ザ サラ バリ(The Shala Bali)

Recommendation came from a friend, who now lives in Bali. It was an unexpected surprise that you never would imagine from the street but taking a narrow path you end up in a mini paradise. In the middle of the rice fields, surrounded by the sound of nature, you have everything you need. I booked the spa package and enjoyed the Shala to the fullest, with yoga, massages, delicious meals and swims in the pool. Much needed break from the busy life and much appreciated.

I guess we will just have to put this one down to experience. We studied the website, read the reviews and decided to go ahead and book a three day break at The Shala. We were looking for something very special to cap off our visit to Bali and it appeared to fit the bill. At the outset, let me just say that the staff were typically beautiful Balinese. None of our disappointment falls on their shoulders. I should mention also that in 41 years we have stayed in all types of accommodation in Bali, from beach shacks right through to six star luxury. Our stay at The Shala was the most expensive we had ever booked at around A$550.00 per night. Like I said, a six star price tag for a two star experience. Our disappointment started on arrival. Greeted by a young boy with a wheel barrow to take us to our “luxury” accommodation. A nice kid, but not a great welcoming party. The room was a bungalow, but not quite what we were expecting… At the price we expected 2023 Rustic Bali Luxury - what we got was 1990 Basic Bali. It was about the same standard as we had stayed in on our first trip to Bali in 1982. The only significant difference was the addition of air conditioning which we were told would be switched off if it was found to be on and we were not in the room. The thing about air conditioning is that it takes a while to do be effective in high temperatures and humidity, especially when the room is peppered with leaks. It’s some times nice to return to a room that’s cool on a hot day. The bed was uncomfortable, the sheets were stained, the lighting was so poor we were unable to read in bed at night and fresh towels daily were overlooked. There was a padlock provided for the door, but a child would have taken 30 seconds to break in with a screw driver. Our package was all inclusive - meals, massages and yoga. The yoga and massages were the high point. The meals were less than impressive. The menu was very limited and the quality was average. Vegetarian food can be fantastic, but in this case there was a complete lack of imagination. What we didn’t realise (seemed to be well hidden on the website) is the fact that our bungalow was about 600m or more from the restaurant, yoga bale and pool. We were under the impression that the bungalows, along with the other accommodation, were centred around the pool/cafe/yoga centre. That certainly wasn’t the case. The long walk through the rice fields may sound romantic, but the rice had been harvested and the reality was more like a rotting swamp. The pool was so far away we didn’t get to use it once. The benefits of the swim would have evaporated in the heat during the trek back to our bungalow. We had booked the all inclusive package expecting the experience to be something pretty special. The reality was very different. We also assumed that the all inclusive package would have amounted to better value than booking everything individually. That also was not the case. At A$550.00 per day we could have had far superi

We came here to attend a vegetarian cooking class. We were first stunned by the location: the kitchen is open air and located in a rice field. This makes the atmosphere magical. The cooking teacher is sweet, attentive and very skilled. She walked us through every step with care and patience. She explains everything clearly and the result was delicious and also beautiful to look at! Highly recommended experience if you want to have a taste of the true Bali.