We can’t speak more highly of Jeeva Klui. It’s the sister hotel to Jeeva Beloam. Travelling as much as we do, you become rather fussy with details when it comes to accommodation. Jeeva Klui, we could barely fault. Let’s start with the design. It is stunning, sympathetic to its surroundings, private and spacious. Individual one bedroom rooms or ‘villas’ sit nestled on an impeccable grass lawn, surrounded by tall swaying palms, overlooking a graceful beach. There are more villa’s at the back of the property; spacious and charming two bedroom’s with their own pools. The beds are incredibly comfortable both inside and out (each villa has a huge day bed to lounge on). We stayed in both styles and they both have their strengths. Jeeva Klui is petite, and can only accommodate around 50 people, and I must say even though it was booked out the entire time we were there, it never felt busy.
It’s hard to define the highlight of Jeeva Klui. The staff are off-the-hook wonderful. Charming, funny, with excellent English skills, they followed through on our every request and whim and repeatedly asked if they could do more to help. They remembered all of our names and over the time we were there they began to feel like an extended family.
The restaurant is amazing, for so many reasons. It’s accessibility is one of them. You can start the day with a fresh coconut or a Heartbeat Juice (pineapple, spinach, coriander and cucumber) and then have an egg white omelette. Or, you can do as Arran chose to, and have a three course number, starting with freshly made croissants, then Nasi-Goreng, and finishing off with Roasted Pineapple Pancakes! Highlights included all the juices, Gurami Bakari (whole steamed spring water fish with spicy water spinach and rice), Lawar Bebek (a delicious shredded duck salad with long bean and spicy grated coconut dressing with lettuce). And Arran reports the Burger with a side of fries was delicious also. After 8 days and nights of eating only there 3 meals a day, its a testament to the chef that we never once got bored of what was on offer. At 4pm each afternoon, they serve a complimentary afternoon tea. The orange madeira cake and Indonesian layer cake were our favourites, matched with Earl Grey tea or a thick local black coffee.
The spa is a humble affair, with open air huts overlooking the beach where you are massaged lightly or deeply upon your request. There is a beautiful bathroom to shower in, all open air and you glide through the resort afterwards and take a dip in the pool and it pretty much defines bliss. There are so many wonderful places to meditate, by the beach,
Then it’s slumbering by the pool overlooking the beach, for some of the most spectacular sunsets we have ever seen. The cocktails I hear are fantastic (very hard to find in Indonesia) and the wine list was modest, yet had some nice choices if you drink.
One of the key things would be the ambience. We adored the simple elegance, the friendly relaxed nature and the fact we did not wear shoes for 8 days straight, nor ever lock our villa or worry about our belongings. Another would be the attention to detail. Each day, you find someone somewhere gently maintaining the property, whether that be up a palm tree lopping off leaves or re threading the twine across the balustrades, and its this effort that sets Jeeva Klui apart from other resorts; as it’s spotless.
We can’t recommend this charming hotel more, for all the above reasons and the fact that it is so reasonably priced. We booked our next trip to Jeeva Klui on our departure – enough said.
See the other places we stayed here.
All photo’s taken by Jacqui Lewis for The Broad Place