Arriving from a different area of Bali, first impressions looked promising, villas on a beachfront area in a less busy area of the North, known as Pemuteran. Arrival and reception were OK but nowhere near as good as the other places we'd been to (more of that in different ratings).
First impression of the room was pretty good, large enough, big bathroom, outside washing areas (as in most we stayed at), etc., etc. Our arrival coincided with lunch so we went and had something to eat at the seafront bar, food was tasty, we found, but the service and surroundings a bit indifferent.
We had booked an "Ocean View" villa (that means to us you can actually see the ocean) but it only existed in the minds of those in international hotel management who have the ability to see through vegetation...It has to be said that we could occasionally see flecks of ocean through the greenery of the rather splendidly laid-out gardens. Location-wise, absolutely no problem, but everything else....
On our return from lunch, we started unpacking, and wanted to connect to the internet. So far, all hotels we stayed at (3) had provided FREE wifi, but here they wanted 5€ per hour for internet connection. I was particularly unhappy about that (no hotel I stay at will ever get more than a 2-rating if they charge for internet access) and went to speak to the hotel reception about this, explaining that I was not happy about their charges and that we might not spend a lot of money in the hotel if we had to go and find free internet access elsewhere.
Apparently, it is managerial policy to charge for internet access (despite it being free everywhere else), regardless of the fact that one complains about it, and that our stay coincided with their low season, when one could expect a little extra effort to please.
On return to our bedroom, we realised exactly what kind of place we had ended up in: on first impression everything looks ok, but then it started: first towel picked up had a huge make-up stain on it, half of the curtain in the bathroom (set of 2) was missing, making it impossible to hide from anyone using the path next to the huge window. The leftover curtain was terribly stained, the shower area, toilet area, outside shower all looked dirty, even if it was difficult to tell owing to the usage of dark granite tiles, both the outside shower and bathroom wash basin were blocked, the bath was unusable because someone had planted it full of greenery (some sort of attempt to save water), the "muslin" around the bed was black rather than white, the cushion in the bay window was badly stained, the curtains in the bay were not suitable for purpose, letting in light at 0600 in the morning, parts of the bathroom wardrobes were locked, supposedly because they contained stuff belonging to the owners of the villa (a British couple), we found two huge cockroaches (probably errant ones, as doors and stuff didn't exactly close well), the staff were disinterested at best (in comparison with others), it all looked tired and in dire need of updating (toilet area had broken seat and cigarette stains on the paint, there was no toilet paper holder and we ran out of paper within hours on the first day). The beach was extremely dirty with rubbish, this got blamed on rain storms in Java, etc. Staff at breakfast seemed surprised that we wanted breakfast, in comparison with other places we got the fresh fruit, fruit juice, coffee/tea (like everywhere) then 2 slices of brown, soggy toast with a bit of jam, not the FULL choice of breakfasts we got everywhere else, oh no. Incidentally, toast is served upright, not flat on a plate, but I am preaching to the converted...
But hey, what about the title bit? Well, during our first day, we went and inspected the open kitchen which is located centrally to two villas. On first inspection it had a lot to offer, including a fridge (dodgy as it served as a sort of honesty minibar but was freely accesible to anyone in the compound), cooking, cooled and hot water from a water cooler (Why??, if there is also a(n empty) minibar in the room, waste of power), but more frighteningly, the drawers contained nothing but a ripped up plastic bag (I knew immediately what had caused it) and huge amounts of rat droppings in most of the drawers. Completely and utterly UN-acceptable. How can this be? When I read some of the other ratings, did it just happen to us? Don't think so, it was obvious that the rat poo had been there for a while without having been touched. Are we more demanding than other people? You get rat ---- in your kitchen?? Whattt.
Anyway, we wasted no time in going to the reception with a letter summing up most of the issues outlined above (found in just two days). We are not the kind of power trippers that say nothing on departure then slate anywhere when we get home (Powertrip Advisor), no, we took our concerns to reception. Letter was gracefully accepted with a promise to offer it to the Manager. We spent another day and a half waiting for any managerial reply/visit, but none was forthcoming. According to the ----, the manager spends most his days walking through the compound meeting up with most guests. On this occasion s/he was probably too busy dealing with other stuff. During our holiday of 3 weeks, we averaged a spend of 300-500 euros in every hotel (5) we stayed at. This one got 20€ (for the lunch on the first day). We spent our money in other places that seemed interested, such as Badini's across the road (free internet access), and had a most amazing experience at Santhi Sari, 10ks down the road (dinner only on this occasion even if they showed us round some amazing rooms, probably top dollar, but so much more worth it and a definite if we ever go back to the area). And there is a supermarket to the right as you leave where you can buy stuff and put it in your (empty) minibar in your room, without fear of being charged for what others nick.
Frankly, the place is getting a one for effort, if I could give zero, I would. Location beautiful, gardens really well tended. That is it. Filthy, rats, disinterested staff (in comparison with other places), beach filthy, staff just sit there when they could pick up rubbish, all down to very very poor management. Just don't go there. Awful and disgusting overall. We booked through a travel company who has just started up offering trips to Bali. Our recommendations will waste no time in winging their way there.
That is one of the final things; we felt that, because ours was a travel co. booking, we were treated like second class citizens. That is just a jolly poor show and not worthy of an international hotel. They do not warrant ANY standard at all.

Had a great opportunity to stay at a friend's Amertha villa over a two week period. First up I'd say it is an ideal place to go with a small group of friends. If it was just the two of us in this big villa it would have been a bit on the dull side. But as there were 6 of us it was perfect.

There is plenty of space at Amertha compared to villas I've stayed at in Seminyak. The gardens feel generously arranged with plenty of space between each villa. Also at this time of year there is almost no one visiting so we nearly had the entire place to ourselves. The restaurant is well located on the beach, but the kitchen needs encouragement to serve Indonesian food in a more authentic Indo, and less western style. If you prefer your food more interesting ask the staff to make you some sambal when you order. Of course you can cook for yourself and you have options to buy fresh seafood at the fishing village which is a couple of hundred metres to the right of Amertha along the beach (a kilo of squid for 40000rp makes for a great evening meal for 6), and there are fruit and veg options along the road (the market in Goris which is 15 mins ride to the west in the red bimo (5000rp) is great for cheap and fresh produce).

If you would like to stay here I recommend also trying some of the foot options on the road in front of the villas - including one that has a Bakso cart (nights only) and your noodle and pork ball dish is served for a very reasonable 5000rp.

Rooms were clean, and kept clean by staff each morning, as were gardens and pool.

Just spent 2 nights in Amertha villa 3. We had the whole villa to ourselves. The rooms were very dirty, just walking around the rooms dirtied our feet and made it completely black. It was only after we complaint that the cleaners came to mop the floor. Shouldn't this be done before the guest arrive? This is just basic cleaniness man. The cleaners also showed us some attitude after we asked them to mop the floor, not what I was expecting for a reasonably simple task. The curtains itself were also dusty and when I pulled it, it seemed as if it was not washed for ages. A rat was also spotted running along the top beam of one of the rooms, very disturbing.

Overall, a disappointing stay with Amertha Bali villa.

My husband and I stayed at Amertha during our honeymoon in September. It's taken me this long to write as I am only now making an album of our pictures -- and I was reminded by how absolutely beautiful this quiet little resort on the coast was! We were welcomed late at night and brought to our large, comfortable and peaceful villa, which was clean, bright, nicely furnished and close to the beach. We awoke to find our own private pool right outside. Overall I found Amertha to be well-maintained, peaceful and drop-dead gorgeous. The food, while simple, was very good. I highly recommend going to Pemuretan and staying here -- it's such a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of Ubud!