Open Kitchen Concept: Villa Sarna, Ubud

Last week's trip to Bali was a very relaxing one for me.

To be honest, I wasn't looking terribly forward to it because the thought of having to travel again just having been home from a 12 hour flight the Sunday before didn't sound terribly appealing. And I still suffering from a bit of a jet lag on the day we took off to Bali.

And Villa Sarna didn't give me a good impression right from the start. The journey from the airport at Depansar took about an hour and a half. And then, whilst Villa Sarna was located right in the middle of nowhere, there was a very loud and irritating sound of someone cutting down trees nearby.

Exhausted from the travel as I was, I couldn't wait to get out of my room into the heart of Ubud village for lunch and to avoid that horrible noise.

But as dusk fell and we returned to Villa Sarna, it transformed into a most charming oasis. Apart from the sounds of crickets singing and toads croaking, it was really peaceful and quiet.

Each room in Villa Sarna is a little standalone hut. There weren't many rooms to begin with and ours was right in a corner of the premises. I slept really soundly that night and every night in Bali.

Our stay was not without its fair share of troubles though. We had the aircon dripping with water one morning . and then an army of ants carried a dead cockroach right by our door on another morning.. and we had no water in our room on our last night in Bali. And of course, throughout our stay, the tree cutting noises continued every morning and afternoon.

But the peaceful surroundings each evening, the wonderful breakfast every morning.. and the very friendly staff at Villa Sana made it impossible for me to like the place.