We travelled to Bali and stayed at the Blue Karma resort in Nov. Wow, what a gem of a place. Peaceful, but not dead, Close to everything, but not noisy or busy. We stayed in a 1 bedroom villa with private pool and were more than happy with it. The shuttle to Seminyak beach was a really nice addition (used it most evenings to go for sundowners)
One suggestion and this is by no means a negative. The showers are less than perfect. The shower is in the bath and is a bit low (hand held) - just be careful getting in as it is quite slippery!! Apart from that, staff, service, etc was exceptional. Will and have recommended to anyone.

With great staff and a fantastic pool and secluded rooms, Blue Karma is more a small collection of private villas than a hotel. This means no matter how many people may be staying there, it never feels crowded and you can relax equally as comfortably in your room or by the pool.

Blue Karma's location is in a side alley just off a main road. You are sufficiently away from the hustle and bustle not to hear constant horns, but close enough to the hustle and bustle to find what you want and not confuse taxi drivers.

I will say, however, that the Hotel's location is a little 'no man's land'. To get to the heart of either Legian, Kuta or Seminyak (where the bigger shops and restaurants are), you're forced to get a taxi. The reception will call a metered taxi for you when you need one, but the traffic means you might feel like you're spending half your holiday in the back seat of a car.

This is not to say the location is bad. You could comfortably stay within walking distance of the hotel and have a fantastic holiday. The hotel also offers a 'concierge' service, where they will collect whatever you need from nearby shops (groceries etc) for you. I enjoy wandering around on my holidays, so I never took advantage of this, but you could definitely get away with not setting foot outside the perfectly manicured lawns of the place.

The staff at Blue Karma are amazing. EVERYONE was very polite and attentive, not just the receptionists and the waiters/waitresses, also the porters, gardeners and cleaners. The staff spoke perfect English and were very hard working, with a smile never leaving their face.

We had the pleasure of staying in two different rooms. The first room was smaller than the second, but was still big enough to be comfortable. Unfortunately, a blocked drainage pipe meant this room flooded during heavy rain during our second day. Within seconds of calling reception, we had a small army of staff in our room with towels and brooms, moving our things to safety and drying everything. Within an 10 minutes, everything was back to normal, but the staff insisted we change rooms. Our next room was clearly an upgrade, with more space, bigger bed and an outdoor room. It was amazing.

The hotel has a 'refined primitiveness' style. You could spend an entire day admiring the wood carvings that adorn everything (door handles, tables, swimming pool) and still find new interesting things to look at the day after.

The first room we stayed in had an indoor bathroom, but the second one was outdoor. The outdoor bathroom shared the balcony with the toilet and a sun bed. Although the room serves three purposes, modesty means you can only really use it for one purpose at a time (unless you enjoy reading a book in a group, with someone on the toilet). I personally enjoyed the openness of the outdoor bathroom, but having to coordinate toilet visits around my girlfriend's reading grew awkward.

I like to eat around on holidays, so I only had one meal at the hotel's restaurant. It was delicious.

We stayed in a one bedroom suite and the room is spacious with a really comfortable bed. These are things that I take for granted in Bali. The only thing that I did not like was the toiletries provided but that is just personal preferences there.

It was the service and the little touches that make this hotel an excellent stay for us. The management is really thoughtful for the guests.

On the little touches, towels and free coconut drinks provided during check-in is refreshing. Add on the fresh fruits platter in the room all nicely peeled awaiting our consumption was very welcoming. The free hour massage just whisk us straight into holiday mood. The masseur in the hotel spa is very good much better than the one I had in Spa Bali.

In additional, the hotel provides free afternoon tea from 3.30pm to 5.00pm. Nice touch for those lazying by the pool. It is what a holiday should feels like. I guess most guests have private pool hence the main pool though not big is rarely crowded. I think the pool is not chlorinated which I like too. They also have a nightly turned down service which really helped getting the irritating mosquitoes out. I will choose Blue Karma again in a heartbeat.

My friend and I spent one week at Blue Karma, and loved every minute. The staff were excellent, and the rooms were clean and beautifully appointed. We were met at the airport, and transferred in comfort to the hotel. When we arrived, we were presented with a voucher for a one hour massage, which we both used the next day and loved. We had booked a double room, which was great, but when we switched on the shower that night, we discovered there was no hot water. We called the reception, and they sent somebody out immediately to investigate. They decided that they could not fix it that night, so whisked us straight off to a pool villa where we spent the entire trip at no extra charge. They could not have been more helpful - carrying our clothes and belongings, and hanging everything up for us in the new room. We loved the breakfasts, and found there was something to suit all tastes from traditional bacon and eggs, to continental croissants etc. The location is excellent - tucked away down a small street, but still in the heart of Seminyak. The central pool is beautiful and very pretty at night. We didn't use it however, as we had the luxury of our own pool! Thank you Blue Karma for a very memorable time - we will definitely be back.