Nefatari Villas @ Ubud, Bali

Nefatari was highly recommended by the bff the first time I visited Bali but they were full. Just my luck to nab 2 villas out of 9 this time round! The balinese hospitality is quite unrivalled, even when Thais are supposed to be known for it. The fiance calls it "the true land of smiles".

Our flight was delayed for a good 1.5 hours and I emailed the hotel to inform of this change in pick up timing - horror of horrors, they did not get to read it and the poor driver was waiting for us to arrive. When we finally got to check in at midnight, we were offered welcome drinks of chilled lemon grass drink and then brought swiftly to our room. My Dad was hungry and they went the extra mile to get the security guard to whip up a simple meal of nasi goreng for him - major brownie points for them already!



Keys to our double room villa! 



Another moment of hospitality - they specially went out to buy umbrellas because the villa ran out of it. 

Their villas are exactly like what I see online - private pool, plush beds with mosquito netting and a toilet that is unrivalled in every sense of private and cosy. Imagine water sounds, cobbled floors and lots of wood - rustic ultimate. Their soap and shampoo dispensers are stored in mini jars - impractical for daily use but that is the way a villa holiday should be.

Guess who was our intruder that followed one of the chamber maids around! He refused to leave thereafter, meowing so pitifully outside our rooms - door to door and finally gave up. 

Apart from the way too soft beds, the rest of the room was a dream come through.



Private pool to feel atas for once, the only time I can ever afford a pool outside my bedroom. 



Breakfast starts at 7am till a late 1pm for late risers and we could either have it in the villa or in a communal area.The amazing thing about Nefatari is, you get to eat your fill at breakfast despite it not being a buffet spread. Be mindful of the waiting time though so it is better to decide what to eat all at once.



An adequate menu for at least a week's worth of 



The daily grind - I miss this so terribly!



We all started the day with either Balinese coffee, tea or juices. Whilst I wish all juices were freshly squeezed, only mixed fruit, watermelon and papaya were. Thoughtful gestures for coffees to be served in individual pots.



Mixed fruit juice.



Watermelon juice.



Orange juice that was straight off a box.



A fruit platter of their freshest cut so beautifully event. I feel ashamed for eating an apple straight after washing without even skinning or slicing it properly.



Pineapple pancakes.



Banana pancakes. 



They make any breakfast shot look good.



I wonder what obsession I have with these beautifully made pancakes.



Momma did say playing with my food is wrong but pancakes stacked do look more delicious that way.

Pancakes with palm sugar

There was a choice of banana and pineapple and of course, I had them both and across all three breakfasts that we had. Fluffy and thick pancakes that filled me up considerably to give a hearty burp thereafter. The batter was already flavoured with banana essence hence regardless which flavour, there were traces of banana. Studded with freshly sliced bananas or pineapple, these fruity pancakes were a wonderful start to my days.



French Toast

I never quite had a mind blowing french toast and this was just decent. I suppose french toasts are well just ordinary breakfast items. 



Power Breakfast

Abit of everything including pancake, this would please any hungry eater. The companion ordered up to 3 eggs to go with the side of bacon, sausages and pancake.They could do the eggs scrambled and omelette style too. I should have tested their boundaries with poached.



Sunny side up.




Fried eggs. 



Omelette.



Scrambled eggs.



Hot Cereal with bananas

Hot oatmeal served with milk, palm sugar and sliced bananas. For the health conscious indeed.



Bread Rolls

Ordinary bread buns with a selection of spreads. It cannot get more ordinary than this.



Soto Ayam

Thick porridge with a beautiful arrangement of sliced egg, fried scallions and shredded chicken. The healthy bit about their porridge is the amount of greens that goes into this thick gruel. Delicious!



Mee Goreng

A favourite of the three, we had this every day and always needed to have seconds to fix the craving. Fried with curly maggie mee, these delicious oodles were tossed in simple ingredients like egg and tomato yet tasted so good.



We had a plate every other day and it amazes me how little oil is required to stir fry this. 



Nasi Goreng

Lacking in wok hei and definitely flavour, this looked like kimchi fried rice without any zest.



We made a request for a basket of these delicious nibbles just for the kick of it. Nobody can come between me and my delicious keropok. Terribly old school but even my favourite kettle chips would give way to it. 

Each day began with a filling breakfast and a really organic one to boot. If breakfast was not hearty enough, there are snacks stocked in the fridge for our consumption.



Not so fantabulous but better than nothing old school corn snacks.



It could be me missing these old school bottled drinks greatly, they seem to be fizzier in Bali!



Indonesian Iced Tea in a bottle!



One of the few resident cats that they have.



Acting all coy.



At breakfast table with the edible scraps - they only allow him to eat omelette.



A stamp of approval.



It could have been a tummy expanding meal. 



Two more roaming around the villas.



I adore the intricate woodwork. 



The pool in a single bedroom villa. 



The view from the breakfast terrace - all greens and so relaxing!



Spartan check in counter.



There's a shelf of books right at the lobby, great for those who really want to stay in and unwind.



Rice paddy fields just opposite the villa made it so tranquil and picturesque!

We enjoyed our stay and most definitely look forward to a return to this lovely little gem in Ubud!