Villa Gajah

Villa Gajah stands on one of the quiet lanes running down towards Nyang Nyang, in the part of Uluwatu where the cliff road gives way to scrub and new white houses. The plan is narrow and deep, and the pool sets it out: a slim rectangle of pale green water edged in cut stone that runs the whole length of one side, with the living room’s sliding glass opening straight onto it. At the far end a timber deck holds two chairs and an umbrella, and a bougainvillea leans over the wall behind them. Everything else in the house is arranged around that strip of water, and the sky above it is wide open.

The reason to climb the stairs is the roof. It is laid in blue and white patterned tile right out to the parapet, with a sunken green-tiled tub set into one end and a screen of split reed for shade at the other. A canvas awning is stretched over rough timber posts above a bench and a low table, and most of what is up there is built in, so nothing shifts about in the wind that comes off the coast in the afternoon. From the parapet Uluwatu runs away in every direction, low scrub and white rooftops, and towards evening the light goes orange behind the ridge. It is the best seat in the villa and the one guests forget to look for.

Downstairs is one open room and two bedrooms. A pale sectional sofa faces a wall-mounted television on a soft grey wall; a solid timber table for four sits under two rattan pendants, and the kitchen runs along the back in light timber with open shelves and a macrame hanging above them. Both bedrooms take a queen bed and its own bathroom, one finished with a stone trough basin under a round rattan mirror, the other with a window the width of the tub looking straight out into planting. Above one bed hangs a hand-drawn elephant, which is where the villa gets its name, and the motif turns up quietly elsewhere in the house.

A private cook is the service that fits this house best, because the dining table and the roof are two completely different places to eat and the kitchen is equipped for both. After that it is a scooter, since Uluwatu’s beaches all lie a short ride apart in different directions, and then laundry, because there is no machine here. Housekeeping comes daily, a welcome drink and towels are waiting, and the Wi-Fi and the safe are part of the stay. The owners also put a donation towards elephant protection and ocean conservation behind every night booked, which is a small thing but an unusual one.

Villa Gajah is not a large villa and does not pretend to be. What it has is a pool along one whole flank, a roof laid in blue tile with a tub sunk into it, and an elephant over the bed. Four people, two queen rooms, and the emptier beaches of Uluwatu within easy reach of the gate.