The Kayana is an all-villa resort located run by Santika, one of Indonesia’s major players in hospitality. In turn, Santika is the hospitality subsidiary of Kompas Gramedia, Indonesia’s largest publishing company. It is a sister hotel to Bali’s two Samaya Resorts in Seminyak and Ubud. Together, Samaya and Kayana comprise Santika’s ‘The Royal Collection’, which is placed as the group’s luxury offering. As such, it is no surprise that the 2006-built resort comprises a mere 24 villas, each with a private pool.

Location

The Kayana is located right in the centre of Seminyak, close to the area’s many high-street shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. To be specific, the villas are wedged between W Seminyak and Desa Potato Head, both of which feature popular beach clubs.

However, note that the Kayana itself lacks direct beach access, so one would either have to walk to public beach access or pay to use the many beach clubs in Seminyak. Outside the use of the next-door Potato Head Beach Club, the nearest public beach access would be to Petitenget Beach, 650m away. Regardless, the location is really unbeatable, particularly to travellers intending to explore the area by foot.

Arrival and Check-in

After a long day, we pulled up into The Kayana at 16.00. A quick security check was done on the car before we were allowed to proceed to the driveway. The resort is quite unique in that it is placed right next to the main road, unlike many resorts on the island.

Once at the lobby, we were greeted by the friendly front desk associate. We later discovered that he worked many roles in the resort, which made sense given the low occupancy during our stay. During the registration process, we were also invited to sign up for Santika’s loyalty programme. Thankfully, that wasn’t a precondition for check-in, unlike at Aryaduta Bali. Following all the check-in formalities, we were driven to our villa with our bags on a golf buggy.

Since the resort occupies a long and narrow plot, the ride to our villa was at the far end was relatively long. As we rode down pathway, I can’t help but be reminded of our excellent stay at Kayumanis Jimbaran. Whilst similar, the pathway here did look a bit more gloomy, however.

One Bedroom Villa with Private Pool

We were booked into a One Bedroom Villa with Private Pool. The Kayana has three categories of villas, of which this one is in the middle. Despite that, there is virtually no difference between our villa and the entry-level plunge pool villa, apart from the pool’s size. Both room categories feature 180 sqm of outdoor and indoor space.

By design of the location and the area’s flat topography, none of the villas in the compound offered a view. That is completely fine, yet I wasn’t sure if it was just the weather or the mood, but the villa didn’t look especially inviting. Perhaps it was the tall grey walls that exacerbated the gloomy feeling. Had the walls been in a lighter colour and had the flora looked greener, it probably wouldn’t have felt that way.

Pool and Outside Areas

As advertised, the villa featured a reasonably sizeable 28 sqm pool, that’s just sufficient enough for a short swim. Next to it are a pair of sun loungers that sits on a wooden deck, complete with a table and umbrella. There is a tiny patch of grass between the pool and the entrance, which at least gives a bit of colour to the otherwise grey-looking setting.

Behind the pool is a pavilion that features the villa’s dining and living room setup. In addition to the couple’s dining table, it also has a nice daybed and an electric ceiling fan. This pavilion is protected by a manually retracting wooden curtain, which acts as a shield against the rain. Despite that, water still found its way in whenever it rained, leaving the daybed wet. Curiously, there is a small pantry next to this pavilion, from where the housekeeping staff would enter to service the villa.

Bedroom

Immediately inside is the bedroom, which has a large canopied bed as a centrepiece. Inside is also a lounge chair that faced the television. The resort left a small fruit plate, alongside a printed welcome letter on the bed. What was most impressive was the provision of a full PPE kit, which included washable masks, hand sanitisers, and disposable gloves. Wow! What’s more, the room was nice and cold and completely spotless too!

As is the case outside, the room felt a bit gloomy. This is likely also caused by the grey fence walls that surround the room’s windows. Some things like the ottoman and the lounge chair looked quite outdated. I’m sure it would benefit greatly from a change of upholstery. What I found bothersome, though, were the many manually-operated blinds. Without a turndown service, it would truly be a hassle retracting each one, one-by-one.

Aside from that, the room looked nice enough and was comfortable for a short stay. The bed was comfortable, as was the furniture, which had adequate padding. I particularly liked the look of the wooden ceiling, which gave the room a cozy feeling. In addition, an insect repellent spray was conveniently placed on the nightstand.

Bathroom

Literally right behind the bed is a section of the bathroom. Specifically, in this section is the two sinks shared the same wall with the bed’s headboard. Despite the odd placement, I was not disturbed by any sound from the pipes. Also in this area is the bathtub, which is completely exposed to the bedroom. To me, the lack of a privacy partition for the bathtub seemed like an inflexible design decision. Oh well… live and let live, right?!

Behind the sinks are two separate wardrobes, between which is a mirrored door leading into the shower and toilet section. Separately, there is also a pair of doors that opens straight to the pool. Conversely, I think this is a nice design choice, allowing easy access to the shower without leaving the room wet.

The shower and toilet section behind the door is quite small and narrow though serviceable. Interestingly, the resort used a mix of Acca Kappa and Mandarin Tea-branded toiletries. Is it just me, or do the Mandarin Tea bottles look deceivingly similar to those from Aromatherapy Associates? Regardless, I thought the Acca Kappa gels were really quite nice!

Whilst the PPE kit and the spotless room did allude to the resort’s serious attention to hygiene precautions, it did get quite excessive. For instance, nearly every piece of linen (bar the bedsheets) was wrapped in plastic. I mean it does give a sense of cleanliness, but I’m not sure if it makes a significant difference(?) I really hope The Kayana has stopped doing this.

Dining

Our room rate included breakfast, but I won’t be expanding a lot about the meal we had at the resort. The resort’s restaurant was closed during my stay and so, all food and beverages were outsourced to a third party. Likewise, I don’t think the food we had was reflective of the resort’s offerings at its fullest capacity.

The breakfast was served in the villa, though I’m ordinarily not fond of such kind of room service since the food often arrives cold. Regardless, when served in-villa, the resort’s staff enter through the backdoor behind the pantry. For reference, the following is how the table is set up.

Grounds and Amenities

When the rain subsided, I finally went and looked around the resort’s grounds. Most of the vegetation and plants looked mature and well-kept, which is a nice contrast to the gloomy grey walls. Unfortunately, due to the hard rainfall, many sections of the pathway had mud splattered all over them.

There is an elevated, infinity swimming pool located in the middle of the hotel, where the resort’s restaurant is also located. Like the villas, the pool unfortunately also does not feature a view. Instead, it faces a wall and several homes, only to be shielded by some tall bamboo stalks.

Right beneath the pool, in the same area, is the resort’s small gymnasium. The size is sufficient and expected given the small size of the resort. Despite its size, I found that it was quite well-equipped!

Right outside the gym’s entrance is a small yoga deck which is surrounded by a small and shallow pond. It looked quite nice for what it is, although I imagine it could only serve one guest at a time.

Impressively, the resort also has a small spa located nearer to the entrance. I did not use it, however, so I couldn’t comment about it.

Service

Every member of staff I encountered was well-intentioned, friendly, and tried to be helpful, but there’s not much to add apart from that. We did not see many staff members, and it simply looked like that resort was understaffed during my stay.

Overall

Overall, I had an uneventful stay at The Kayana. Nothing particularly stood out to me but I’m happy to say that the villa was quite comfortable for what it is. Truthfully, I would have to say that the resort is one of those places that looks nicer in pictures than it does in real life, at least to me personally. That’s not to say it’s a bad resort, because it really isn’t. The Kayana just honestly feels decent and that’s about it… I’d imagine a soft renovation would really ginger up the look of the place. Perhaps a brighter coat of paint in place of the gloomy grey. That, and the furniture’s upholstery.

Until that happens, the resort doesn’t real;y seem special, apart from its strategic location. Unless you really want to stay in Seminyak, I think you could do better when it comes to an all-villa accommodation at this price range.

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