It quickly became clear that things are slightly different in Bali than in the Netherlands. “For example, you don’t buy the land, but lease it for 25 years,” says Veen. The typical I’m leaving moments, in which problems pile up, have not yet occurred. Veen: “We knew a Dutch contractor in Bali, who emigrated there. And we didn’t save on legal things, for example, but used a reputable law firm. get, now you sometimes think that that is still to come.”
And so a holiday villa is now being built in Canggu. “In what we think is the most beautiful street in Canggu, between the rice fields,” says Veen. He follows the construction from a distance. “As the walls are built and the building takes shape, it becomes more and more real. It’s something magical and hard to explain what it does to you.” The group hopes that the villa will be completed by the middle of next year and that they can open at the beginning of July. “But when we want to open is difficult to say. You never know how things are going in Indonesia, for example what the weather is doing.”
In any case, Veen can’t wait until he can test sleep in his villa. The villa will be named Khaleela, which means something like intimate friend. “It should be a place where people can relax.”
A resting place for travelers, but one that is almost inaccessible for the local population. “Our starting point is that we are guests on the island. We know that it is a luxury that we can build something there,” says Veen. As far as he is concerned, part of the profit is put into local projects. “We will also employ local people who, for example, maintain the swimming pool, do the garden and clean it. It’s not that we just want to cash in and then cam. We all have a bond with the island and giving something back to the island is part of the project.”