⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Put it this way — over the 12 days the boys were in Bali, I received at least one phone call and multiple messages pretty much every day thanking me for booking this villa. Every FaceTime seemed to start with, “Tash, this place is sick!”, “This villa is mad!” or “Wait, wait… you’ve gotta see this!” 😂 I booked Villa Istimewa in Seminyak for a boys’ trip of ten young lads, and they absolutely LOVED it. Ten guys together for 12 days could have been a risky accommodation choice 😂 but this villa worked unbelievably well because it gave them the best of both worlds — plenty of space to all hang out together, while still having their own areas when they wanted some space. They were genuinely shocked by how much was there and kept telling me, “It literally has everything.” The huge pool, the sunbeds they basically claimed as their own, the stereo system — apparently a very important discovery 😂 — the pond, the little yin-yang spa, the balconies, different sitting areas and the huge dining table where all ten of them could sit together. The games room overlooking the pool was also a massive hit. They loved being able to hang out there while still feeling part of everything happening around the pool. What surprised me most was that they didn’t just use the villa as somewhere to sleep between going out. **The villa became part of the holiday.** They genuinely loved spending time there, whether they were around the pool, on the sunbeds, in the games room, sitting around the table together or recovering from the very late night before 😂 The location was fantastic for everything they wanted to do around Seminyak, parking was easy when needed, and the villa was clean and tidy. The boys also absolutely raved about having breakfast cooked for them every morning. With ten young lads on a boys’ trip, that may have been one of the smartest parts of the booking 😂 They were VERY grateful for it. From my side as the person organising everything, I genuinely couldn’t fault

The villa was lovely, really good location and the staff were very friendly.

The air conditioning in some of the rooms wasn’t cold enough

We never had breakfast included but on the last day before leaving we ordered breakfast from the villa manager and was prepared freshly by cooking in the villa

Staff were great, very helpful. Ketut and his family were accommodating wherever possible. Breakfast was a hit, made fresh at the villa. Staff were on hand when we needed, daily cleaning although im sure the floors did not get mopped at all. No animal poo was cleaned inside.

Rats in villa, we got rid of one ourselves but then a few days later there was more, there was rat poo throughout the kitchen and surrounding areas, broken stones around pool causing injuries to my children, upstairs decking was flimsy when walked on, seemed it could easly break with someone heavy, drains in showers dont drain properly we showered in puddles, water leaks in the walls which wet our stuff on the kitchen bench, air conditioning in main area is not big enough for the size of the room, fridge not working properly, some days was ok then other days would stop working causing our foods to be thrown, alot of mozzies and big bees due to surroundings, alot of frogs that can be dangerous for young children, again due to the surroundings, cat that kept us up during the night and pooed over the grass of villa and trying to get into villa, the kids were scared and wouldnt do anything alone, rooster woke us every morning at 5am. All sliding doors were hard to open and close. The children could not budge them. Parts of villa needed to be better cleaned. The curtains were stained and dirty, photos seem photo shopped, lighting was very dull not like in the pictures. The villa didnt feel safe, there was security at the gate during the night who had a key for acess which didnt sit right. When we asked was it a bad area we were told somtimes it can be. The main doors to get into the villa dosn’t have a proper lock, anyone can let themselves in, all they need is a knife, stick or somthing alike and can easily flick the lock uowards through the gap and let themselves in. I did read a few reviews and enquired about them and was told that all things had been fixed and the villa was well maintained. Which it was not. In my opinion it was not worth the money paid. Just under 6k for 10 nights and that was discounted. Asked for a refund to go elsewhere and was told it was non refundable, told I should expect all of this due to the surroundings.