Bali villa. Photo / Supplied
For flavour and flexibility, few destinations are better than Bali. There, our Kiwi buck gives you plenty of bang, holiday homes there are functional and beautifully designed, and the local cuisine and culinary scene offer boundless inspiration.
There’s a wealth of holiday homes in Bali and it can be tricky to choose. I’ve gone the private accommodation route in Bali half a dozen times, with kids in tow and without, and have some pointers to help you pick the best home-away-from-home in the Islands of the Gods.
Bali might be small, but her traffic is mighty. Research realistic travel times and don’t rely on the distance as any kind of yardstick. Ubud and Seminyak for example are two popular hubs visitors want to spend time in, but the 30km between them took me longer than three hours to cover by taxi. If you have a week or so to spend, look into two home bases rather than one if you want to explore more than one area. Plot clusters of places you can visit from each base; a few to consider are Seminyak, Canggu and Perenanan; Ubud, Penestenan and Sayan; Jimbaran, Uluwatu and Nusa Dua.
Plenty of holiday homes in Bali offer semi-independent spaces – wings with their own bathrooms, a pool cottage separate from the main building, or bedrooms across the ground and first floors. This is something to consider if you’re travelling with family or friends and want the ability for breakout spaces. For larger groups, you might like to book a small complex with multiple homes set around a shared pool area. This is where filters on sites like Booking.com come in very handy.
A whopping 84% of Kiwis will shop at local markets when travelling, according to data released by Booking.com under the title “Taste of Home” in October. Bali’s pasar (traditional markets) generally open their produce section before dawn to beat the heat. Pasar Badung in Ubud is Bali’s largest market, boasting fresh produce and household goods over four levels. When the sun goes down the focus shifts as hundreds of food stalls open up. On Kedonganan beach, Jimbaran, scores of blue fishing boats crowd the sand, fringing which are rows of wholesalers sorting the early morning’s catch and behind that, the fish market proper where you can buy all sorts of fish, shellfish, and crustaceans as fresh as it comes. There are also more tourist-oriented markets and wholefoods stores. The weekly farmers market at Moksa in Sayan is great for all sorts of locally grown and made ingredients: tropical fruit, spices, chocolate, snacks. Wholefood stores operate in many hubs, look for The Green Market, Alive or Nourish close to your location.
One of the best things about a holiday home is being able to prepare your own food whenever you want it. Kitchens in Bali rentals tend to be fairly basic in terms of appliances so use filters and read listings closely if you want anything specific such as an oven. Consider BYO if there are small appliances you like to use every day – a small coffee machine or smoothie maker (with all that fresh tropical fruit, why wouldn’t you?) – and research whether they’re suitable to use with power adaptors. If you have any Gen Zers in your group, you might just need to sit back and let them do the cooking – the research says they’re the age group most keen to play chef holidaying.
Bali’s dining scene is seriously impressive, with everything from roadside warungs (local eateries) where a meal might cost $4 or less to Top 50 restaurants and bars where prices are on par with Aotearoa’s best. With so many Aussie and Kiwi visitors it’s not surprising that brunch culture has taken hold in Bali – check out Artisan (four branches) for fresh juices and innovative sourdough toast toppings, pastries and fresh bread at HUT in Seminyak, and bowl food with an Indonesian wholefood focus at Yellow Flower Cafe – get there via a picturesque walk through the jungle and rice paddies above Ubud. Indonesian traditions meet stunning surroundings in Seminyak favourites KAUM at Potato Head and Merah Putih and in Ubud’s Hujan Locale. There’s young talent behind new wave offerings such as Seminyak’s Fed by Made and Ghost Kitchen & Record Bar in Canggu. For a memorable dining experience away from the bustle, book at Begawan Biji, perched on a permaculture farm outside Ubud.
If you want to dine in to make the most of your digs but fancy a night off cooking, download the Gojek app and scroll through screeds of meal delivery options.
The writer was hosted by Booking.com and visited its partner properties Taman Dharmawangsa Suites in Nusa Dua and Sohamsa Ocean Estate above Pandawa Beach.