La Jempana

A lovely little resort, with friendly, helpful staff. The rooms are spacious and the beds comfortable. There are lots of bugs and flies, though.

The fried bee hoon was a pleasant surprise, though the food overall was fairly average. One thing to know if you order during the day and eat in your room, as the hotel encourages: the room service can bring along a swarm of flies. You end up choosing between eating outside with the flies or letting some into your room. Still, the quiet setting is peaceful, and the lake is just a few minutes’ walk away, with lovely mountain reflections on the water. It’s a decent short escape from Bali’s traffic, if you bring a fly swatter and a sense of humor.

The route to Villa Jempana is scenic, and the views there are wonderful: Batur Mountain, hills, and plantations. We had a great experience and would recommend staying more than one night. The family-sized rooms are huge and good, and the facilities are okay, with a TV, bed, cupboard, bathroom, shower, minibar, and water heater. The outdoor area was wow, especially the nice pool with natural water. The staff were humble, kind, and very helpful. Stay safe and healthy, guys.

The surroundings are beautiful, but I definitely can’t recommend the hotel. Our stay at Villa Jempana was disappointing from the start. There was no hot water, too little toilet paper, and no cleaning or restocking while we were there. The villa felt dirty and poorly maintained. There’s no bar or restaurant, and although food can be ordered through an app, there’s nowhere decent to sit and eat. Eating outdoors was impossible with so many flies. There was no luggage service either. We booked a Mount Batur tour at reception, waited at 3:30 a.m., and no guide turned up. The noisy air conditioner barely worked and leaked onto the bed. We also felt unwelcome, and seemed to be the only guests, which made everything more uncomfortable.