The Banyumas Villa

I spend six months here each winter to get away from New Zealand weather, and I like the place. It’s not five star, but it’s clean and the staff are accommodating and friendly. The pool is clean and usually not crowded. I have dinner at the poolside restaurant most nights; the food is very good and there’s plenty to choose from. There are also lots of Warungs nearby for local food, though it’s often too spicy with chilli for me. I’ll come back every year if I can.

The room was gross, with a dirty floor, stained bedding, mould everywhere and mosquitos galore. The light above the bed wouldn’t switch off, so the mosquitos were constant. I booked a one-bedroom room, but at check-in they said those were all taken and put me in a room with an upstairs area I couldn’t use. I’m glad I only booked one night. This was probably the worst place I’ve ever stayed, and I’d tell people to save their money. The photos on booking.com are clearly very old or fake, because the place looks nothing like them. Taking your room card out of the slot turns off the power, which I understand, but it also shuts off the aircon. That left the room hot and made the bad smell even worse. AVOID! Booking.com should remove this foul place from its website.

My experience was very disappointing. The food was poor, with frozen onion rings, raw chicken and generally mid-quality meals. The WiFi didn’t work in the rooms, which is a problem if you need to work or study. When I complained, they said “the guy to fix it is not in town.” I later noticed reviews from a year earlier describing the same issue, so it clearly still hadn’t been fixed. The photos online were misleading, and the place looked nothing like them. Cleaning was terrible: the bedsheets were often stained and never properly changed, and a friend staying in another room confirmed that the rooms smelled bad. Staff barely spoke English, were often rude and unhelpful. When a lizard got into my room because they’d left the door open during “cleaning,” I asked for help. They checked for five seconds and left, then later said they had removed it, though they clearly hadn’t. They’d advertised free transport to the airport, but we ended up paying for it ourselves. Between the dirty rooms, poor WiFi, unhelpful service and that broken promise, I wouldn’t recommend staying here, especially for work or a long visit.

The stained bedding needs a good bleaching, and the rooms need a deep clean. The place needs some maintenance too. With rooms big enough for a family of four, it could be a very nice place to stay.