Dusun Villas Bali - Seminyak, Bali
Just returned from 7 nights at the Dusun (which we sourced from TripAdviser) and absolutely adored the place.
We had a 6 month old in tow so required something pretty special and private and the Dusun and it's beautiful staff did not disappoint!
They provided baby seat for transfers and travel (all trips to Kuta were free), a cot with mosquito net, high chair, and even a microwave so we could sterilise bottles.
The villa itself was perfect, and impeccably serviced daily. (From breakfast service, pool clean, villa clean, afternoon tea, bed turndown AND lighting mozzie coils)
Staff understood the challenges of travelling with a baby and were so patient with us!
And although we didn't utilise it, the hotel offers babysitting for a mere AUD$6 an hour.
Perfect location far enough away from the bustle of Seminyak, but close enough for an easy 5-minute stroll into the strip.
Our villa was very private, with high walls. Very little sound from the outside world.
Having our own pool (which was remarkably cool) was a Godsend.
And like many reviews here, nothing was too much or too out of the way for the staff.
We'll likely upgrade to the three-bedroom villa next time we go, just for a little more room to lounge around when it gets too hot outside.
Despite the Dusun not having its own restaurant, the daily breakfast was pretty good, and they have a relationship with surrounding restaurants so room service meals were quick!
Thankyou to all at the Dusun for making the effort to ensure our holiday was well beyond perfect.
Trav & Brook
* And as an aside, ensure you head to Ku De Ta for sunset drinks! Spectacular venue only a 10-minute walk away. (Trav_and_Brook Perth, Australia)
Tucked away down a side street from the hussle and bustle of seminyak is this little taste of paradise. From the moment we were met at the airport till checkout 6 days later, we were made to feel welcome. Nothing was too difficult a chore from any of the staff at the Dusun. The room was immaculately serviced, the breakfast cooked in our villas was amazing, the stereo with surround sound that we could connect our ipod to was a great touch while swimming in our private pool that was the perfect temperature. Further to all this was the convenience of having a van ready to take us wherever we needed to go locally. Couldn't ask for a better holiday destination and will definitely be returning here. (, Cairns, Australia)
After reading so many positive reviews, I can not believe how old and tired this place is. The pool was dirty, cobwebs all over the bedroom and nothing within walking distance. Staff was friendly, although very poor English. For the money this cost, we were extremely disappointed. ()
Whilst I would echo the comments of others below regarding the pleasantness of the villas, the quality of the room service, the attentiveness of the pool cleaners, etc. I would wish to highlight the inflexible attitude displayed towards customer service by the management of the Dusun.
In essence, our unhappiness revolved around the fact that the Dusun quotes its room rates in US Dollars, yet at the same time it refuses to accept American Express US Dollar travellers cheques towards the payment of the bill.
For first few days of our stay we had really enjoyed the Dusun, however, on the penultimate evening I decided to double check with one of the receptionists that US Dollar travellers cheques would be okay as part payment of our bill. To my surprise I was told by the lady on reception that it was not the Dusun's policy to accept travellers cheques towards room bills.
Not wishing to ruin our evening I opted not to challenge this policy to any great extent, and left things until the morning when I asked to see a manager. A gentleman emerged from the office next to the reception desk whereupon a discussion ensued as a result of my efforts to find out why the Dusun wouldn't accept US Dollar travellers cheques. The gentleman unfortunately could not provide a proper explanation beyond saying that "its not our policy" and it was only when I suggested to him that there might be a concern with fraud that he immediately latched onto this and kept repeating that it there were "too many risks" associated with accepting travellers cheques. Realising I was getting nowhere I asked if there was any way he could find out if any flexibility could be shown in our case. After a couple of phone calls and some discussion with the lady on reception he said he could offer a "flexible solution" which was to offer to change our travellers cheques at the exchange rate, after which the bill would be payable at the (vastly uncompetitive) hotel exchange rate. The only problem with this would of course be that the two exchange rates differ markedly and therefore this offer is hardly what we would think of as being a "flexible solution"!
Needless to say we declined this offer and pointed out that it was surprising to us that the Dusun has such a policy, especially when other top end hotels in Bali are able to accept US Dollar travellers cheques (such as the Komaneka in Ubud, where we had stayed the week before), however, given that it was the last full day of our honeymoon and we could see we were getting nowhere, we neglected to engage in a full argument about the issue.
The upshot of the Dusun's inflexibility on this issue is that we had, in effect, the final full day of our honeymoon ruined by the stress of trying to work out where we would be best to change our travellers cheques (particularly given the risk of being short-changed by the many dubious money changers in the vicinity and the fact that all the banks were by now closed as it was a weekend), the risk of carrying around large amounts of cash and then all capped off by the very uncompetitive "hotel exchange rate" ending up adding at least another US $200 onto the cost of our stay!
All of this left a very bad taste in the mouth, and whilst we are determined not to let it overshadow our honeymoon, it very much coloured our view of the Dusun. Upon writing to them when we got home we got a bland "its not our policy" type answer, which leads us to conclude that custom is all too easy for them.
I can't believe that we are the first people to go to Bali not wishing to carry around thousands of dollars in cash, and I would contrast the approach of the Dusun with that of the Komaneka in Ubud where we spent the first half of our honeymoon, where travellers cheques were accepted with a smile.
Anyway, I'm not necessarily saying this is a place to avoid, just do be very careful and hope that nothing major goes wrong as you will be unlikely to get much customer service joy from any of the management at the Dusun!
The Komaneka at Ubud is lovely by the way!! (, London, England)
depending on what you want, The Dusun in Oberio could be your next destination for a getaway in Bali. The one-bedroom we stayed just last week was in good shape and price was reasonable. The villa is about 3 years old and the furniture was ok (not exciting), room was clean, but the bathroom was not well-designed and the most disappointing thing was that the pool was L-shape, meaning you could not really swim. It is situation in very good location, within 5 mins to good restaurants, clubs etc.
The place was managed well, people were nice but the breakfast was really noisy. We skipped the rest of the breakfast after the first one.
We moved to The Bale in Nusa Dua for the rest of the stay. It is a up-scale bontique villa/hotel and is really nice property. It was pricier - more than double we paid at the Dusun. Excellent restaurant and very good size pool. The beach (2 minutes from there) is very nice. (Connoisseur, Hong Kong)
I had a great time in Bali, even though while I was in Bali, our accommodation at another place on the Island fell through due to poor communication (probably both sides to blame).
I had to search the island for alternatives quickly. I had heard about the Dusun from friends and was pleasantly surprised when I visited the premises just how luxurious the villas where.
We got a great deal as we were walk ups, & even though no 1 bedroom villas were available the manager provided us with a 3 bedroom villa for the same price, he just locked the doors to the other bedrooms.
I cannot fault anything - OK, maybe if I was to go again I would ring house keeping to tell them when I wanted my room cleaned, we didn't bother, & housekeeping seemed to come around 3 PM each day, which was when we wanted a rest. On the last day I called early in the morning to do my room when we went for breakfast, & by the time we got back the Villa was already cleaned.
The other things I think could be improved on was, no DVD's in the room, no ipod docking station to play mp3's, no central pool area or gym. It would have been nice to meet other people in the resort. (
, Australia)
