When we decided to get married in bali we searched online for weeks at the different options available in the seminyak area. So many beautiful places to choose from but we decided on serene villas in the end and made the booking for approximately 27 people in the hibiscus villa. The decision to marry my husband was a good one. The decision to get married here was not. i made the original booking in february but did not make contact again until a few months later as our wedding was to be casual and i am not one to get in a tizzy about small details. It was now that i should have heard the warning bells. There was no documentation regarding our wedding so i was asked again how many guests and when. I was then told that the maximum was 20 pax and they would have to review my booking. Great, the invites had already gone out. I then received an email stating that after "lengthy discussion" with the owners they would like to upgrade us to Villa Cendana as they believed "better for party". I went on the net, looked ok, so stupidly believed that maybe it would be better so i accepted. Villa Cendana is run down and tired and in need of a makeover.I realised my dreams of an open plan living space and lawn for our 15 month old daughter to play on were not going to become a reality as soon as i walked through the door. We arrived at midnight, and while i sat there as they set the cot up (they missed that on the email too) i burst into tears. The downstairs living area is so small, and with the couch and dining table, there is absolutely no room to move at all. The bedrooms were dark and dingy and no beds had mosquito nets, hence we woke every morning covered in bites. The villa is open from the back so you are not able to stop them coming in. Our daughter slept upstairs in the office as that is the only room on the top level with airconditioning. It was actually locked when we arrived and had to ask for it to be opened. There was another room upstairs that was locked also. Quite a weird feeling knowing your villa is used as a storeroom (or that's the feeling we got). The bedroom up there only has a fan and was way too hot for us to sleep in so it was quite unnerving knowing she was up there and the access was a staircase on the outside of the villa. The backyard is 90% pool. Quite ridiculous really as besides the wedding day there was only the 3 of us and the size of this villa is definately for a family of 5 or more.The next day I spoke to the manager and he admitted that the owner had wanted us moved away from the other villas so as not to be a disturbance. So there we were, pushed down the end of the complex with the longest drive way I have ever seen and knowing we had been duped. 22 adults and 5 children under 9 is hardly a riot. We are very understanding people and had already agreed to a time restriction with the hired stereo and would have been happy with an earlier finish and perhaps gone out somewhere else. The wedding day.....there is so much sadness and anger when i think back. Yes, we had a wonderful day but that is thanks to our friends and family who could have a good time anywhere. Several things that were included in the wedding package were not available to us based on the lack of room in the garden thanks to the olympic sized pool. No room for the traditional flower girls, no flower shower, and a wedding gift? Perhaps it's in the mail...What makes me the most sad is that we were unable to have our first dance as there was simply no where to have it. I also hired traditional balinese musicians but they were pretty much hidden behind bushes and no one could see them anyway. My husband and I are not wealthy people and we had saved long and hard for this wedding/honeymoon only for it to be the worst holiday we have ever had. We never relaxed as we were constantly having to entertain our little girl as there was no where for her to go besides fall in the pool. Yes, they had a pool fence up when we got there but there were so many gaps in it we said just to take it down. It would never have stopped her getting in. I ended up arriving back home with the worst flu I have ever had as i was so run down. At first I thought it was probably a tropical disease thanks to all the mosquito bites.
On a positive note, the staff at serene villas were amazing especially our butler.
I wrote to them after arriving home nicely expressing my thoughts and i received "thankyou for your comments and have a nice christmas". They had our money so now we should just go away. So thankyou Serene Villas for really not caring about what was our special day. If this happens to anyone else wanting to book a wedding I hope you are upfront with them so they have the option to book elsewhere. I know we would have.