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| View across the Bay from Jimbaran The Leading villas of Bali |
By way of avoiding these disappointing holidays many people are booking private villas where they are not in a scrum for drinks, where their dinner is
of a good standard and that they are not up at 4am to make sure they get sun
beds around a crowded pool. Holidays are
what they say on the label a time to holiday, to take a break and relax from
the rigors of your everyday life.
The only way to be sure of a true holiday is to book a private villa with
its own pool, a bar that you bring with you from duty free or stock locally from
the nearby Minimart. You can make a cocktail as and when you want it, crisps or
nuts to savoir as you maximize your time around your own pool under your own gazebo.
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| Luxury Villa O'Hara - Leading Villas of Bali |
One place that has embraced the villa concept is that of Bali, Bali has 100s
of private villas for holiday rental, most of these villas come with staff,
they’re situated close to all the beaches, all the amenities. These villas have
everything close at hand that you will need for a luxury holiday in the sun.The villa market in Bali is a competitive market and competition has driven
style, elegance, safety, it has provided all the furnishings and linen to match
a holiday that's fit for royalty. These
villas are simply stunning properties.
The Balinese culture is primarily Hindu which makes them of a disposition
that is serene. They believe in karma, karma
leads their way of life as they believe they should lead a good life so they
are sure to be favoured at a time of their passing. This attitude to life
ideally suits them to the hospitality industry. Karma has taught them to be
relaxed with themselves and with others.
Their disposition is ideal when in hospitality and has made Bali such a
unique and sought after holiday location.
Bali is often referred to as Australia's Hawaii or the Paradise Island.
However, booking a villa in Bali is not as straight forward as it
appears. But if booked correctly, it is
easy to book correctly, you will have the best holiday ever.
There are a few things to remember:
1.
Bali's villas are owned by private individuals, as we
all know humanity comes with a good and a bad side, you need to be aware as to
what you are booking and from whom you are booking your villa. I will explain
this in more detail later in this article.
2.
Global, large faceless website companies market hotel
rooms and now provide holiday rental villas.
Their young and in-experienced staff, who invariably sit in some
provincial town in the middle of England, are positioning villas as though they
are hotel rooms in a city centre hotel. Remember these operators only provide a
web site for owners to show there villas, they do not inspect, view, reference
or even know the location of any property that they list. The website company
compounds the issue even further by not controlling the reviews that are put on
their sites, I will explain this later. Booking through these sites is OK when
you are booking a Marriott, Hyatt or even staying 1 or 2 nights in Mildred's
B&B.
I will explain later in the article why you should not trust these global
websites and why you should use a reputable agent in Bali. I will explain how
to determine which agents on the ground in Bali are reputable and how you can spot
a back street one man band who has a glossy web address but no license granted by
the government of Indonesia..
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| A Luxury Bedroom - Booking Villas in Bali |
The global website operators; If you book a villa or even a hotel room
through these global web-sites companies, be-aware, some reviews on these sites
are often manufactured by the owners. An
owner or manager, who sets the price on these sites, can lower a price then
follow that with a booking for their own room or villa, this way they limit the
commission they pay to the website operator. Why would they do this? Simple
really, they get an email as if they were a bona-fide guest asking them to
review their accommodation, bingo a small price to pay for a glowing review of
their own establishment.
The villa owners come from all walks of life but the dominant owners can be
property developers who see a quick buck to develop villas for rental in this
burgeoning market. A property developer has no clue as to what the hospitality
market needs, so they are often non responsive to the protestations of their
incumbent guests, making the smallest of issue magnify in the minds of the
guests such that minute problems can spoil a family’s holiday.
I will cover as to how you seek the maximum protection by just following a
few rules and you will have just the best holiday, To add to the complexity Bali
is, as I am sure like many destinations brimming with unlicensed agents
offering villas for rent. These agents often push properties that the licensed
agents have dismissed as the property does not conform to basic hospitality
standards, is in the middle of a building site or it is so far off a main road
that you need a chiropractor to be available for when you arrive.
Solution:
There is nothing wrong with a property being owned by a developer, a lawyer,
a butcher, a baker, a candle stick maker (you get the picture), as long as their
villa has been passed to a management company to operate it on a day to day
basis. The management companies are invariably from the hospitality industry
and know what linen to provide how often to change the bedding, towels etc,
they know that if you order a fruit basket they are to provide that basket at a
time that you asked for it, They know when to clean the rooms and when to give
you peace and quiet. The management make sure that the TV's are tuned and that
the remote is clean, they know when to remove lime from the shower head or
polish the taps, to provide mineral water.
The management has a contract with the electric supplier whereby they
pay monthly, quarterly etc., not by prepaid meter that expires in the middle of
a hot night. So the risks continue... Important
always make sure your villa is managed properly and by those in the know.
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| A Bali Sunset - Booking Villas in Bali |
The basic rule to follow from all of this is: Never go to an unlicensed
agent, licensed agents have spent good money to establish a reputable business,
to register their company. These agents on the whole rely on word of mouth to
build their reputations. They're pursued by the villa management companies to
offer their properties so an entry on the licensed agent’s website comes with a
guarantee of a certain standard. The reputable agent will inspect the villas regularly
but importantly they inspect prior to the arrival of any of their guests.
Complaints are encouraged to be directed to the agent and if the villamanagement are in anyway non-responsive then these villas are removed from
their listings.
Which means that unlicensed operators pick these villas up and then market
them - be aware these are second tier properties. These second tier properties
also find their way onto these global hotel booking web-sites as these sites do
not do an inspection of the property, they have no interest if the electric
goes off in the middle of the night, causing the AC to switch off, as the
payment is via a prepaid arrangement.
Rates are usually the same across all the providers of luxury villas. A purported website company that offers “late
deal” rates, one villa manager here on Bali said to me "they put higher
rates on these sites as the brand is already there, the perception is that the
rate is low so for them they market higher so late comers pay more". If you do risk an unlicensed agent or whether
you go to a licensed operator, the rates are often the same.
How do you know a licensed operator, what do you look for?
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| License granted by the: Pemerintah Kota Denpasar |
Happy holidays in Bali - if you need advise or some guidance then I can be
reached through the comments section.
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