Bali holidays are the best or are they?

Exclusive Bali Villa Holiday's are the best or are they?

A Bona-fide Licence for a Bali Private Villa Agent

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Bali Private Villas - Booking a holiday can be a difficult process, holiday companies advertise special offers to entice you to make a booking through them, these offers often appear to be unbelievable, but when you try to book them they add many mandatory extras such as; Luggage allowances are so low in their weight allowance that you have to pay for an additional amount in order to carry what you require for a good holiday. On the plane if you want an isle seats, or if you are traveling as a family or just a couple and would like seats together this can again be an extra charge, you may find that you are restricted as to your time of departure, or there is a requirement to stay away from home for a minimum period of 16 days etc., by the time that you add all of the extras then these “special deals” are not special at all.

Back to Nature one of Ubud's finest villas by: The Leading Villas of Bali

All to often resort hotels and holiday companies have offers of all inclusive packages (room, breakfast, evening meal and sometimes, as can be the case in the Caribbean, free drink) all of this look to be good value in the glossy brochure, but when you arrive at the resort you are given sets of meal vouchers for a 3rd rate canteen. A canteen which is surrounded by 1st class restaurants which you can of course use, but you have to pay extra by redeeming your vouchers and your voucher is suddenly almost worthless. In the Caribbean some resort hotels have all inclusive drinks offers, often the bars are few and far between. When you do find their bars they have employed so few staff that it is like visiting an International rugby match at one of the worlds stadiums, the customers waiting to be served could number 20 people wide and 5 people deep, whilst there is only one bar tender on duty.

In order to avoid disappointing holidays many people are opting to book private villas for their exclusive use, where they are not in a scrum when ordering a refreshing drink, where they can prepare their dinner or choose to go to a quality local beach restaurant. A private villa will have its own pool with pool side beds, ample shade so it will not be necessary to climb out of bed at 4am to make sure you get a sun bed in a good location around a crowded hotel pool. Holidays should always be a true definition of the word holiday, to take a break, to relax from the rigors of your everyday life.

Bali does not come more relaxed than this Ubud Villa by: The Leading Villas of Bali 

The only real way to be sure of a true holiday, a place where you can truly relax is to book a private villa, where you have your own pool, a bar that you bring with you from duty free or stock locally from the nearby Minimart. So you can make a cocktail as and when you want, your own crisps or nuts to savoir as you maximize your time around your own pool under your own gazebo.

One place that has embraced the private villa rental concept is that of Bali, Bali has 100s of private villas for holiday rental.  Most of these private villas come with their own staff, they're positioned close to all the beaches, places of interest, they are close to boutique shops artisan areas and world class restaurants. Bali’s 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 in appearance as they are elegant and stylish, but above all they’re comfortable to stay in for the duration of your holiday.

Tropical living

The Balinese culture is primarily based on Hinduism, this make the Balinese of a serene and calm disposition. The peoples core belief is that of karma, karma leads their way of life as it influences their every action and behaviour, they believe they should always try to lead a good life as it is their belief that they will be favoured at a time of their passing. This attitude to life ideally suits them to the hospitality industry as karma has taught them to be relaxed with themselves and with others. It is this attitude together with the fantastic climate that 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 at first can appear. But if booked correctly and it really is easy to book correctly, you will have the best holiday ever.

Can you be anywhere quieter: The Leading Villas of Bali

There are a few things to remember:

1.    Bali's villas are owned by private individuals and as we all know humanity comes with a good and a bad side so 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 that market hotel rooms from a drop down menu are now providing holiday rental villas. These companies due to the Internet are global but run on minimum staff, their staff are predominantly sales or IT orientated, they invariably sit in some provincial town in the middle of England.  These companies are positioning villas as though they are hotel rooms in a city centre hotel. 

Remember these companies with their global brand only provide a web site for owners of villas to show their villas to their market.  These companies do not inspect any hotel nor do they inspect any villa property that they market, they do not reference nor even know the location of any property that they list. The website company compounds the issue even further by not controlling the accuracy of the review process, content that they publish on their sites, I will explain this in  more detail later in this article. 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, because some other third party professional body will have graded these hotels and B&B establishments, they will have been star rated.  There is no such system in place for rental villa properties here on Bali. 

If you are tempted to book a villa or even a hotel room through these global web-sites companies and you have read the reviews be-aware, some reviews on these sites are often manufactured by the owners themselves. An owner or manager of a villa has access to the admin of these websites they set the price, they can lower a price then follow that action with a reservation for 1 night effectively booking their own room or villa.  The owner or manger lowers the price to limit the commission that 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.

Managers and owners will also cultivate certain guests, coaching them throughout their stay in order that the guest feels duty bound to give a glowing review of their villa which is then published in the public domain.  It is worth remembering that in the absence of a third party audit on a villa the only conceivable way to grade an establishment is from the published reviews, one mans rubbish is another mans treasure.

A little piece of Heavon you will feel right at home

 

I am of the firm belief that you should not trust your holiday to those who do not know about the villa or the location that you are going to.  Holidays are precious and are becoming critical to our well being in this dynamic world that we live.  Always use a licensed agent here on Bali to book a villa, invariably the price is the same and in some instance the price can be cheaper. 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 to trade granted by the government of Indonesia.

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 the best relaxing holiday possible, To add to the complexity Bali is, as I am sure it is the same with 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, the villa 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:

This place is so peaceful, so fitting for when you unwind

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 contracted out to a management company for this company to operate the villa 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.  The management team know that if you order a fruit basket that they are to provide that basket at a time that you asked for it, they will 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 and that they know they are to provide mineral water.

The management will know that they can not cut corners when it comes to basic services such as; the supply of electric or water.  They will have contracts in place with the utility providers, they will pay based on used units as determined by meters, they will not pay by a pre-paid arrangement, as they will not take the risk that the supply will be cut during a period when it is most needed i.e. in the middle of a hot night shutting down the AC’s to the bedrooms (as is often the case). Important always make sure your villa is managed properly and by those in the know.

A Natural Tub

The basic rule to follow from all that I have said above is:  Never go to an unlicensed agent to book your villa, licensed agents have spent good money to establish a reputable business, to register their company and to understand the mechanics of the villas that they offer. These agents on the whole rely on their reputation, on word of mouth to build their businesses; they have a good mix of regular clients as well as new clients. They're pursued by the villa management companies to offer their villa 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 villa management are in anyway non-responsive then these villas are removed from their listings.

Which means; the unlicensed agents take these villas and publish on their websites for the un-suspecting public to see, these are second tier properties. These second tier properties also find their way onto the global hotel booking web-sites, as I have said these sites do not provide staff to audit these properties as they only provide a brand which gives access to the web.  The unlicensed agent rather than investing in a reputable business will establish many websites to market these villas, in some cases they have over a 100 websites, they have no interest if the electric goes off in the middle of the night, they have no interest if the owner is responsive to the guests needs or not.  As the demand for villas is big here in Bali if one website loses reputation then another of their sites will grow.

It is worth knowing that rates for villas are usually the same across all the providers of luxury villas.  However, one villa owner recently said to me that when he offers his villas on these global web-site windows, he increases the price as their brand already implies ‘late deals’ giving the impression the rate is already low,  he relies on their customers loyalty to this global brand.

How do you know a licensed operator, what do you look for?

A registered agency with a registration granted by "Pemerintah KotaDenpasar" (Government, area: Kota, Denpasar) and that they have a "Dinas Perijinan" registration number, furthermore that their registration identifies them as a "Jasa properti" provider (permitted to provide a property service). If it is not on their website then ask to see evidence of their registration.

Happy holidays in Bali - if you need advise or some guidance then I can be reached through the comments section.

All in all a great addition to The Leading Villas of Bali range of luxury villas http://www.theleadingvillasofbali.com

 

For other villas look to the pages Booking Villas in Bali http://www.bookingvillasinbali.com

Look also at http://www.thevillas-bali.com

Due their superb pricing this collection will soon be added to: http://www.budgetvillasinbali.com  

To enhance your Asia experience then take a look at http://www.statura.co.uk

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