Kiskenda Cottages & Restaurant

For the cost, this was an incredible accommodation option for our family of four. The Kiskenda staff had excellent communication leading up to our stay and ensured we had two adjacent rooms. The pool was one of our favourites of our whole trip, so peaceful and relaxing, and you can order drinks by the pool (we stayed in some big resorts, and this pool had a beautiful Balinese feel to it and was very clean and tidy). Easy walk to Monkey Forest and some very good restaurants nearby, but a bit further to get anywhere else so we used Grab to get around. The food at the restaurant was simple options but all delicious and very well cooked (we were very cautious of what we ate during our whole stay in Bali, and felt very comfortable eating here). The views from the third floor balcony were absolutely beautiful! We highly recommend these rooms for less mosquitos and great views (but it is three flights of stairs and no lift).

These are cottages, and on the affordable end of the scale - there are gaps in the sliding doors so you can’t close them, and in our rooms the bathrooms had open holes out to the outside (intentional bricks missing) so nothing to stop the bugs or the heat coming and going. This meant we had to keep the bathroom door closed, not a bad habit. We were quite worried about mosquitos, so purchased a can of fly spray and a plug-in repellant from the local Circle K for each room. Used this at night before we went to dinner. We had already requested to be on the third floor of the large building which meant less mosquitos anyway, but hardly saw any bugs and they didn’t end up being a problem at all (Seminyak in our 4.5 star resort was worse for mozzies! and you do need repellant on down by the pool, but that’s to be expected with the lovely rice fields right next door).

The location

I kept loosing my way on the first days

At 30 Euros per night including breakfast this is extraordinary value. The room was spacious with a comfortable bed and a balcony facing the exuberant exotic garden. The big garden is beautiful and full of peace. The swimming pool is pleasant, big enough for actual swimming and well kept. Location is convenient in a quiet area but not far from all the bar & restaurant action and from historic downtown Ubud. Reception staff members are helpful and patient. The restaurant young waiting staff members - Ari. Meta, Susi and Eka - are extremely professional and friendly. Both breakfast and dinner dishes were delicious.

Nothing.

View of fist floor amazing with greenery and pool

Our experience at the hotel was quite disappointing due to several service lapses.First, the room was missing basic amenities: there was no sofa, no side tables, no air freshener, and no room slippers. In the washroom, there was no hand wash, and the expected shelf/counter space was also missing. These room amenities definitely need improvement.Furthermore, the check-out process was very poorly handled. No hotel staff offered to help with our luggage; we had to carry it out ourselves. Even when loading the bags into the car, none of their staff assisted us. It was actually our own hired driver who had to load everything. Lastly, during check-out, no one even bothered to offer us a glass of water, tea, or coffee. The hospitality and staff service really need a major upgrade. Overall, it was a bad experience."