5 reasons why you have to stay at a Bali airbnb

5 reasons why you have to stay at a Bali airbnb

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

My travel styles have been known to hit both ends of the spectrum. When I was in full time employment, my holidays were limited to 25 days a year and consequently, I spent all of my money on them, they were pretty indulgent. Now that I no longer have a limit - or a stable income - and I have discovered a whole new way of traveling; my trips are much longer and cost much less.

As such, I'd never had any inkling to use Air bnb. Unlike your typical millennial, I guess I kind of just found the whole thing a bit mediocre, but that all changed when I switched the location of my searches to Bali, Indonesia and I realised that I could get my over indulgence back at a price I could afford!

I had my first, and second Airbnb experience this summer and while I still have absolutely no interest to use the service anywhere else, I would 100% recommend using it if you plan to visit Bali. Here are 5 reasons why:

Value For Money

Considering just how nice these places are, you'd be surprised at how much they cost. Air bnb prices per property, not per person and between us, our budget was £50. I was there with just one friend which obviously made it £25 per night each but the villa actually slept 4 making it ridiculously cheap per head. It's pretty standard to pay £20 per night for a nice hostel in Bali so this was incredible value for money and we were both very pleased with ourselves.

Facilities

People rent these places out to live in, not just to holiday in and so they have all the everyday facilities you'd need which is not something you often find with a hotel or a hostel. As Schofields points out, having things like an oven and a washing machine makes life much easier for guests and whilst Luke took advantage of the kitchen, if you know me, you'll know full well that I went out to eat at any and every opportunity.

The private pools however, are something I took full advantage of and are where I spent most of my time.

Low Cost Luxe

The first time I went to Bali a few years back, I spent an embarrassing amount of money. I don't regret it because I stayed at the most incredible villas, but as I've become much more aware of life without a travel agent, I've realised that I could have very easily done it myself for a fraction of the price. The villas that I sourced and booked myself through Air BnB were just as good, if not better.

Privacy

Hostels have their benefits and for me, the fact that there are people around all the time is something I like when I'm traveling alone; but privacy is not their strong point.

I loved being able to unpack, to leave things on the floor, to make as much mess as I wanted and know that everything was going to be just where I left it when I got back. As well as privacy from the rest of the world, having a double bed and a room all to myself, plus my own outside en suite was awesome.

Unique Accommodation

A private pool and outdoor bathrooms were all I was after and Luke just wanted modern so our villas were smart and clean cut with a Balinese charm.

Some of them though, were so unique - Air bnb is an amazing place to find something different! Things like tree houses and little huts were a norm among the listings so I'd love to stay somewhere really quirky next time!


For my first experience though, it was very good! I'm glad I did it with a friend but I would be confident to use the service solo now I've seen how it works. Everything looked as the photos showed and our hosts were great when we couldn't find the address and very helpful when Luke forgot all his electronics after we left.

So if like me, you've never used air bnb before, hopefully this'll convince you to give it a go on your next trip! I can't wait to do it again. 

*Collaborative Content

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Two days in Yogyakarta, Java.

Two days in Yogyakarta, Java.

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

After getting myself so settled in KL, I was a little bit scared all over again when I arrived in Java. I got there late the night before so after heading straight to bed, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself in the morning; although that didn't take long to change. I sat down for breakfast and the next thing I know, another girl sits down opposite me with her banana pancakes, puts her tea down on the bamboo tables and knocks the whole lot over me. She apologised like crazy and that's how we ended up making plans for one of my favourite days of travelling so far. 

After we had finished our pancakes, we walked out on to the crazy main road in search of the Sultans palace. With only a hand drawn map, I still have no idea how we got there but we did before heading off to the water castle too. Obviously looking a little bit confused, a local man offered to walk us there. I was a little unsure of him at first, if someone had done that in England, there would definitely be some kind of ulterior motive but there wasn't. He took us through a residential area and said goodbye at the gate of the water castle. 

After doing all the local stuff, Clarence wanted to go and see Prambanan temple and she wanted to get a public bus there. Normal, anxious, UK me would not have even thought about it but I followed her up the stairs to the bus stop and bought a ticket without a second thought. Neither of us had any idea where we were going but most of the time, people were shouting directions at us before we had even told them where we wanted to go, they must get a lot of confused tourists. 

Prambaran is one of two very famous temples in Yogyakarta and obviously, it was pretty incredible we arrived half an hour before closing so we didn't have too much time but it was great to see the temple at sunset. Every few minutes whilst wondering around the ruins, we had crowds of school children coming up for photos with us, I now know what it feels like to be a z-lister.

When we finally found the bus stop again afterwards, it was doubly crowded and took twice as long in the evening traffic but I still felt super calm. We were both comfortable with each other by now; one minute we were chatting, the next staring into space with exhaustion and after that we were falling asleep on each other. By the time we got back, it was dark and late so we went to pick up some take away Chinese and ate it together back at the hostel.

The next day I got to do what I came to Yogyakarta for; Borobodur; but this time I was on my own and I was definitely not going to attempt six buses so I booked myself onto a private minibus to and from the temple. I ended up with the front seat so I had my own space and my own air con and it was great.

Borobodur was just as magical as it looked in the photos and I was feeling pretty happy with myself to be there. I had actually flown across the world, on my own and was at a temple that I never thought I'd get the chance to see IRL. I took half an hour to just sit and take it all in, again as the sun was setting; it was another one of those moments for me.


I hardly spoke to anyone all day and it was actually really cool. To go out and explore and not need to rely on anyone. I wanted to leave early so I could look at the market on the way back to the car; so I did, I spent far too long looking at all the Batik clothes and then I left. I hopped straight back in the front seat of the car, put my headphones in and fell alseep, before being dropped off right outside my hostel. 

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