Villa Toupai

An Oasis in Petit Anglet

I first knew Villa Toupai long before I ever slept there. Its owner, my friend Cédric, had already built a first villa in Bali when the success of that project encouraged him to attempt something considerably more ambitious. Toupai was the result: a house conceived not simply as another tropical rental property, but as a place where families and groups of friends could genuinely live together in comfort.

That distinction matters in Bali. Beautiful villas are not difficult to find online. Beautiful villas that remain beautiful once you begin looking at the details are considerably rarer. At Toupai, the proportions, materials, finishes and circulation reveal a level of attention that photographs alone do not quite explain. The villa was designed with Mauro Garavoglia, and it is worth adding the architect’s name here because the quality of the project deserves to be attributed properly. Nothing feels improvised or disguised by decoration. The house has been built with the standards one expects from good contemporary residential architecture, and that difference becomes more apparent the longer you stay.

The villa has four bedrooms, arranged in a way that makes it particularly well suited to families or groups travelling together. Upstairs, the master suite is joined by a twin room and another double bedroom. A fourth guest room sits on the ground floor, opening directly towards the main living area. The distribution works beautifully because everyone remains connected to the house without losing the possibility of privacy. A generous open-plan living space runs naturally towards the garden and swimming pool, while the kitchen is large enough to become part of the social life rather than disappearing behind the scenes.

Its location creates another interesting contradiction. Villa Toupai sits in Kerobokan Kelod, close to Batu Belig and within easy reach of Seminyak, restaurants, cafés and the increasingly dense life of this part of Bali. Yet once you enter the property, very little of that remains perceptible. The vegetation, architecture and scale of the house create a small private world, sufficiently central to make everyday life easy but insulated enough to feel like a retreat. This part of the neighbourhood is affectionately known to some of us as Petit Anglet, and Toupai suits the name rather perfectly.

I eventually had the opportunity to experience the house properly rather than simply admire it. I organised a birthday dinner there and stayed for several days, which revealed something photographs cannot really communicate: the villa absorbs life remarkably well. People move naturally between the kitchen, dining table, garden, pool and living room. The house is elegant enough to make an occasion feel special but relaxed enough that nobody behaves as though they have accidentally entered an interior-design showroom.

That balance is difficult to achieve. Too many luxury villas are impressive for the first twenty minutes and slightly exhausting by the third day. Toupai works the other way around. The longer I stayed, the more I appreciated details I had initially overlooked, and when the time finally came to leave, I discovered the only significant flaw in the project: I had become extremely reluctant to do so.

Perhaps that is the most useful test of a holiday house. You should want to explore Bali while staying there. Villa Toupai occasionally makes a convincing argument for cancelling the programme and staying home.

Address

 

Villa Toupai

Kerobokan Kelod
North Kuta
Badung, Bali 80361
Indonesia

Price

$$$$ · Luxury
Rates vary according to season, length of stay and booking conditions. For a family or group of friends, however, the relevant comparison is the cost of the villa as a whole rather than the price of individual hotel rooms.

Go for

The quiet northern location, the sea at your doorstep, proximity to the mangroves and a genuinely family-run experience.

Stay for

The open living spaces, large swimming pool, proper kitchen and the unusual pleasure of discovering a Bali villa whose quality becomes more convincing the longer you inhabit it.

Ideal for

Families, groups of friends, private dinners and longer stays where the house itself needs to become part of the holiday rather than simply somewhere to sleep.

Recommendation

Villa Toupai makes most sense when shared. Bring friends or family, organise a dinner, use the kitchen, spend an afternoon around the pool and allow the house to do what it was designed to do. For several people travelling together, I would choose one very good house like this over scattering everyone across separate hotel rooms.