Good to know.

Eleven canvas lodges in a garden behind Saga, our restaurant, on the north-east coast of Bali. There is a pool at the water's edge, a sundeck under thatch, and a fishing village called Tianyar around it. The lodges come in four kinds, from Bayu for two people to Arta, which sleeps four and has a sitting area of its own. It is smaller than a resort, on purpose. See the lodges

VELA Tianyar is in the village of Tianyar, in Karangasem on Bali's north-east coast, with Mount Agung behind it and the Bali Sea in front. It is a working fishing village rather than a resort strip: the jukungs go out most mornings and land on the pebble shore, and Saga buys what it needs from them. The airport is about three hours south, which is the reason this coast is as quiet as it is. See the location

That depends on what you came to Bali for, and we would rather be straight with you now than have you work it out on arrival. Guests who love it here want fewer things happening: the water, a slow morning, dinner at Saga most nights, and a day out when they feel like one. If you want beach clubs, shops and twenty restaurants within walking distance, the south of the island will serve you better, and we will say so. Somewhere in between? Message us and describe your trip, and we will tell you plainly whether this is the right stop on it.

Mostly it really is. There is no nightlife on this coast and almost no passing traffic. What you do hear is the sea, roosters in the village, and now and then a temple ceremony, which can start early and is part of sleeping next to a Balinese village instead of a resort strip. Quiet hours run from 22:00 to 07:00 across the property. The one thing to know before you book: canvas walls carry sound. If you sleep lightly, tell us, and we will have earplugs ready for you.

Yes, and most of our guests are couples. Each canvas lodge is private and has a terrace of its own, the pool and the sundeck face the water, and nothing here is formal. For an evening that is more than dinner, Saga can set one table for you, on the pool deck or at the water's edge, with a menu of its own. Tell us the occasion if there is one. See a private table

Yes, children of all ages. Arta is the family lodge, 55 m² with a king bed, two singles and a sitting area, so four people can be together without being on top of one another. Swimming in front of the property is safe unless we say otherwise on the day, and there is the pool. Be aware of what is not here: no kids' club, no play area, and nothing scheduled. A stay works best for families who are happy with a slow day, the water in the morning, the boats going out, the fire pit in the evening when conditions allow. Anything like a babysitter is a request to the concierge, not something we keep standing.

There is no minimum, and one night is welcome. Two or three is where most guests land. The drive up takes a good part of the first day, so a single night means arriving and leaving again, and the second day is usually the one people talk about afterwards. Divers often stay longer, with the wreck at Tulamben fifteen minutes up the coast.

Booking direct starts as a free enquiry, with no payment today, and you plan your stay personally with us, by WhatsApp or email. We reply the same day, whatever your time zone. Staying guests also have ten percent off at Saga, and your pick of early check-in or late check-out at no charge when we can, just ask. However you book, on departure day the facilities are yours until you leave.

Not in the way you might be picturing. VELA calls it a canvas lodge: a real bed, air conditioning, a private bathroom with hot water, electricity and Wi-Fi. The canvas is there for the morning light, and at night you hear the sea rather than see it. Pack as you would for any stay by the sea.

You hear more than you would through a brick wall, and we would rather tell you now than at check-in. Canvas carries sound: voices on a neighbouring terrace, someone walking past on the path, rain on the roof. In practice the place is quiet, with no traffic, no music and quiet hours from 22:00 to 07:00, so most nights the loudest thing is the sea. If you sleep lightly, say so when you book or when you arrive. We keep earplugs for exactly this, and we will do what we can with the lodges free that night.

A real bed, silent air conditioning with a fan if you prefer moving air, a private bathroom with a shower and hot water, Wi-Fi, electricity, and a terrace of your own with somewhere to sit. Filtered water is refilled daily and the minibar is refreshed daily. Beach and bath towels are waiting for you. A hairdryer, fresh linen and a lodge refresh are all on request, whenever you want them, which is how everything here works.

Yes to both, in every canvas lodge. The air conditioning is silent, and there are fans for anyone who would rather have moving air than cold air. The Wi-Fi is reliable and reaches every lodge. One honest note: this is a rural coast in the north of Bali, not a business hotel in Seminyak. If your trip depends on a flawless connection for calls or big uploads, tell us before you book and we will tell you straight what to expect, rather than let you find out on your first morning.

It is warm here, the way it is warm anywhere on the Bali coast. Every canvas lodge has silent air conditioning, and a fan if you prefer the breeze off the sea. The good hours outside are early and late: the pool and the shaded sundeck in the afternoon, your terrace or the fire pit once the light goes.

You are on a tropical coast, in a lodge with canvas walls and a garden around it, so yes, there are insects, mostly around dusk. The bathroom is inside the lodge, the canvas closes, and the air conditioning helps more than anything else. Pack the repellent you would use anywhere in Bali. If something is bothering you, tell the team that evening rather than lie there hoping: they would much rather hear it at nine than at checkout. For anything medical, including vaccinations and what to take with you, your own doctor or a travel clinic is the right place to ask, not us.

When you ask, which is a deliberate choice and not a saving. Tell the team when you would like your canvas lodge refreshed, the bins emptied, the towels changed or the bed straightened, and they will come then and not before. A full clean works the same way. If you would rather have it done daily at a set time, say so at check-in and we will put it in the book. We would rather be present enough to keep you comfortable and absent enough to leave the stay yours.

About three hours from Ngurah Rai (DPS), along the east and north coast. That drive is the price of a coast this empty, and it is the reason there is nobody on the shore when you get here. Most guests make it part of the trip: rice terraces, Mount Agung and the sea for most of the way, stopping where they like. Add a private transfer when you book and a named driver waits past arrivals, tracks your flight if it is late, and there is nothing to arrange when you land. See the route and transfer prices

Three ways. Add a private transfer when you book: an air-conditioned car with a driver, priced per car for up to four guests, tax and service included. Ask the concierge for a trusted driver who knows the road and can make a day of it, stopping for coffee, a waterfall or a viewpoint. Or drive yourself, the coast road is straightforward, and we send the exact pin before you arrive. See transfer prices

No. There is no Grab and no Gojek in this area, so the ride apps everyone uses in the south will not bring you a car, a scooter or a meal here. Getting about means your own vehicle, a taxi, or a scooter you have hired. The simple version: ask the concierge and we will arrange a private car with a driver, by the hour or by the day, at the prices on our transfer page. If you would rather be independent, hire a scooter through us and it is ready when you arrive. Either way, nothing about a day on the property needs a vehicle at all. See transfer prices

Yes. Add one when you book or ask once you are here. It is ready on arrival with two helmets and a short briefing, and it is charged per scooter per day. Fuel is not included. Cover for damage to the scooter can be added, and exactly what that does and does not cover is written on the option before you tick it, so you are not guessing. What we will not do is tell you whether your licence is valid for riding in Indonesia. That depends on the licence you hold and on your own insurer, so check with them before you leave home rather than take a hotel's word for it.

Not for the stay itself. Saga is on the property for breakfast, lunch and dinner, coffee runs all day, and the pool and the shore are a few steps from your canvas lodge. Nothing about a day here needs a vehicle. You do need transport to leave: there are no ride apps on this coast, so a day out means a scooter, your own car, or a driver through the concierge, by the hour or by the day. Guests who plan two or three days out usually take a driver for those days and spend the rest on foot.

From our gate, by car on the coast road: Tulamben and the USAT Liberty wreck about fifteen minutes, the bays around Amed about forty-five, Tirta Gangga about an hour, Mount Batur about an hour and a half, Lovina an hour and a half to two hours, Ubud about two hours, Canggu and Seminyak about two and a half, and the airport about three. The road is quiet, though a truck or a village ceremony can add a few minutes, and that is the honest version. See the distances

Yes. The same car and driver will take you to the airport or on to wherever you are going next, priced per car with tax and service included, and the destinations we drive regularly are listed with their prices so there is no haggling on the morning you leave. Tell us your flight time and we will work backwards from it. See transfer prices

No, and we will not dress that up. The canvas lodges sit in the garden behind Saga, so the sea view belongs to the restaurant, the pool and the garden, not to your lodge. What you get instead is the water about fifty to eighty metres away on foot, and the sound of it through the canvas all night. Guests who want the view with their coffee take a table at Saga, which looks straight out over the coast.

It is a pebble shore, and a working one: the fishing boats land here most mornings and Saga buys what it needs off them. It is about fifty to eighty metres from the lodges, and swimming in front of the property is safe unless we tell you otherwise that day. It is not the soft white sand of the south, so if what you want is to lie down by the water and walk straight in, the pool sits at the water's edge with the sundeck beside it, loungers under thatch. Water shoes are worth packing if pebbles are not for you.

Yes, swimming in front of the property is safe. The sea is still the sea, so conditions change, and if a day is not one for swimming we will say so. Ask at Saga or at reception if you are unsure, and on a rough day the pool is right there.

There is a pool where the deck stops and the sea starts, with a sundeck of loungers under thatch beside it, and Saga, our restaurant and coffee bar, open through the day. That is the whole of it: eleven canvas lodges, a kitchen, a pool and the shore. There is no spa building, no gym and no kids' club, because eleven lodges cannot carry them honestly. A massage with a local therapist can be requested through the concierge, and anything off the property, a boat, a waterfall, a driver, is arranged the same way. Ask the concierge

Tulamben and the USAT Liberty wreck are about fifteen minutes up the coast and the bays around Amed about forty-five, which is why a good share of our guests are divers. We do not run a dive centre ourselves, so tell the concierge what you want to dive and we will put you with an operator we work with. For your kit: there is no separate dive rinse station here. You rinse at the showers by the pool, so have a word with one of the team when you come in and they will sort it out with you. Diving before six? Ask Saga for a breakfast box.

Yes, with a local fisherman, in his own boat. Catch & Cook leaves at 06:00 and takes two to three hours: you fish, and what you catch goes to Saga and comes back as your dinner. A fruit breakfast box and drinking water are aboard. If you would rather not fish, the same boat goes out at 06:00 for sunrise or 17:30 for sunset, two hours on the water. A boat seats four and the price covers two, with a surcharge for a third and a fourth. The sea decides the day: if a trip cannot go out, nothing is booked in its place in advance, so ask us that morning and we will help you find something else worth doing. See the boat trips

Days out from here: the waterfalls inland, half a day with lunch in a village; the salt beds along the coast, where salt is still made by hand; and the savanna five minutes up the road, grassland running down to the sea, best as the light softens. Further out there are Tirta Gangga, Mount Agung and Mount Batur. On the property, the day is the pool, the shore, the coffee bar, and when conditions allow, the fire pit in the evening. Nothing is scheduled, and nobody will knock on your door with a programme. See the experiences

Breakfast is not included in the lodge rate. Breakfast at Saga is available as an add-on (IDR 150.000 per person), served daily from 07:30 to 10:30, an unhurried start to the day, looking out over the coast. Add it when you book, or decide on arrival. If you want it in your lodge instead, ask the concierge, and if you are leaving before the kitchen opens, for a dive or a boat, ask Saga for a breakfast box.

Saga, on the property, is where most meals happen: breakfast 07:30 to 10:30, the kitchen 12:00 to 21:00, coffee all day. Staying guests have ten percent off, all day. Here is the honest part: Tianyar is a fishing village and not a restaurant strip, so there is no row of places to choose between within walking distance, and there is no food delivery on this coast. What there is instead is a kitchen that cooks what the boats brought in that morning, and a drive of fifteen to forty-five minutes towards Tulamben or Amed if you want a night out, with a driver through the concierge. See the menu

Tell us what you need when you book, or at the latest when you arrive, and the kitchen prepares ahead instead of improvising at eight in the evening. There are vegetarian dishes on the menu as it stands, gado gado, a green tempeh bowl, tempeh rendang and grilled cauliflower among them. If you eat vegan or have an allergy, put it in writing in your booking message, and say how serious it is, so it sits in the kitchen's notes and not in one person's memory. See the menu

Yes. Saga is open to anyone on this coast, staying or not: breakfast 07:30 to 10:30, the kitchen 12:00 to 21:00, coffee all day. Walk in when there is space, or reserve a table on WhatsApp for dinner and we will keep one for you. The canvas lodges and the garden behind the restaurant stay with the staying guests, so the place keeps its quiet. See Saga

Breakfast 07:30 to 10:30, the kitchen 12:00 to 21:00, coffee all day. Menu prices are in IDR and quoted before tax and service, so ten percent service charge and ten percent government tax go on the bill. The service charge is standard across Indonesian hospitality and is shared among the team looking after you, so a tip on top is welcome and never expected. Your lodge rate works the other way around: that is quoted with the ten percent tax already in it. Arriving after the kitchen has closed? Send us your arrival time in advance and we will tell you what is possible that evening.

Sending a request costs nothing and commits you to nothing: no card, no charge, no booking yet. A person reads it and replies with availability and the exact price, and your dates are held from that reply. A thirty percent deposit then confirms it, and the balance is payable before arrival or at check-in. Rates are quoted in IDR and include ten percent tax. We reply the same day, whatever your time zone.

You can cancel free of charge up to your season's window before arrival: 3 days in low season, 7 in mid, 14 in high and 30 in peak. Inside that window the thirty percent deposit is not refunded, a no-show is charged in full, and leaving early is not refunded. Deadlines follow our local time, WITA. We still look at genuine circumstances one at a time, so talk to us rather than assume. And if we ever cannot host dates you have paid for, you are refunded in full within seven days. See the seasons and the dates

Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 11:00. Early bags are always welcome. On the day you leave, the pool, the sundeck and Saga stay yours until you actually go, so a late flight does not mean sitting in a car park for six hours, and your luggage stays with us in the meantime. Want an early check-in or a late check-out? Ask, and we will tell you what the day allows rather than promise it in advance.

No. One night is welcome. Most guests find two or more lets the pace of the place settle in, which is worth knowing after a three-hour drive.

No. The rate is for the canvas lodge and not per person, so one guest pays what two would. There is no single supplement either, so nothing is added for travelling alone. Everything that comes with the lodge, the water, the minibar, the towels, the terrace, comes with it either way, and the ten percent off at Saga applies the same.

Yes. Several canvas lodges go into one booking in the flow, for one stay. There are eleven altogether, so a larger group can take a good part of the property, and taking all of it is possible too. For a group, a retreat or a celebration, message us with the dates and the numbers and we will work it out with you, rather than send you a package you never asked for. Message us

Quiet hours are 22:00 to 07:00, so the coast stays at night what you came for. We are non-smoking indoors. Housekeeping comes when you ask, not before. And the canvas lodges and the garden behind Saga belong to the staying guests, even though the restaurant is open to everyone, so the place keeps its quiet.

Infants are up to two, children are three to twelve, and from thirteen a guest counts as an adult in the booking. There is one cot on the property, subject to availability. With one cot and eleven lodges we cannot promise it will be free on your dates, so if you need one for certain, bring a travel cot. Arta is the family lodge, with a king bed and two singles.