Villa Riva by Optimum Bali Villas

The layout of the property gave all of us privacy

The beds were rock hard which isn’t ideal when you spend days in bed sick. There is no ventilation from the bathroom/bedroom, we had to request fresh towels regularly as the humidity and lack of bathroom ventilation meant they didn’t dry and stunk, we were kept awake all night from a neighbouring villa from 11pm to 6am resulting in our plans for the day being cancelled as we were all too tired. Our last day we were still sick check out was 12pm and the following guests arrived prior to 12pm, bought their bags in and made themselves comfortable in the lounge area. My daughter’s door was knocked on while she was still packing the last of her things so the housekeeper could enter as did the next lot of guests to check out their room. Because of the awkwardness we had no option but to vacate the premises and wait for a driver in the alley in the rain.

Breakfast was lovely. Putu was fantastic and so helpful Pool was great

Curtains in all rooms were shabby and didn’t cover the windows well. Poorly hung. Dated rooms and poor wardrobe space. Small Cupboards. Lived out of our suitcases. Bedrooms could be so much better decorated and inviting. A little bit too far from Main Street and shops to buy food/drinks. Transport could never find us to pick us up. Many Gojek cancelled due to not being able to locate us.

What we did like.... The villa compound and individual four villa layout, which accommodated four mature, young-at-heart women. Putu was our house maid and was friendly and accommodating. The pool was clean and the pool and garden lights were pretty at night with the palm trees. The lounge dining area with overhead fans. The old clean water cooler and decent size fridge and freezer. Fresh clean linen and pillows with a light doona. The internet WiFi was good.

What we didn't like.. The drains from the showers in the villa's either side of the kitchen/communal area, truly smelt rank. After using insense, the best option was to cover the drain with a towel when the showers were not in use. The deep set lounges, needed more cushions to be comfortable..The hero image when we booked had 4 sunlounges, but there were only four. The villa needs some decent new wine / cocktail glasses. The three to four little cats meowing for food everyday were off putting and had us on edge, because whilst the villa's needed fresh air, the doors had to be shut so the cats didn't get in. The downstairs villa's on either side did not have any windows to open. On two nights, the neighbours next to us, had two nights where their music was quite loud, but on the third night, they were literally out of control and the security guard would not have been safe to calm any of them down. Apparently the main guy who was yelling and swearing from 1am - 4 am, was very violent and smashed the TV, microwave, a villa door, glasses, etc. The police should have been called as it was a very serious situation and our night and the next morning was totally ruined by having such a traumatic night with little sleep. Whilst the events of that night, were not the responsibility of the management of Villa Riva, we felt there was little empathy and responsibility to ensure a repeat performance. We felt very unsafe. The violent man should have been made to pay a contribution to our accommodation as compensation. The lane way to eat street was basically an 8 to 10 minute walk. To get to our villa at the end, there was a dilapidated house which was totally overgrown and used as a dumping ground. So walking back to the villa especially at night, there was a strong feeling of being very vulnerable to potential unwanted persons and animals.

Absolutely stunning villa, felt very comfortable and was close by everything we needed. The maid was beautiful and catered to our every need. Was in a quiet location

Putu the cleaner was amazing, and so friendly. Everything was great.

We thought the beds were a little hard but they were fine for 5 days.