How Adrian Campbell's Bali villas started
The villas grew out of Campbell's first business on the island. That was Troppo Zone Puri Rama Resort, the Kuta hotel he bought in 2011, where he learned Indonesian and how to do business in Indonesia.
When he sold the resort in 2014, he kept a foothold in Bali through a new venture: holiday villas he would own and manage himself.
Bali was not new to him even then. He had loved it since childhood holidays with his family, and it is where his working life in Indonesia began. His full profile covers that early period.
Where villas fit in Bali's tourism
Australia is one of Bali's largest sources of foreign visitors, helped by direct flights from most Australian capital cities.
Private villas, often with their own pool, are a popular choice for families and groups of friends who want more space and privacy than a hotel room gives. They range from compact one-bedroom places to large houses that sleep a dozen people.
Many are built around a central pool and garden, with open-sided living areas and shaded terraces that suit the heat. That style is part of what guests come for, and it also shapes the upkeep each villa needs.
How the Bali villas are let
The villas are rented to holidaymakers through Airbnb and other booking platforms.
The platforms handle the listing, the payment and the guest reviews. Everything physical stays with the owner and the local team: cleaning, laundry, pool care, gardens, check-in and repairs.
Reviews carry real weight in this model, because platforms use them when deciding which listings to show first. Consistent housekeeping and quick replies to guests are what keep them strong.
What running a holiday rental in Bali involves
Climate. Bali is tropical, with a wet season roughly from November to March and a drier season from April to October. Heat, humidity and heavy rain are hard on pools, timber, paint and air conditioners, so maintenance never really stops.
Seasons. Demand follows the calendar. The island gets busy in July and August and over Christmas and New Year, and Australian school holidays bring their own peaks.
Ceremonies. Bali's Hindu calendar shapes operations too. On Nyepi, the Day of Silence, guests are asked to stay inside their accommodation for 24 hours, lights are kept low and the airport closes. Villa teams brief guests well before the day.
Licensing. Holiday rentals in Indonesia need the right business licences and tax registrations. Anyone planning to run villas there should take local legal advice before starting.
One local team since 2014
One local team has looked after Campbell's villas from the beginning. Staff turnover in hospitality is usually high, so that kind of continuity is unusual.
Long-serving staff know each property in detail, need less supervision and can deal with problems before guests notice them. It echoes his time in Kuta, where some staff from his years at Troppo Zone still work today.
Keeping the Bali villas running through COVID
International tourism to Bali stopped almost overnight in 2020, when Indonesia closed its borders to foreign visitors. Arrivals did not properly recover until quarantine-free entry returned in 2022.
Campbell's villas kept trading through that period, with the same team in place. He writes about those years in keeping Bali villas running through COVID.
How the villas connect to his later companies
The villas sit at the start of a thread that runs through much of his later work.
In 2017 he became Managing Director of Australasia Marketing, which works on development projects and short-stay rentals across Southeast Asia.
In 2021 he founded Kinnara, a property marketplace whose buyers of Indonesian property are mostly Australian.
On Lombok, Saraya Beach Resort & Residences is planned as 154 villas let through a single hotel rental pool, the same business of short-stay holiday rentals on a much larger scale.
Owning a Bali villa as a foreigner
Foreigners cannot hold freehold land, known as Hak Milik, in Indonesia. The usual routes are a long leasehold, a right of use known as Hak Pakai, or an Indonesian company with foreign shareholders (a PT PMA), which can hold the building right called HGB.
The guide to how foreigners hold property in Indonesia explains each option. It is general information only, so take independent legal advice before buying.