Villa Lulito

I am writing this review as a warning to those travelling to Bali post Covid 19 lockdowns and closures. My family and I recently decided to return to Bali, for a ten day holiday, after two and a half years of not being allowed to leave Australia due to Covid travel restrictions world wide. We wanted an extra special villa to accomodate the five of us and one that would make it a truly memorable experience. I found Villa Lulito online and knew that it was in a good and safe location. I was nervous about booking through Elite Havens as I had booked through them before and been very disappointed by the standard of the previous rental, and also the inappropriate behaviour of some villa staff. I sent emails asking if I could pay 50% of our hefty costs (over AU$18,000) and the balance upon arrival, but this was declined and I was forced to pay in advance, which always makes me nervous. I asked about the maintenance of the villa during covid shutdowns and was assured in writing that the villa had been highly maintained. When we arrived we noticed upon inspection that the villa had been very roughly painted with white paint leaving dust throughout our wardrobes, so we had to leave our clothing in our suitcases. We asked that it be cleaned but it wasn't. The security safe in our bedroom wasn't working so we were given batteries to fix it ourselves. A lot of the doors in the villa didn't close properly making the aircon struggle, especially in the main lounge and dining room. We didn't use those rooms because they were uncomfortable to sit in. We noticed that the kitchen was not really clean and we often noticed rat faeces on the bench top near the toaster. We decided to forego the complimentary breakfast and ordered in when needed, otherwise we would go out. The villa staff were all quite nice and our driver Made, was exceptionally helpful and patient. The driver was included in our price and given the amount we paid, we thought it appropriate. We were not very demanding during our stay and rarely asked the staff for very much apart from driving us to and from our meals and massages. We wanted a happy holiday so we overlooked any of the above inconveniences. When we were leaving at the end of our stay, the villa manager explained our bill for some laundry and I asked if there were any other costs, to which he replied, 'No, none at all'. We gave the villa manager and the driver AUD $100 each and 800,000 Rupiah to be split between the remaining three staff members. We were given the guest review book to write a review and I graciously wrote something pleasing so that I could finish our holiday pleasantly. As we were about to leave the villa manager said that we owed them 2,000,000 Rupiah (AUD $200) for the driving to Canggu. We very quickly realised that our tips obviously weren't high enough and this was a way of making a little more on the side. Given that five guests didn't eat a daily breakfast saving on cooking, cleaning and money, I thou