I stayed at Maya Ubud for 8 nights in Private Villa 708 for our honeymoon. The hotel promotes itself as a 5-star luxury resort, but the reality was far from it. Although the natural surroundings are beautiful, the facilities, condition of the villa, and service were extremely disappointing. Based on our experience, this property would not receive 3 stars in most countries. I will let the photos speak for the “luxury 5-star” standard being advertised.
Key Issues During Our Stay
1. Misleading Villa & Pool Advertising
The private pool shown on the website was much larger than what we received. The images used appear to be from the Presidential Villa. The pool in our villa was tiny—only slightly larger than a bathtub, not suitable for swimming.
2. Dirty and Faulty Villa Pool
The pool was losing water daily and was half-empty most of the time. On arrival, the water was dirty and needed cleaning, which we had to request. In a 5-star hotel, this should never need to be pointed out by the guest.
3. Direct Booking Discount Not Honoured
We booked directly and were promised a 20% discount on several services at booking and again at check-in. No discount was applied to any of our spending.
4. Poor Housekeeping on Arrival
The villa was not properly cleaned. There was dust, spider webs, and a spider around the lamp. A clothing pin was left on the carpet, which I almost stepped on.
5. Inconsistent Housekeeping
After the first clean, the used outdoor towels were removed but never replaced.
6. Villa Condition More Like a 2-Star Resort
The hotel may be 18 years old, but it has not been maintained to a 5-star standard. We encountered a broken toilet, a faulty pool, mould around the shower, sink, and windows, and poor lighting.
7. Overhyped Restaurant & Poor Food Quality
We were pressured on arrival to book dinner as we were told tables were limited. In reality, the restaurant was only 20% full. The food was poor, and both of us experienced mild stomach pain. The prawns were not cleaned properly and tasted as if they were not fresh. We stopped eating at the hotel after the second night.
8. Riverside “Adults-Only” Pool Not Enforced
The adults-only policy was ignored. Families with children were allowed to fill the pool, with kids jumping in and causing noise. Sunbeds were extremely limited; we waited 30–60 minutes daily to find a place to sit.
9. Concerns Raised but Poorly Handled by Management
We raised all issues on Day 1 with the butlers and the Hotel Manager, Widiana. His response was dismissive, saying he had “forwarded the concerns to the relevant departments.” No corrective action was taken during our entire stay. The toilet remained broken, the pool continued losing water, and the “adults-only” pool remained full of unsupervised children every day.
This was our honeymoon, and we expected a 5-star luxury experience. Instead, we received sub-standard service, poor maintenance, misleading advertising, and unresolved issues throughout our stay. Sadly, I cannot recommend this hotel and would strongly advise future guests to reconsider or carefully manage expectations before booking.
