우마 신두 홈스테이

With the price, you experience a homey apartment with cooking utensils and work station /dining table. I love the terrace and bath tub. Also get smart tv and wifi. The place also spacious and clean with nice cool pool to relax in the morning. Nearby Sindu market where you can shop and dine, also message. Nearby mall and beach also.

Uma Sindu has a few genuinely strong points. The location is very convenient – it’s within walking distance of the night market, about five minutes to Icon Mall, and there are plenty of food options nearby if you have a scooter. It’s also advertised as pet-friendly, which is a big plus in this area. That said, the experience didn’t quite match the expectation. It feels like the focus is very much on long-term tenants, which impacts short stays. The parking area is often full, and despite arriving with my own scooter, I was twice asked by other guests to move it. There also seems to be a car taking up a large portion of the tiny parking space, which makes things quite impractical. Not to mention an enormous pile of trash bags just in the parking area that looks like it hasn’t been picked up in weeks! Check-in is also quite difficult here. There’s rarely anyone around on arrival, and responses on WhatsApp can take a long time. Agoda lists a German number, which isn’t very helpful locally. It would make much more sense if, like at many other places, the Indonesian staff contacted guests in advance and helped arrange arrival or pick-up. As it stands, you often feel a bit lost when getting there. The pet-friendly aspect was also confusing. I brought my small, well-trained and very calm Shih Tzu, but the atmosphere around that became quite uncomfortable. One long-term guest (a middled aged lady) repeatedly monitored when I came and went which was soooo uncomfortable, approached me without any friendliness, and raised concerns about my dog because there are cats on the property. Of course, shared pet spaces require awareness and responsibility from everyone – and I had no issues when one of the cats reacted strongly the night before. That’s part of having animals around. However, the way this was handled felt intrusive and unwelcoming, especially as a paying guest. If the property is primarily suited to cats rather than dogs, it would be better to communicate that clearly in advance. On a positive note, some improvements have been made since my last stay – the bathroom drains have been cleaned - , which is nice. However, the sheets were still not entirely clean, with visible stains. For the price, I would expect a bit more attention to detail. Overall, the location and concept are great, but the management of shared spaces and guest experience could be handled much better.

Unfortunately I got off to a bad start here. I arrived soon after 5pm, as I'd advised them, to find the office had shut at 4pm and there were no instructions to tell me which was my room. I didn't have an Indonesian SIM so couldn't contact the out-of-hours number. They'd emailed me instructions but too late, I was already on the plane without internet access. The homestay is well located down a quiet alley near the centre of Sanur, 10 minutes walk to the beach. The room was clean but there was mould on the ceiling of the bathroom. Kitchen equipment was limited but the all-important fridge was full sized and worked well. I was bemused that no eating implements were provided and only one bowl for a double room. I was happy overall. The room was comfortable and mostly matched its description.