22 Aug Indonesia beach resorts: types of accommodation in Bali

If you want to come back home after a vacation in a holiday mood and sweet feeling serenity, you should to consider the key point – what are the best Indonesia beach resorts in Bali. If you choose carefully, you can get comfortable and safety stay for a reasonable price. If you make a wrong decision you can literally destroy all the period of your staying in Bali. The more tourists arrive to the island of Gods, the more options where to stay come up. Nowadays there are about 15 (!!!) different types of Indonesia beach resorts from couchsurfing to luxury private villas with a price more than 1000 USD per night. Since not all of the types are popular and have a high demand, we decided to write about the most popular options where to stay in Bali, pros and cons of every type and details you should consider before booking it.

Hostel

The most popular and the cheapest accommodation among Indonesia beach resorts. Especially good if you are a backpacker or travel alone and look for a company.

Pros:

• Cheap price.
• Location (most of hostels are located close to popular tourist destinations, beaches and other visitable places)
• New friends. In a hostel you can meet a lot of interesting people from different countries around the world. So you can discover the island together or even keep on travelling with a new company!
• Entertainment. Most of hostels have a swimming pool, TV, PSP or books that are left from previous tourists. That means if you want to stay in a room you won’t get bored.

Cons:

• No private space.
• Partly you will depend on others. If there are 5 people except you in the room going out and you want to sleep in, 99% of chances your plan will fail as soon as everyone comes back.
• Shared toilet and bathroom.

Things to consider when choosing a hostel:

• Reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor.com – the main sources, where you can get a relevant opinion about a place you are going to.
• Type of rooms. Not all the hostels have separate rooms for girls and guys. So if you don’t want to be the only one girl with 5 guys in a room or viсe versa, find it out before reservation.
• Room size. If you don’t want to sleep next to someone’s feet or with your backpack, make sure that room is big enough to fit in 4-5-6-n people at once.
• Sometimes it’s easier to come to the area where you want to stay and look for a hostel right there.  Not all the hostels have accounts on booking.com and normally the price is even cheaper than if you book online.

Homestay (guest house)

This type of  Indonesia beach resorts is something in between hostel and hotel because of its facilities and price. Even homestays are very popular on the island, it will be new experience for you if you travelled around Europe before. In a fact homestay is a someone’s big house in the past, renovated and reorganized for more people to fit in. normally the owner of a homestay live on the same territory in a little separate house.

Pros:

• Private space
• New friends: yes, here, like in a hostel, you can meet new people and make new friends. But you won’t be ‘forced’ to take to them and will always have a choice.
• Hospitality. That’s why it’s called HOMEstay and GUESThouse – you will feel yourself like at home and be treated like a guest!
• Shared kitchen
• Price. The prices for 1 night are about 20-35 USD, but you will get everything you need like if you stay at a hotel. If you are planning to stay for a long period you can talk to the owner and get lower price.

Cons:

• Despite of your own private room, you will have to deal with neighbours. Never know who is going to stay the next door – party animals or family with a toddler. Anyway, it’s hard to predict, but better to remember about this kind of lottery.
• Cleaning. Without any bad intentions sometimes cleaning ladies can remove some of your thing to other places to swipe or clean up the desk etc. It’s better to have your own mess than someone’s else order.

Things to consider when choosing a hostel:

• First of all, of course, check reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor.com
• Some home stays have a separate bill for electricity
• It will be cheaper and easier look for a guest house when you arrive to the area. it’s better one time to see than to hear thousand times about.

Hotels

There is a plenty of hotels in Bali with different prices. there are a lot of Indonesia beach resorts in Bali that can suite all your requests. You can stay at a quiet hotel for a family holiday or at a party place with it’s private night club. It’s all up to you – make your mind up what do you want to get and book a room. 

Pros:

• Private space and comfort. You can get it even staying at a guest house, but in percentage terms the usual level of comfort is easier to get staying at the hotel.
• 24-hour reception and room service (of course, if it is not a three-star hotel in the middle of nowhere).
• Security.

Cons:

• Minimum prices are at least twice more expensive if ti compare to homestays or hostels.
• If you already paid for the whole period of staying there, but for some reasons didn’t like a place you have 2 options: move out and lose your money or deal with the place.

Things to consider when choosing a hotel:

• And again, read all the reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor.com.
• The total price for the room, because there can be some taxes on top (about 21% of a price) or, for examples, breakfast is optional but it can be already included in the cost (so make sure there is no unwanted extras in your booking).

Villas

Also one of the most popular type of Indonesia beach resorts . Perhaps there is no place in the world like Bali with its thousands of villas. Amount of bedrooms, location, facilities, surroundings – no matter what you want you will find it. Of course, be ready to pay more to satisfy all your needs.

Pros:

• Full on privacy. No neighbors, no strangers – no one, except you, your friends and family.
• Feel free to make a big party without getting worried about people next door. Also it’s easier if you travel with kids, because you won’t have to go out to find some things to do – you can stay at a villa with a garden, so your kid will have a private playground.
• Perfect if you like domestic kitchen but don’t feel like cooking. You can always hire a helper, who will cook what you want, clean up and play with your kids (of course, the more you want, the more you pay).
• If you are planning to stay here for longer, you definitely should think about renting out a villa.

Cons:

• Price. Even though some people live in a luxury house and pay extremely low price for that, miracles like this don’t happen too often.
• Be ready to fix water pump/ wi-fi router and so on by yourself. Or at least to talk to people who doesn’t speak any English. That’s why you should learn some Bahasa (Indonesian language). First of all, it will show that you’re not just a tourist who is happily to pay whatever they say for services, and it will help to solve the problem faster.
• Safety. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a dog or security, it will be the easiest target for those bad guys, who are looking for a ‘fast cash’.
• Location. It can look like your villa is located right on the beach, but in a real life it can be 10 minutes drive by bike. Villa can be separated from the main road by dozens of  small streets and turns.

Things to consider when renting a villa:

• Use only reliable contacts, ask your friends maybe they are moving out from their villas of can give you a contact who can help you.
• Read terms and conditions carefully.

Surf camp

Unbeatable option for holidays on the island! If you haven’t booked your accommodation in Bali yet, include surfing in your have-to-do list and stay at the surf camp!

Pros:

• Normally there are a few types of rooms: from dorm rooms (cheaper) to deluxe rooms. Would you like to share a room with other surfers or prefer to have your own – up to you.
• Surfing. The first question you will hear when you are back home will be “Did you try surfing?”, and you will be ashamed to say “No”. So there is anything in a surf camp for you to answer “Yes, it was amazing experience and i want to go surfing again soon!”
• New friends. And you will make it even faster than if you stay at a hostel or homestay, because you already have at least one mutual interest – surfing.
• Your day will be partly planned, because surf lessons take place 5 days a week.
• If you don’t know the island or need any help with whatever, you can always ask administrator to help you.
• Breakfast is already included, so you won’t need to leave a bed and drive around and look for a good place to have your bfast at.

Cons:

• Early wake ups. But it totally worth it – you will see a stunning sunrise in the line up!
• Addiction. Surf addiction, of course. Just try it once and see what happens!

Things to consider:

• All the surf camps have one common mission – to teach you how to surf. But approach to that is completely different. Don’t hesitate to ask about surf instructors experience, certificates and other details you’re worried about.

Indonesia beach resorts – how to find one for free?

How to find among all the Indonesia beach resorts and stay there for free? Sounds good, doesn’t it? But it means that you stay at the place in exchange of something, for example, English lessons or babysitting or walking out a dog etc.

Pros:

• Free of charge, so do not look a given horse in the mouth.
• You can be lucky if you find good room/house and won’t have to pay any cent.

Cons:

• It’s also too risky

As you see, to find good Indonesia beach resorts is not so difficult and very difficult the same time. Everything in this life has advantages and disadvantages. And if you are looking for some comfort of a certain level, wrong choice of accommodation will destroy all your holiday here. So be selective in your preferences and choose carefully!