I looked for the Amankila rep as we came out the doors. After spotting him, we walked up to him and said we were staying at the Amankila. He had a confused look on this face and ask us to walk around to the front. We were met by him and another Amankila rep who pulled out a sheet to check our names and indicated that his notes said we would get our own transportation … le sigh. He called up the Amankila front desk to sort out the issue. While he was waiting for them to call back, he quickly de-escalated the situation by thanking us for choosing to stay at the Amankila and he would take it upon himself to ensure that everything would be sorted. True to his word, after a short wait of 10 minutes, he escorted us to the taxi stand where we hopped into a private car that was hired by Amankila to bring us to the resort. Cold water bottles were provided and we were then off on a 90 minute car ride.

90 minutes later and we arrived at our destination. The resort is located in the town of Manggis and is truly out of the way from the normal tourist areas such as Seminayk or Ubud. The main road is a single lane in either direction and the front entrance is covered with trees and other shrubbery which makes it blend in with the rest of the area.

We pulled up into the main lobby area where there was a welcome committee waiting for us.

Reception Area.

Two girls handed a flower to Mrs.I and myself and we were welcomed by the rest of the front house staff. The manager informed us that we were upgraded to an Ocean View suite as we were celebrating our 5 year anniversary – a gesture much appreciated. He handed us to one of the staff members who gave us a quick tour of all the facilities on the resort before walking us to our room and did the check-in formalities there. The GM was also there to welcome us (Ian, I believe) which was a nice touch – we would not see him for the rest of the stay. The service delivered throughout our stay was phenomenal – the little nuiances by the staff really showcased what Amankila was all about and it spoke volumes. Let me explain:
1. Whenever we passed by the front lobby, the staff sitting at their desks would always get up, come forward to greet us and ask us how we were doing or if we wanted anything.
2. Whenever we finished breakfast and pass through the lobby, they would ask us how our breakfast was. When we got back to the room from breakfast, the room was already cleaned and made up – this really shocked us on the first morning because we went for an early breakfast (7.30am due to jetlag) and we were done in 45 minutes. Ninja cleaning crew.
3. They also knew exactly what excursions we booked and would ask us if we enjoyed it.
4. When turn down service was done, the beds were made up again and water bottles were placed by the bedside along with bottle openers.
5. Whenever we ordered room service, the waiter bringing the food would ring a little bell to let us know that he was outside (they dont have actual electric bells on the door). After delivering the food, he would never ask us to sign a bill like other hotels/resorts.

Mrs.I saw this view for the first time and her jaw hit the floor.

The entrance to our casa.

Lucky number 19. Our anniversary date.

View from the front door.

Welcome sorbet, chocolates were provided.

Once all the check-in formalities were taken care of, we were left to our own devices. Snapped pictures of the room before we went out to explore the rest of the resort.

Our bed to the right as we enter the front door.

Mrs.I was so gaga over the room that she called back home and gave them a live video tour lol.

To the right side of the bed was an ipod playing balinese music along with room service menu and other reading material about the resort.

To the left of the front door was a desk and a lounge bed.

Past this area is the toilet and shower areas.

Shower area with jacuzzi.

Another lounge bed outside the toilet.

In between this area is the coffee station.

Yummy chips and cookies that is replenished everyday.

Past this area are the sinks and closets. Obviously Mrs.I got the sink with the bigger counter space.

My man space.

“Closets” on either side.

Ok, room pics done. Time to the make the most of our day and hit the beach.

One of the many interlinking walkways throughout the resort. Felt really bad for the two staff members having to carry the bags during the check-in/check-out process but I guess the tips made it all better.

The lower seating area near the pool. The breakfast area is directly above.

Coming out of the area to see the first of three famous infinity pools. Two swimmers were already taking advantage of the cloud cover to get some laps in.

View across the bay. It was a sunny day when we landed in Bali and became cloudy when we were at the resort but did not rain. The 2nd and 3rd days were pure sunshine while our last day was heavy rain.

There are two ways to get down to the beach.
1 – Walk down the long staircase built into the side of the cliff. This includes getting bitten by teeny tiny insects on your way down.
2 – ride in a buggy.

It was easy walking down but we took a buggy back up. Once we were at the bottom, we came upon another seating area with another pool.

We walked further and came to the beach. The sand is the volcanic kind, therefore it looks black. Some people may not like it but it was fine for us.

There was one staff member at the equipment shack and he greeted us as we approached. He quickly set up chairs with towels and glasses of cold water – this was done without asking which was awesome.

After hanging out at the beach, we moved back to the swimming pool area for a dip. Another staff member saw us and quickly set up the chairs with towels and cold water.

Daily breakfast was always a good experience as it was made to order rather than a buffet. Most hotels would ask for your room number before escorting you to a table. We were never asked for our room number once during our stay – even when ordering room service.

Our first morning, we found this outside our room. Awesome!

Seating was never a problem and we were always able to select where we wanted to sit.

Time for the food pr0n. Every bite was an orgasmic food explosion.

Mie Goreng.

Banana bread.

Egg white omelette stuffed with veggies. The avocado was OMG.

Balinese coffee. I am now a believer.

Eggs Benedict with salmon.

Middle eastern breakfast.

Spanish Baked Eggs.

Bubur Ayam porridge.

After it was properly mixed.

Scrambled eggs with chorizo.

There was daily afternoon tea at 4pm at the library and it was awesome. Never saw anyone else come to try it out. More sweets for us! 😀

Since we were at the library, we checked it out.

The one TV in the entire resort. I forgot to mention that there was no TV in the room and I assumed this was by design. Mrs.I instantly latched onto the remote.

Some more pics of our time spent by the pool.

I will end this post here for now. My next post will show our excursions in Bali. As mentioned earlier, the level of service provided by the staff was over and beyond what we expected. Would we come back? Tough call, as we would like to visit the other Amans and use Amankila as a benchmark. If they installed a TV in the room, I would definitely come back. 😉

Next up – out and about in Bali.