Vila Shanti Beach Hotel

“Vila Shanti - great location”

Great location, good clean rooms. Lovely greenery around but with that comes creepy crawlies too😬 Plenty of lizards come into the room as there are gaps in all doors and windows. If you’re ok with that, then it’s a great location close to malls, several cafes and restaurants. Right on the beach wit… more

Great location, good clean rooms. Lovely greenery around but with that comes creepy crawlies too😬 Plenty of lizards come into the room as there are gaps in all doors and windows. If you’re ok with that, then it’s a great location close to malls, several cafes and restaurants. Right on the beach with an amazing walkway. Very basic breakfast. We skipped it most days we were there and just ate outside.

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“Enjoyable stay”

We enjoyed our stay here. The rooms could do with an update but it is priced well for the area and if you want glitz you would need to pay more. The staff are lovely and the location is excellent. The pool is quite small but as the place is beachfront it was nice to use the beds on the beach. The s… more

We enjoyed our stay here. The rooms could do with an update but it is priced well for the area and if you want glitz you would need to pay more. The staff are lovely and the location is excellent. The pool is quite small but as the place is beachfront it was nice to use the beds on the beach. The sea in front of the hotel is nice and you don’t get hassled at all. The breakfast was fine. Basic, but again we didn’t pay the higher price for a huge choice. There is a wide variety of good eating places nearby both on the beach and the Main Street. We would return here. Thank you for your hospitality.

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“Good mid-range priced resort in nice location”

Most of the recent reviews on Vila Shanti are a lacking on substance so I’ll provide a more detailed review of my recent stay. ROOM QUALITY - I booked a Superior room rather than a Standard room as it wasn’t much extra per night. On reflection of the online photos viewed since arriving home, it ap… more

Most of the recent reviews on Vila Shanti are a lacking on substance so I’ll provide a more detailed review of my recent stay. ROOM QUALITY - I booked a Superior room rather than a Standard room as it wasn’t much extra per night. On reflection of the online photos viewed since arriving home, it appears my room was more Standard looking than Superior. As other previous reviews advise, the rooms are quite traditional in appearance, a little old fashioned and lack a bit of quality about them. Small things like marks on walls, stains in the toilets and scratches around timber finishes. These are probably more in line with a 3-star hotel which this is generally rated anyway. It has plain and simple fixtures in the bathroom, a boring hand shower rose, poor flushing toilet that needs flushing at least 2-3 times and a bathroom door that does not close properly. Along with very hard beds and only one pillow included per guest. (Maybe I could have asked for an extra one and it would have been provided - not sure if additional charge though). The air-conditioner and small television attached to the wall worked well enough too, with multiple channels to watch if you chose. Wi-fi was also excellent and room service was done very well each day by friendly staff. POOL - The pool is smallish, although not too small and based on being only a small number of villa’s (I think around 60 rooms), the pool was never overcrowded and there were usually enough daybeds/sunlounges. The pool was also a very nice temperature, more on the warmer side, but not so warm you couldn’t enjoy it. Better than a very cold pools where you shiver rather than enjoy it! There were more sunlounges on the beachfront which were for Vila Shanti guests too. BREAKFAST / RESTAURANT - Breakfast was included with the room price and overall was good and sufficient to fill you up. Some people have said the breakfast is poor or minimal however it’s not the breakfast that’s poor, it’s the execution of its delivery and display. The staff were always friendly and welcoming too. On offer were a couple of buffet warmers with usually 4 items overall (always fried rice and noodles) and other deep fried type items e.g. fritters. There are usually the same three fruits each day – pineapple, watermelon and another melon, with a yoghurt if you wanted it (not sure if plain or vanilla). Two containers of cereal were also available and two juices. That’s pretty much the self-serve area! The improvements where most attention is required is at the ‘egg station’ where you can order an omelette or fried/scrambled eggs, as well as your toast. Also sitting on a tray at the egg station are a few small danishes and croissants but you had to ask the staff member for a danish or to make you some toast. A suggestion would be to have a self-serve toaster for guests to use as well as danishes available near the fruit etc, rather than stand there waiting on one person who’s busy cooking omelettes to make you a piece of toast or provide a croissant. I feel (especially with the danishes/croissants) that they want control of how many are taken by guests. Another flaw of breakfast is the lack of knowledge of what the egg station can cook for you. A few days in I watched someone being delivered a plate of bacon (not much I’ll admit), but it was bacon accompanying their eggs. This is not advertised anywhere! Also, another day I saw a pancake being delivered. When I did ask for a pancake after seeing that, I was offered plain or banana. A simple resolution would be to have a sign or even a blackboard to allow for stock shortages, with what can be made at the egg station. e.g. ORDER HERE: Eggs made to order: Omelette / Fried Eggs / Scrambled Eggs, as well as Bacon and Pancakes. It’s not hard to do, rather than have people feel awkward if they must ask! SETTING / LOCATION – Second to none. The villa’s face opposite each other with beautiful gardens along the centre where all guests walk by each day to head to breakfast, the pool, beach or markets/restaurants on the beach side of the resort. If you don’t mind interacting with other guests as they stroll past, a quick hello or nod, this is a beautiful place to relax on your terrace with a book, or technology as most have these days. The upstairs villas lack this interaction, but still would have a similar view, and another option if you would prefer more privacy. Not everyone says hello, but if you were a solo traveller, you could easily strike up a conversation with someone by relaxing on your terrace. The resort is very close to amazing restaurants on the main street too in either direction and only a short 10 minute stroll to the new ICON shopping centre. OVERALL – As much as I’ve made some criticisms, I feel some are easily resolved without much expense. The simple way to rate this resort is with the good old line ‘you get what you pay for’ and remember it is a 3-star resort (not 4 or 5). We paid around 1,500,000 Rupiah per night for a Superior room, for two people, so you can convert that to your own currency for comparison. For a resort right on the beach in this perfect location, including breakfast it would be hard to find something similar, however if your budget allowed, you could easy pay an extra 1 or 2 million rupiah a night and some of the suggestions or issues mentioned above may not be in existence and your stay could be 5-star! Enjoy!

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“Nice grounds, good position, thats where it ends, couldnt wait to leave”

Sadly very disappointed with our stay. From the minute we arrived until we left there was little or no service and I felt extremely dis respected? We booked and payed for a superior ground floor room. Upon arrival, we were offered a 2nd floor room , whichwe declined. This was met with disapproval… more

Sadly very disappointed with our stay. From the minute we arrived until we left there was little or no service and I felt extremely dis respected? We booked and payed for a superior ground floor room. Upon arrival, we were offered a 2nd floor room , whichwe declined. This was met with disapproval from the reception. I have mobility issues and could not manage the steep stairs! We were shown to a standard room which we quiried only to be shown a worse twin room option.Not what we booked or paid for. We took the first option reluctantly. The beds were extremely hard and only one pillow each. The aircon worked and the rooms were serviced daily by friendly staff. The grounds were lovely and well maintained and the Vilas were in a good position between the beach and main street. I can only decribe the breakfast and restaurant staff as poor, unfriendly and inefficient. Local food on offer unappetising. Fruit, yogurt and egg station o.k. Coffee terrible. Service, there was none, was terrible. Every day an issue, not solved quickly, no cups, no bowls , no milk forgotten eggs that were ordered. Not a great way to start each day, no smiles, chipped crockery, if tou were lucky enough to get any inthe first place.

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