My name is Thibault Masson – Thank you for taking the time to visit the website of Bulung Daya, my private beach retreat in Bali.
Do you sometimes dream of leaving it all behind and of starting anew? How about creating a new life far away?
I had the exact same dream, not at first with Bali, Indonesia in mind, but with St. Barths, French West Indies. Life works in mysterious ways. I now find myself splitting my time between St. Barths and Bali, places that are almost on the opposite side of the world one from the other.
Happy by the pool at Bulung Daya
When I am not in one of my homes, I rent them to people like you, as I love hosting guests. A nice house should never be empty. To accommodate my nomadic life, I had to create a made-to-measure job for me: I am now a full-time villa rental specialist focusing on my two home markets.
Understated luxury for your enjoyment and mine
I like understated luxury, beautiful things that have value in the eyes of the connoisseur. I want the same for you. In Bulung Daya, you will benefit from the care of a local team that I have selected. I have handpicked or designed most of the furniture. However, the decoration remains subtle and not too personalized, so that the villa is all about being a great holiday home that you can make yours.
You will see that this beautiful place is very conductive to being creative, coming up with new ideas, as well as spending quality time with friends and family. I work from my houses, so you can use my own computer and strong wi-fi connection to put your inspiration to good use.
A 15-year experience of sharing my own holiday homes with guests
Since 1995, I have had a holiday home in Saint Barthelemy, a.k.a. St. Barths, in the French West Indies. To afford my Villa Domingue, it soon became clear that I had to open it to guests. This is how I got started with my side business as a villa rental owner, more than 15 years ago. As I was leading a busy professional life in Paris, it was great to enjoy this beautiful house with friends and family, 2 or 3 times a year.
Then came Bali. In 2011, a friend of mine built a beautiful private resort, called Villa Ketapang, in west Bali. Quite frankly, I was not especially attracted to Bali. Maybe you are like me. I very much disliked Bali when I left the busy Denpasar airport, spending too much time in traffic jams in the Kuta area.
However, near my friend’s villa, the empty black sand beach was just like a mirror where the clouds were playing. Wow! I fell in love with the area. I came back one more time to Bali and discovered a beautiful spot, over there in west Bali, between Tanah Lot and Balian beach. This is where I started building Bulung Daya, a stunning villa, right above a secluded black sand beach. This project took 3 years to complete, as I wanted to design it as beautifully as possible.
Walking on the beach, with Bulung Daya in the background
A career in marketing that leads me to listen to guests and staff
As you are going to spend some of your hard-earned money on a holiday home rental to enjoy some relaxing time, you want to be able to trust the information that you are getting. So you are maybe going to google the name of the villa, the name of the area or even my own name. I understand that you need to reduce any kind of risks when it comes to planning a trip in a foreign country. So, here’s the skinny on me:
- I was born and raised in France. I started my career in the internet industry in 1999. I was first a sales engineer at a software company and then the head of marketing at online travel agency Ebookers France (an Orbitz company). In 2007, I launched my company Fashion Fox, publishing online fashion magazines.
- In 2013, I sold these magazines and left Paris to leave in St. Barths. There, I launched 2 online travel blogs: SaintBarth.com about St. Barths and RealBali.com about Bali.
- My career in marketing has taught me that it is key to listen to customers and staff in order to improve my offer. Similarly, I try to apply this to my holiday homes, in order to anticipate the wants and needs of my guests as best as possible.
- House guests from Australia, France, Singapore, America or China have at the same time similar and different needs. I can understand and appreciate this, as I have lived in several places such as France, the U.S.A. (2 years in Chicago for an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg business school), Japan (an eye-opening 3-month internship in Osaka), the Caribbean (holiday home there since 1995) and now Indonesia (about 3 months a year). So, my staff and I try to accommodate your preferences as best as possible.
If you want to know more about me, feel free to visit my business blog where I write about luxury villa rentals:ThibaultMasson.com.
Walking along the infinity pool
RealBali.com, my personal travel tips for discerning travelers to Bali
Beyond offering 2 nice villas in Bali, Villa Adagian in Umalas and Bulung Daya on the western coast, what else could I do to improve the experience of guests like you?
I looked at why visitors were coming to Bali. Sometimes, people dream of Bali but are not necessarily informed with what to do in Bali. There are also a few things that you may want to avoid on this big island. So, I decided to help Bali visitors by sharing my personal experiences in Bali, on a site called RealBali.com.
The idea is for instance to provide less-travelled itineraries to visitors who want to explore the island or to share with readers the address of a good supplier of Balinese ceramics for those who want to bring home quality items. This blog allows me to connect better with Bali visitors who want a great Bali experience, as I can talk with them on the blog and on places like Facebook and Twitter.
I hope that sharing my story has helped you understand my love for Bulung Daya and my pleasure to welcome guests in this stunning Bali holiday home.
Do you have a question about the villa ? Contact me here.
