Bali’s Local Guesthouses Are Perfect For Tourists Seeking Homely Hospitality

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There are many different ways to connect to Bali meaningfully. Tourists can connect to the island’s culture by taking part in a water purification ceremony, hiking up the famous volcanoes, or trying local specialty foods.

One of the best ways to connect to Balinese culture is to stay at a locally owned and operated hotel, guesthouse, B&B, or villa.

Bali’s hospitality is known to be amongst the best in the world. Bali prides itself on the warm welcome it affords to its over 6 million international guests it receives every year.

While the big hotels and resorts offer guests an internationally respected five-star experience, for those seeking to connect to the ‘real’ Bali, staying at a locally owned or locally operated traditional guesthouse is the way to go. 

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Take Jawi House & Painter in Ubud, for example; the guest house could not be more ideally located if it tried.

This humble abode can only be found online on Google Maps and offers guests the opportunity to stay for just one or two nights or rent rooms on a monthly basis.

The rooms are spacious and light, with super comfy beds and fast, reliable WiFi to match. Considering its location in the heart of central Ubud, the guesthouse property is incredibly quiet day and night, and the family who run the place know how to care for their guests, who leave nothing but five-star reviews. 

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For a Ubud stay just outside the busy town center, be sure to check out Pekak Mangku Guest House in the local village of Penestanan Kaja.

This locally owned and operated hotel has just four rooms, complete with a large shared swimming pool that captures the best of the day’s sun. The room rate includes a simple Balinese breakfast, which is brought to your room every morning as standard!

The upstairs rooms have a generous balcony, and the lower floor rooms have a private terrace just steps from the garden and swimming pool.

Penestanan Kaja is a 20-minute walk from the center of Ubud and is the perfect place to stay if you want to experience both local life and tourist activities. 

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There are too many locally owned guesthouses along the Bali coast to count! Let alone write about it! Real gems can be found in East Bali, specifically in Amed, where tourism development has hit a steady plateau. 

Kelapa Cottage, meaning Coconut Cottage, is a firm favorite among culture-curious travelers. The guesthouse is surrounded by well-kept, traditional Balinese-style gardens, and the equally traditional Balinese hut-style building features classic elements of Balinese architecture while still being modern and bright.

This 3-star guesthouse is the perfect place to use as a base for exploring all that East Bali has to offer and is a real home away from home for those heading to Amed to complete their PADI diving course or free diving training. There is a restaurant on-site serving classic homemade Balinese dishes like nasi goreng and more. 

Once upon a time, long before the days of internet price comparison site and hotel booking search engines, it was entirely possible to head to Bali with absolutely no accommodation booked and to walk around emerging tourist destinations at the time, like Ubud and Seminyak, simply popping ones head around the door and asking if there was any room at the inn. 

Though this practice has become a traveler trait of years past, it’s still entirely possible and actually very good fun not to have anywhere booked on arrival at a new destination in Bali.

If there’s anything we know about this island, it is that there is always room for more and a warm welcome waiting for you.

In truth, many of Bali’s most beautiful, humble, and authentic guesthouses and homestays won’t be found on hotel booking sites or even be listed on Google Maps because many of these small, family-run businesses don’t have the resources to set up a website or digital presence.

They do offer a safe place to stay, heaps of local recommendations for hidden gems to visit, and a strong, sweet Balinese coffee; what more could we ask for?