The dreaming could begin!

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'Mandala Desa', the small hotel that was for sale, was fully booked at the beginning of our trip. We therefore first stayed at 'Puri Kelapa' in Sanur, a resort that consists of houses in Balinese style, in a tropical garden with a nice, common swimming pool. We rented a small house with a bedroom, a bathroom and a terrace for $US30 per night; this price even included breakfast! Very basic and not really the cleanest place we had ever seen, but what could we expect for a price like that. No wonder we met people from Holland who had been spending a couple of months there for the past 15 years.

The real estate agent picked us up on the second day of our stay and brought us to 'Mandala Desa' in Batuan, a 30 minutes drive.

The owners turned out to be Americans and also had a restaurant in Ubud. We got a guided tour and at the end the statements of account that I had asked for.

The property had 2 two story houses and two villas. The owners lived on the 1st floor of one of the houses. The ground floor was taken by the kitchen, a reception area, a staff room and a small shop. The other house had a 'garden, suite' on the ground floor and a 'view suite', looking out over the rice paddies on the 1st floor.

The two villas were identical, each one completely surrounded by walls and with a bale in the garden. A bale is a kiosk-like pavilion where you can eat, read or relax, sheltered from sun or rain. The villas had a large terrace, a sitting/bedroom and a bathroom with an open-air shower. Nice rice paddy view and two volcanoes in the distance when the weather was clear.

In the hotel garden: a 16" x 32" pool and several bales for eating or relaxing. The owners showed us another piece of land (2400sqy), behind the hotel that was not included in the selling price. The hotel had trained employees: cook, gardener, cleaning staff, driver and security guards. It was a going concern waiting for us to take over. We were thrilled. A few days later we would be staying at 'Mandala Desa'.

The dreaming could begin!

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Photos

Puri Kelapa
hotel in sanur

Mandala Desa
hotel in batuan

Puri Kelapa
hotel entrance

Puri Kelapa
the gods are watching you