Bingin Unit 13

The lane through Pecatu gives nothing away. A plain white wall, a slab of pale timber for a door, a small black plaque reading Villa 13 — and then you are inside, and the whole place opens upwards. Bingin Unit 13 is built around a walled courtyard barely wider than its plunge pool, so the water sits a step from the living-room glass, with a bed of white river pebbles down one side and a pair of black mesh chairs and a copper drum table on the other. Two storeys of white vertical battens climb above it, arched windows on the upper floor, a bamboo screen along the balcony rail, and a clean square of sky at the top.

The ground floor is a single room that treats the courtyard as its fourth wall. Full-height glass slides back and the pool is simply there, at the end of the tiles. Inside sit a low grey sofa, a round terrazzo pedestal table laid with woven mats and caned teak chairs, and a kitchenette along one side in pale timber with a black tap, a stovetop, a microwave and a fridge beneath. A skylight drops a bar of light across the dining end around midday. Behind the table a white staircase turns up through the double-height void on thin open treads, and a tall water dispenser stands where most villas would put a television.

Up those treads is the sleeping half of the loft, a mezzanine left open to the room below behind a white slat balustrade, so nothing here feels shut away. The bed faces a full wall of warm timber veneer with a shelf niche cut into it and slim black reading lights on swing arms; an arched window sits at the pillow end and frames the trees next door. A desk and chair are built into the far corner, which is one reason a good many guests here are working as much as holidaying. The bathroom below is lined the same way, timber to the ceiling, with a walk-in rain shower behind clear glass and a round drum basin cut from pale stone.

Two people, one bathroom and no car park: this is a loft that runs on the concierge’s scooters and drivers. Bike hire earns its keep because Bingin, Padang Padang and Balangan all sit a few kilometres off down the Uluwatu lanes, and an airport transfer earns its keep because arrivals land eleven kilometres north at Ngurah Rai. The kitchenette will manage coffee and a late supper but has no oven, so breakfast ordered in and eaten at the terrazzo table with the glass pushed back is the sensible move here. A masseuse sets up on the tiled strip beside the pool, housekeeping comes daily, and the building staff will let you in whenever you land.

Bingin Unit 13 is small on purpose and clever about it: a courtyard you can swim in before coffee, a room that opens straight onto the water, and a bed up in the rafters with an arched window for company. For two people who want Uluwatu’s surf breaks within reach and nothing much to look after, it does the job neatly.