Las Casas 5

An arched timber door set into a lime-washed wall opens onto travertine paving, a pool and, on the wall beside the entrance, a small plaque with a single number on it: 5. This is one villa in the Las Casas development at Bingin, and the architecture is closer to the Cyclades than to the usual Balinese pavilion — white rendered walls, rounded arches, timber balustrades and a rough stone feature wall down one side of the courtyard with an open-air rain shower set into it. The pool takes up the middle of the courtyard with a broad shelf you can sit on, and a black-cushioned bench runs along the far edge under a rattan pendant.

Inside, the ground floor is bright and almost monastically plain in the best way. A low sofa in oatmeal linen wraps one corner, a run of built-in timber bench seating carries along the wall behind it, and a rounded timber table sits between them under a slow ceiling fan. Arched recesses are cut into the white plaster for books and glasses, and the television is the only thing on the wall. The kitchen sits at the far end behind a stone-topped counter and island, timber-fronted and properly equipped, with a full-width window above the hob that frames nothing but heliconia leaves and sky.

Upstairs, the bedroom takes the whole floor. Twin panels of vertical timber slats rise the full height behind the bed, flanked by woven rattan pendants, and the linen is white with an indigo stripe laid across it. A cane-and-timber writing desk sits by the window, and arched glazed doors give onto a private balcony with a timber rail, from which you look across the courtyard and out over the white arches of the rest of the complex. The ensuite behind is where the villa shows off: a long stone trough vanity with twin basins and paired timber-framed mirrors, and a walk-in shower tiled floor to ceiling in hand-glazed grey-green zellige.

What makes the courtyard work is that it is entirely enclosed, so the pool, the outdoor shower on the stone wall and the daybed under the pendant all belong to you alone. Villa staff clean daily, the pool and garden are tended two or three times a week, and a concierge team handles transfers, car and scooter hire, a private cook, massages at the villa, laundry and restaurant tables. Bingin Beach and its warungs are just over a kilometre down the cliff road, with Dreamland, El Kabron and Padang Padang all within a few minutes and Uluwatu Temple a short drive on.

Las Casas 5 is a couples’ villa first and last — one bedroom, one courtyard, one pool, and a stretch of the Bukit’s best surf beaches within a few minutes of the gate. It works well for a slow week between beach mornings and long afternoons at home, and neighbouring units in the complex can take friends travelling with you.