Karma Kandara

Just back from a week at Karma Kandara. As with our past visits to the resort the highlight was definately the staff, in particular the restaurant, room service and buggy staff who were all a pleasure to interact with! We stayed in a two bedroom garden villa which was well appointed and within easy walking or buggy distance of everything. A word of caution though if you want to enjoy the beach facilities as we do you want to make sure that the hill tram is operating. It was closed for maintenance for the first half of our week, and unless you are very fit or a mountain goat (as we know from past experience) that it is not a lot of fun to access the beach without the hill tram. We were advised the week before that it would not be operating and it was only after several testy emails that the resort reached an agreement with the adjacent resort for Karma guests to utilise their hill tram. In fairness this arrangement worked really well, and hopefully this arrangement can apply in the future if and when the hill tram is not operating.

This is my 3rd times stay at Karma Kandara Bali. The amazing view from top cliff restaurant and also the gregorious ocean view with long white beach while going down with gondola to the beach are the unforgotten moment that I want to enjoy again at the next and the next stay. The staffs and the buggy drivers always very pleasant and helpfull. My children enjoy well the villa with the private pool. The apartment room also very nice and clean.

We had a great time on our first visit as Karma members. We joined last year, and this was our first holiday using points. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay, had great food, met lovely people, and explored Ungasan and Uluatu activities. We found a nice local spa in the village and treated ourselves to a fabulous Karma spa experience.

Editing this review for the second time to accurately reflect on my one week stay. The property is gorgeous, and has stunning cliffside views. The infrastructure is in place for an excellent resort. Unfortunately this is let down by three factors: 1. Use of cheap amenities and products everywhere - nothing feels "luxury" at all. Far from it. Forget the more expensive items like fixtures and mattresses, even linens and bath products are really bottom of the barrel. 2. Old facilities all around. The resort is fairly old and needs a refresh. 3. Most importantly, the service. The GM and the EAM try hard, but the other members of the staff, while friendly, do not really get what is expected of a high end resort. And considering rooms here regularly go upwards of 1000 USD a night, I would expect far better. The staff makes it feel like they are doing you a favor when they call a buggy or perform any miscellaneous task. Is it because the staff to guest ratio is low? I don't know. Couple of incidents that really strike out - they started doing loud construction at around 11 pm in the night right outside our villa. If I were at a Six Senses or a Four Seasons, this would be blasphemous. Shockingly, the next morning, at around 6 am, someone started using very loud shears to cut some grass, jolting us awake. All this is just completely unacceptable. Three stars only for the beautiful views. This could have been truly special, but alas. Also, the breakfast offerings are horrendous.

Lovely staff, good food and great views It’s a big property so you need to call buggys most of the time, but, except for rush hours, they are very fast