By Jeff Hammond – Independent Contributor
I didn’t come to Bali to write about mosquito screens. But here I am, notebook in hand, standing inside a luxury villa in Uluwatu, watching two installers mount a nearly invisible mesh system across a set of sliding glass doors.
This story began a few weeks ago when a hotel manager I know confided in me about an incident at her resort: a guest had contracted dengue fever during their stay. “We sanitized, we sprayed, but the truth is — the mosquitoes always come back,” she told me. “What else can we do?”
It turns out, quite a bit.
The Dengue Dilemma
Bali is beautiful, but it’s also dengue-prone. In recent months, hospitals have reported a seasonal spike in cases. The Aedes aegypti mosquito — the tiny carrier of dengue — is most active during the day, often entering through open doors and windows, especially in breezy beachfront villas and open-plan resorts.
“Most guests want fresh air,” explained Dr. Anya Putri, a public health researcher based in Denpasar. “But that comes with risk if properties aren’t protected. Screens are one of the most effective, passive solutions we have.”
What Screens Can (and Can’t) Do
To be clear: screens don’t kill mosquitoes. But they do prevent them from getting in.
At a villa in Canggu, I spoke to Made, a property manager overseeing ten Airbnb rentals. “We used to rely on fogging and mosquito coils,” he said. “But those are short-term. Since we installed screens, we’ve had fewer complaints, no reports of bites indoors, and our cleaning costs are down because we don’t need to spray every week.”
Screens are simple — aluminum frames, fitted with fine mesh, sliding or retractable. The newer models don’t block views, don’t slam, and don’t feel like an afterthought. Some are even integrated directly into the glass sliding doors, with clean lines and a minimalist finish.
One Bali-based company I visited — Calibre, I believe — has been quietly pushing this idea forward. They manufacture everything locally, and their combo system caught my attention: a screen and sliding glass door built as a single, seamless unit. According to one of their staff, the system was developed because “nobody had created a proper solution for Bali’s climate and lifestyle yet.”
It wasn’t a sales pitch. Just quiet innovation.
What Hotels Can Do Now
I’ve spoken to GMs, villa owners, doctors, and even a few travelers. There’s a clear theme: prevention works. The challenge is getting hospitality stakeholders to take action before a case happens.
Dr. Anya put it plainly:
“If hotels across Bali installed quality screens on all bedrooms and main openings, we’d see a drop in day-bite exposure. That’s significant in a tourist economy.”
Beyond safety, there’s also a branding angle. Properties that visibly invest in guest well-being — especially through subtle, thoughtful upgrades like screens — stand out. In a post-pandemic world where health is luxury, that matters.
Final Thoughts
I came to write about design, not disease. But dengue is here, and it’s real. The good news is: solutions don’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, they’re as simple as a screen.
So, to every hotel manager reading this:
You can’t stop mosquitoes from existing.
But you can stop them from entering.
And in Bali, that might just be the most important upgrade you make this year.
— Jeff Hammond, July 2025