger kids, they might be a little wary, although the villa is extremely secure and we felt safe at all times. We are looking forward to revisiting Bali in the future and are considering Villa Senang (the larger villa) next door which sleeps 10. Our recent stay has given us lovely memories for life!

10/10

Perfect & beautiful Villa , very good staff taking care of guest .. nice location ...we enjoyed stayed in the villa recommended for a stay in Bali , well done !!!

10/10

A lovely well maintained villa that took our breathe away when we arrived,in a quiet tucked away situation. But with simple and easy access to the beach and local village/town with restaurants, bars shops etc, also a short stroll to the local beach, or short taxi ride to more busy shopping and nightlife.The garden of the villa, was excellent, private and very well maintained, with a superb swimming pool. The staff were extremely helpful, polite and friendly and made the stay a pleasure. We loved it so much that we actually cancelled our flight onwards and spent an extra 2 days here. We could not recommend it more and certainly will return on our next trip to Bali.

8/10

Lovely and quiet stay at Villa Gembira. Villa staff were helpful and friendly. The villa is not in a very accessible location but its just a 7min walk away (through some shortcuts!) from some great eating places like Naughty Nuri's and Watercress. I travelled with 2 very young kids and they throughly enjoyed the pool and even loved feeding the fish in the villa's pond. The villa is not new but they take care of the grounds and if anything isn't working they will get right to fixing it. Throughly enjoyed myself and will recommend a stay here for a relaxing getaway.

8.8/10

Villa is beautiful, the staff very nice and friendly. We had a great stay (2 couples) and I strongly recommend it. They have been very helpful with every requests.

10/10

Just a 5 min. Stroll from the beach, easy to walk to Seminyak Square over the beach, super friendly staff, several good restaurants nearby. Very clean.