Last updated on April 14th, 2016 at 07:16 am

Bali or the Maldives? That’s what my wife and I was deciding on for our honeymoon. Bali was the easy answer because the Maldives was just way too expensive and difficult to plan on such short notice.

So Bali we were headed to and I did a quick search for a nice honeymoon resort to relax ourselves for 4 days. Now I didn’t have any clue about traveling to Indonesia nor know much about Bali except that it’s a well known beach area famous for honeymoons and surfing. I don’t surf. But I wanted to treat my wife to the best resort spa I could afford.

Through an exhaustive research I came across the name Jamahal Private Resort & Spa through Tripadvisor and Agoda. I read reviews on both websites and Jamahal had a very good reviews. Mine included, you can see my review on Agoda under Warren C.

This villa had 3 rooms and 2 huge bathrooms. Overall space was 430 square meters…

Jamahal is not far at all from Bali’s international airport. About a 15 minute taxi ride from Ngurah Rai Airport. As I recall the taxi ride cost 100,000 Rupiah ($8USD as of writing) via the airport taxi. And that’s the set price. US dollars are widely accepted in Bali and you can find ATMs everywhere to withdraw Rupiah.

Jamahal is in an area of Bali called Jimbaran and as far as I could see its an area filled mostly with small local businesses with plenty of locals shopping for grocery and goods. But there are many small local shops and businesses so there is that homey undeveloped feel.

When we arrived at Jamahal there’s this huge massive wooden gate manned by 2 security guards with stone walls that were 15 feet high. It was like heading into a fortress. When we got in we saw the guests reception which was very small but there’s a nice seating area for guests to relax and order drinks and it was all open air. My first impression was that resort was designed to be secluded and private as the resort name states. And I knew that already as there were not many villa styled rooms for guests so you get that cozy secluded private feel. It is a honeymoon type resort after all.

We were greeted with smiles by a receptionist and if I can recall her name was Yante.  She was wonderful from the start. Since we got in early at around 11am before check in time, our room was not ready yet. So my wife and I decided to try out Jamahal’s Five Senses Massage therapy.

A small yet cozy private pool…

While Yante lead us to the spa section she had a surprise for us. And she was quite secretive and waited until we were away from the reception area where other guests could hear us. She told us we were upgraded to the Luxury III Pool Villa. Originally I booked a Luxury ll Pool Suite Villa. From the description I saw on Luxury II it was 130 square meters with a small private pool. That’s a lot of space already. However, the Luxury III Pool Villa is 430 square meters. We couldn’t wait to see it!

Jamahal’s spa is not far at all from the reception area. While taking the short stroll to the spa we could see the resort has a lot of stone walls for privacy. They weren’t kidding when they put the word “private” on their resort name. Even the spa section we had to enter through another set of wooden gates surrounded by high walls. We were greeted by 2 masseuse who guided us on several special infused massage oils that were available to choose for aromatherapy massage. I think we chose lemongrass. Afterwards we were lead to a big couples massage room where we had to change into some weird type of underwear.

There’s just so much space…

It was black and looked like it was made of sheer cotton. So yeah, you can see skin. Which is kind of awkward for a dude like me to wear and getting a massage from a woman. But I guess they’re professionals so to them it’s business as usual. Overall it was a good massage to me. Just what we needed after a 4 hour flight from Bangkok. And my wife who is a massage aficionado said it was good too in a different way after being so used to Thai massage techniques.

After the nice refreshing 1 hour long massage we still had some more time to kill before our room was ready. Yante helped arrange a driver from the resort to take us to an ATM and then to Jamahal Resort’s private beach. The drive from the main road to the beach itself seemed long at first. I mean we knew it wasn’t a beach front resort but that was okay for us.

Staff at the hotel knew it was our honeymoon so they prepared this for us…

When we got to Jamahal’s beach club we found it secluded as well. There were not too many beach chairs and since we were visiting Bali during it’s rainy season the beach surf was rough. So the water was pretty far down. I wish I could say that the beach was beautiful and maybe it is but maybe we just got there at the wrong time. The sand was quite clean though.

When we got back to the resort our villa was ready. Every villa at the resort has a name. Yante lead us to our villa named Banyu. It was right across from the reception. When she opened the wooden doors and lead us in we walked on a stone path with water running around. As I recall “Banyu” means water. It was really nice and we could see the villa and the swimming pool and also a small pavilion for private massage sessions or for lounging around. The place was awesome and my wife and I were so impressed. It’s one of the top 3 fanciest resorts we’ve ever been to on our list.

Super comfortable king sized bed…

Yante opened the doors to our villa and started giving us a tour. The rooms are decorated modern Bali style and very clean. The place looked new and so well maintained. The villa had a total of five rooms. Two of them are big bathrooms followed by a massage room for an even more private massage treatment, the spacious living room and the bedroom with a luxurious mattress. And we really were impressed. So impressed that my wife and I are planning to copy the design of this villa for a home in the future.

Just so much space!…

Outside of the villa is a big garden with the sound of water running creating a soothing atmosphere. And there’s a nice area to sit and lounge around outside by the swimming pool. I was the only one who used it though as the weather was on the cool side since it was late January. It wasn’t cold though the temp was a comfortable mid 70 degrees it wasn’t pool weather to my wife. Good news is because of the cooler weather there were no mosquito either.

A nice healthy breakfast served by a happy butler. A great way to start the day!

Breakfast was included in our room rate. It’s not buffet style but they have a select a la carte menu of items such as fresh baked bread and croissants. Fresh yogurt with granola, platter of fresh fruits and eggs cooked to your liking. Extras like bacon and sausage were extra charge though. I especially love their super fresh coffee served in a plunger. Indonesian coffee is one of my favorites! A breakfast menu is located on the living room coffee table and we can order our breakfast by phone. And the food is delivered to our table by a friendly butler. You just tell them the time you want to eat and the butler will carry your food straight to your villa right on schedule.

I also planned a romantic dinner for my wife one night. Jamahal offers guests 3 course dinner which can be served right in our villa again with personal butler service. And for an added touch of romance the butler lit torches that surrounded our private garden. I did take pictures but they came bad because I forgot to pack my flash for my camera. For all the guys out there, trust me, as a man planning a honeymoon in Bali, setting up a romantic dinner on steroids will earn you a lot of brownie points for dumb things we do in the future.

If you’re probably wondering what is around the area for tourists the answer is there isn’t really much. I’ve taken a stroll outside of Jamahal alone. It’s not easy to walk along the sidewalks because the area is not so developed. But if you walk further down you will see a lot of shops and markets catering to local Indonesians. I know a lot of travelers prefer staying near a mall with plenty of tourists conveniences. The nearest mall that I know of is in an area called Kuta, just north of Jambaran about a 30 minute taxi ride. Personally I prefer the local markets and experience the local vibe.

Still, Jamahal Private Resort is awesome! But sure, getting upgraded to a huge villa is a bonus and saving a ton of money can skew my opinion towards favorable. But I have a feeling even if I didn’t get an upgrade I would still very much enjoy our honeymoon trip.

Read reviews and find discounts for Jamahal Private Resort.