Villa Merine

A tall pair of timber doors, set into a white wall on a quiet Uluwatu lane, is the only hint of what lies behind. Push them open and you step straight onto a hardwood deck, a green-tiled plunge pool running alongside it and banana leaves crowding a wall of rough-cut white stone. The house rises two storeys above the water, its upper floor framed in charcoal and fronted with glass, so the bedroom looks down over the pool you have just walked past. It is a small place, built for two people, and everything about it is arranged so the pool, the light and the privacy stay at the centre of the stay.

Glass doors slide back from the deck into the living space, where a sunken lounge sits a few steps below the floor, lined with built-in white bench seating and backed by a full-height wall of that same textured stone. Woven pendants hang low, a television is set into the stonework, and a white staircase with no visible supports climbs the far wall. The kitchen runs along the back in warm timber cabinetry, with a white island and three timber bar stools for breakfast or an evening drink, and a fridge-freezer, oven and stove for evenings when you would rather stay in. A slim powder room downstairs opens onto a decked side passage lined with planting.

Upstairs, the bedroom is bright and pared back: a bed on a low timber base, sheer curtains over floor-to-ceiling windows, a television on a floating shelf and a full wall of timber wardrobes. The ensuite is the moment to linger. A round stone soaking tub sits on a bed of white pebbles beneath a stone-clad wall and a tall window, with rattan pendants overhead and a separate glass-screened shower alongside. There is an outdoor shower too, air conditioning in the bedroom, a dedicated spot to work and fast Wi-Fi throughout, so the villa handles a working morning as easily as a lazy one.

Villa staff clean daily and look after the pool and garden, and a concierge team can arrange an airport transfer, a car with a driver, surf lessons, a Balinese culinary class or a day among the temples and beaches of the Bukit. Some of Uluwatu’s most popular cafés are practically on the doorstep, with ANDE Café a minute away and PEYIA and leSANDO a couple more. It suits couples and honeymooners who want a private pool and a stylish base close to the peninsula’s cafés and sunset spots, and who are happy with a compact, modern house rather than a sprawling estate.

Villa Merine is made for two: mornings in the pool before the heat builds, a long soak in the stone tub after a day at the beach, and the pick of Uluwatu’s cafés a short stroll or ride away. Book it for a honeymoon or an unhurried couple’s escape.