Villa rented via Indovillas quite nice and comfortable, but big problem with water. Not enough of it (like having a 5-year old taking a pee on your head) and alternating between cold and scorching hot.

When bringing this up with their "Manager", all that came back was a blank stare and the comment "when I checked a week ago there was water". Nothing else forthcoming.

Cleaning minimal, villa "manager" untrained and in over her head.

Worst thing - Indovillas hugely overcharged us for the car rental (as in 250% of going market rate), then tried to overcharge us on the hours we used it, and in the end they tried to add credit card charges on to the overcharged overcharge.

To round it all off, I just got my credit card bill and instead of charging me USD 560 as agreed, they billed in Rupiah at an astronomical rate, making an extra 50$ for themselves in the process. I have just refuted this charge and lodged a formal complaint with Visa.

Isnt it funny how different experiences can colour your view of a place with such contrast.

I stayed at a Villa called Villa Putri which was managed by IndoVillas, and must say that it was one of the best holiday that i ever had (and I've had a quite few travel experiences with work and pleasure all over the world).

The villa staff were exceptionally aware of the fine line between being attentive and facilitating the privacy which you expect from a high quality private villa.

The driver of the Mutsubishi Shogun was very considerate, being available at all hours and always cheerful and helpful with loading the car and on site guidance when visiting various places on the island.

The kitch staff were very talented and every day, presented us with breakfast and dinner, exactly as we had requested, to a high quality.

What I do not want with a private villa experience is a Western Style staffing by people who are driven by a salary commision targets or coorporate incentive schemes. I want genuine local people to do just enough for me and my family, without being pestered or partonised.

The IndoVilla staff were as close to perfect as I could imagine. And I was happy to extend my gratitude beyond what most hotelier staff would expect.

Ben & Liz, Worcestershire, UK

It sounds like Ben & Liz of Worcestershire may be part of a cleaning up operation by Indo Villas. How many posts from how many people now coming to Indo Villas rescue in one day?! One "Nick, Bali Resident" (who now keeps leaving messages but never a contact email) going on about how respectable they are; I wonder who Nick works for?! They actually get queued for moderation (these replies) so forum users do not see them unless I approve them. I get very suspicious when people come here in droves posting once for the first time in defense of some company. I do not know Indo Villas, I suspect they are as bad and unlawful (in one way or another) as most expat / non-Balinese run companies in Bali. The rash of defensive postings gives me cause to believe the original poster has got it right and that they are to be avoided.

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There are two categories of travellers, those that experience a country and those that take their home with them wherever they go.

Be warned, as with any forum, picking a fight with the admin guy is not recommended!

I do not normally post on forums or blogs but decided to add my cents worth. I made the mistake of renting a villa from these people once and they were nothing but rude when the villa turned out to be nothing like they promised. In the end we had to lose the money we paid them in order to check into another villa down the road, the owners of which know of the people at Indovillas and said they had the worst reputation possible on Bali, especially with the expatriate community. The villa we stayed at was much lower in price but 100 times better, plus the staff were happy (they were not happy at the Indo villa). Maybe we were just unlucky and the management at Indovillas having a bad day, but I do not think so. We certainly will not be using them again in our visits to Bali.

Tom, Cardiff