On my trip to Bali in September 2022, I was fortunate enough to stay at some of the most amazing and unique places I have ever stayed in. One of the most unique stays and something that has become very popular in Bali recently is staying in an incredible bamboo house with their nets and outdoor pools.

We decided to stay in a bamboo villa, after a luxurious 2 night-stay at Wapa di Ume in Sideman. The link to the one we stayed in is here. Upon arrival, we were greeted by two very friendly workers of the hotel who showed us around and explained how to use some of the amenities. As this wasn’t a traditional hotel but instead an air bnb stay, there were no staff there but they did provide us with a WhatsApp number in case we needed anything or any food (there was a menu we could order from).

We put our bags down and explored the tree house. It was very architecturally impressive with how basic the materials used to construct the house were but was still able to give off a very luxurious and modern feel. There is no door to this house which really embraces the open concept design and the bedroom is on the first floor.

The upstairs bedroom is fully enclosed but the bamboo doors have plenty of gap space between them and there is no lock as such. The bed however, is covered by a mosquito net so you won’t be attacked at night.

There is a toilet and a walk-in shower that is surrounded by various flora.

Our experience

We were dipping our toes in the pool and waiting for the sun to set. We both commented on how there were sounds of gekkos, lizards, frogs that sounded like it was coming from inside of the bamboo house. We turned around and saw 5-6 different creatures on the table, bamboo structure, floor etc. This is when I realised Khaled really doesn’t like frogs (haha oops!). At first, we attempted to shoo them but it was just a bit of a fail as more kept coming in. Honestly, if anyone was watching this, they would have a run for their money as we looked a sight! We quickly picked up our suitcases, made a cup of coffee (priorities) and went upstairs to our room. We quickly got into our bed and closed the mosquito net around us. We couldn’t stop laughing at how these small little creatures imprisoned us in a place that we are paying for!

We then decided to text the staff and ask them if there was a way to remove the frogs from the premise (looking back, I think we were just in desperation mode). They were in hysterics when they arrived 10 minutes later with a broom and just saw us inside the mosquito net.

After shooing some frogs away, we ordered dinner that was going to be delivered to our bed. We found the amusing side of this, but it really was quite traumatic! 😀 we went back into the airbnb listing and read the rest of the reviews which indeed warned us about all of this. I guess we should have read more than the first three reviews!

After an eventful evening, we called it a night. I personally had the best sleep – it was as if someone was putting on a ‘forest’ soundtrack and put it on super loud. The sounds of the river stream along with the different insects, frogs, lizards etc. was rather therapeutic. Khaled on the other hand – didn’t sleep at all!

The next morning, we took a few pictures around and had breakfast delivered to us (we were able to eat it downstairs on the table this time!). Everything always looks less harmful in the day time. We couldn’t bring ourselves to shower with the creepy crawlies so we thought that we will just wait until we get to our next destination. Our driver came on time to pick us up and take us to the port.

This is definitely an experience that we will never forget and still talk about it to this day – we were able to find the funny side of it. It’s not for the faint hearted – especially if you get scared by bugs.  Saying that, i had the best time and experiences are about getting you outside your comfort zone. I am glad we only stayed one night because we met quite a few people later on in our trip who booked a few nights but had to depart early as it can be a lot.