Back for a moment? Anja and Wil? It's like this: Anja produces jewelry in Bali, that's how her love for the island began. In addition, she ran her own interior design stores "Nio lifestyle" (she was a Pols Potten point, among other things) and translated her impeccable taste into the profession of interior consultancy. Wil has a background in fashion consultancy and worked for 35 years at the Willem de Kooning Academy as head of fashion and interior. Well. There you go. Taste, taste, taste. The two bought most of the furnishings for their homes in the Netherlands on Bali, which resulted in the idea to furnish a house on the island themselves. They went looking but found no existing house, but a piece of land. And so it became a new-build villa, built and furnished entirely according to their own ideas (the furnishing was mainly done by Anja, the paintings on the walls are by Wil). The end result is Villa Nio. All products in Villa Nio are either designed and produced by Anja and Wil themselves on Bali, or were purchased on Bali. The best part of the story: everything in Villa Nio is for sale! Alleluia. And yes, Wil and Anja are happy to help you with how to get things home.

Villa Nio has a huge lounge Slash living room Slash dining room and an open kitchen. There are 2 bedrooms with each room having its own bathroom, which makes the villa ideal for 4 (adult) persons. With 6 people you can also fit in well: the lounge area then becomes a sleeping place. The entire staff of the house (yes, the house does have a staff) comes from the small farming and fishing village where Villa Nio is located. In the neighborhood, the women cook in the small warungs (an Indonesian eatery) oh so delicious for less than a euro (no kidding). One of those women is Jana and Anja and Wil have managed to get Jana to cook the stars from the sky in the house on request. Just arrange it through Wayan. That also applies to the fresh coconuts from their own garden by the way! Ask for them at Wayan - divine. Every day, beautiful offerings are made at three places in the garden, at the two house temples and at the street temple by the cheerful and friendly staff and villagers.

Anyway, Villa Nio is one of those places where, if you're not careful, you won't be able to leave (i-de-al for anyone who has a novel in the pipeline, just saying). Too bad, because Wil and Anja's regular driver, Dandy Widiasa, will gladly help you around the island. Dandy speaks good English and has already made many trips and arranged tours (buying tickets, hotel reservations, transportation etc.). Of course it does cost a little extra (nickel-ear). The costs can be found on the website. Dandy also does the villa management, as mentioned. 10 points for Dandy. Twelve points for Villa Nio.

www.villanio.com