The Double View Mansions - Bali

The rooms looked older than the photos, with stained old towels and worn bedding, and the front desk brushed off problems until I gave up. Management didn’t seem to care, and my deposit wasn’t refundable. Construction all around is loud, starting early in the morning and going until late evening. Don’t book without seeing the place during daylight. They’ll try to upsell an ocean-view room even though there’s no ocean view left, just large construction. Very disappointing that businesses in Bali are still run this way.

The room itself was clean and tidy, but that was about the only good point. We arrived around 10pm after hours of travel in heavy traffic, and I thought the driver had brought us to the wrong place. The property didn’t look like the pictures or what I’d booked for my daughter’s first Bali trip. It’s far out in the countryside, not Canggu, and there’s nothing nearby. The entrance to this fairly new place looked unfinished and underwhelming for the price. We hadn’t eaten, so I asked where we could get food or drinks. There was nothing around, and the atmosphere felt eerie. My daughter got spooked and wanted to leave. We asked to cancel and find somewhere more suitable, but they said we had to contact Agoda. We felt uncomfortable from the start. It took 15 minutes to get a car, then another 20 minutes of driving with no traffic to find somewhere open at midnight. The only options were in the party area, where hundreds of drunk people harassed my young teenage daughter and me as we tried to find somewhere quiet. We ended up eating what may have been the worst food we’ve ever had, and it made us both feel sick. We also saw a horrific bike accident: a young female tourist without a helmet was thrown from a bike. My daughter was traumatized and distraught afterward, and couldn’t sleep. I spent the whole night awake trying to sort things out with Agoda so we could leave for a nicer place in a better location. We paid an expensive price and can’t understand what we were paying for. The only other guests we could see were directly above us, moving chairs and talking loudly for most of the night, which kept us awake too. Then there was construction all around the building and pool. Bulldozers and jackhammers started early and carried on all day. Dust and particles in the air made it hard to breathe. My daughter and I already felt unwell, and the constant dust made us worse; we couldn’t stop coughing. If you want to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by noisy construction, and wait 15 minutes for a car before driving another 15-20 minutes to shops, cafes and restaurants, this may suit you. You can walk among rice paddies and fields, with construction all around as far as you can see. That wasn’t the Bali holiday we wanted, especially for my daughter’s first visit. It wasn’t value for money for us.

The rooms were clean and it’s 300m to the beach, but there’s no bottled water, only a water cooler. The two-bedroom room has one bathroom, and the second bedroom is tiny and has no window. There’s no elevator, and the stairs to the second floor are steep. Staff were polite, though I found their cleaning of the grounds and premises disruptive and inconsiderate of guests’ comfort. The restaurant and reception have AC units installed, but they don’t switch them on, seemingly to save electricity. Breakfast was nominal, just croissants and dirty coffee. I arrived at 11pm on a last-minute booking, and they didn’t seem to know I was coming. Check-in took an hour. Maybe that was my mistake, or perhaps reception isn’t available around the clock.

I don’t live here, but I use the coworking space, gym, pool and restaurant. The coworking space is the best I’ve tried so far: a big penthouse flat with incredible views of both the beach and the rice fields. The internet is super solid, and management is very cool. Five stars, and the best view in Bali!