When planning my trip to Bali (see part one here!) I decided from the offset that I would stay somewhere quite luxurious, as it was my birthday trip, I deserved it and I’d never done ‘luxury’ accommodation before!

It took three months of online research using Instagram hashtags, Trip Advisor and various brochures before I finally found the villa of dreams, The Royal Kamuela. The villa company have three or four other properties around Bali, and I ended up staying in the Ubud villa for seven days.

The Royal Kamuela in Ubud is a five-star cluster of properties situated in the heart of the town, about 90 minutes from Denpasar International Airport and about 3 minutes walk from the popular Monkey Sanctuary Forest. Due to the closeness in proximity to the Forest, the monkeys often make appearances within the villa grounds throughout the day, which is something to note if thinking about taking children with you!

THE VILLA

The grounds at the Royal Kamuela are absolutely stunning and remote; which is a stark difference to the entrance of the compound, which is off a very busy high street.

The compound is made up of around fifteen 1/ 2 bedroom villas, a spa, and a coffee shop/restaurant. I was driven from the airport to the property and upon arrival, my bags were kindly taken to my villa while I was given more information about the rooms and services. The staff were nothing short of extraordinary and made sure my stay was as comfortable as possible the whole way through.

My villa was nothing short of breathtaking; ceiling to floor windows giving an exceptional view of the HUGE private swimming pool, a lovely king size bed with the comfiest duvet set of all time, super fast wifi, air conditioning and a gorgeous bathroom featuring a lowered jacuzzi bathtub.

As soon as I reached the villa and saw the bathtub, I broke out some Olverum bath oils and ran the bubbliest, hugest bath of all time. Olverum oils contain a blend of essential oils to help relax tension in both the mind and the body and LET ME TELL YOU GUYS. These oils are a NECESSITY if you are travelling long haul. The aroma filled the whole bathroom, having it smell like a spa and it knocked me out. I caught myself falling asleep in the bath and as soon as I stepped out, I felt drowsy AF and slept for 11 hours. A Godsend!

The Food

The room service was absolutely sublime. I’ve never really ordered room service before, but this time I decided to treat myself to their extensive menu. Free breakfast was included in my stay, and featured an exhaustive list of everything from Nasi Goreng and fried rice, to Belgian waffles with nutella, a continental breakfast, pastries, and French breakfasts, all served with fruit, assorted fruit juices and Balinese coffee. The breakfast is delivered and served to your room by a personal butler and is taken away an hour later. The food was absolutely delicious!

THE POOL

The pool is absolutely amazing, however due to it being exposed to low hanging trees and flowers, leaves and other plant life always ended up within the pool, as well as frogs and lizards(!). The pool is cleaned once a day in the afternoon during the room makeup service however, and all the little bits and pieces are removed daily.

Now, I can’t swim, but I wanted the pool to try and teach myself how to, and wanted a bit of privacy. I ended up going in the pool twice a day and I loved it. I think I can *just* about do the Butterfly, and I’m very proud, thank you very much! There are two sunbeds opposite the pool where you can chill out, read, sunbathe and watch the monkeys in the trees.

The hotel boasts a service where they can arrange for a driver to take you around to see some of the local sites in Ubud for an add-on fee, Thai, Hawaiian and Balinese massage and cooking classes.

All in all, I had the most AMAZING stay; the staff were friendly, super helpful and the location was absolutely ideal. I think about it every day and I wish I were back!