I wasn't going to write this review; I was planning on cutting my losses and moving on, but I still look back on my time at Villa Mathis with few fond memories.
My husband and I stayed here with an Ouffer deal, and not sure but I felt that this was the reason our room was quite small and unimpressive. It certainly looked nothing like the rooms shown on the website, and it literally was just a room with a bed (and small desk, wardrobe) with an outdoor bathroom. There were none of the luxurious trimmings seen in the photos from the website.
Firstly, the air conditioning unit was far too small to adequately cool the space - remembering that this is in the tropical, hot Balinese climate! It was a 900 watt unit, my husband discovered, and to put that in context, in sunny Queensland Australia, I have a 2.6 KILO-watt unit to cool an office half the size. Not only that, but it was mounted on the wall beside the bed, right above the pillows, meaning air was blowing on our faces all night, (and really, you can't NOT have it running all night). A fridge in the room would have been useful to cool drinks, and there is no phone (which I guess is supposed to be part of the concept) so every time you need something you have to walk up to the reception.
There is no internet access in your room, which is fine - keeping in mind that concept - but you would be extremely lucky to be able to access the wi-fi anywhere else in the grounds either. We could connect perhaps 50% of the time. It is supposedly available in the communal areas of the villas and the restaurant.
2 traditional massages were included in the package. My husband used one on the first day and I asked for an aromatherapy one, but they were exactly the same, so be aware! Having read someone else's comments that said the same thing, I don't think the therapists know the difference!
Also the spa prices are about DOUBLE what they are advertised at on the website!! I was extremely disappointed about this. THE WEBSITE NEEDS TO BE UPDATED! Whilst the prices are still very reasonable, compared with Australia, I was all prepared to have some treatment every day, and then decided against it because of this. Spa treatments are much more reasonably priced in town.
At the start of our stay we booked a horse riding tour on our second last day. My husband is tall, dutch and weighs about 110kg - they breed them tall over there! :) Anyway, the shuttle arrived in the afternoon and the first thing the driver asked my husband was "How much do you weigh?" 80kg is the limit - and goodness, but I am nearly 80kg! So we couldn't go, but I felt that Villa Mathis should be aware of such rules considering the close-by riding stables are a tour that they promote and should communicate these details to their guests. When I went to tell the situation to the reception lady, she laughed and suggested I go by myself! I wasn't about to leave my husband all on his own while I went and had a nice time... So because of the time, and the disappointment, we didn't do anything that day. By then, I was just ready to leave.
There were other small things that bothered us about the stay, but I think the above spiel covers enough. We won't be back to Villa Mathis, and I won't be recommending it to anyone.
