From the venerable heavy hitters to the quick-witted newcomers
Choosing the top Bali hotels is a difficult task with 4,300 alternatives to consider. The standard is set high: even the most basic Bali villas and bungalows provide picturesque vistas and creative designs made of bamboo and volcanic rock on an island endowed with picture-postcard settings at every corner. Many hiding places may be found in the woods around Ubud, in Uluwatu, and along the coast from Seminyak to Kuta. Yet, only a select few can stand out due to their exceptional locations, services, or facilities. We've tried, tested, and narrowed down the top Bali hotels to book right now, from the established heavyweights to the quick-witted newcomers.
Betaalbaar best-of-the-best vakantie op Bali 🌴
— DutchFlyGuys (@DutchFlyGuys) February 22, 2023
9 daagse vakantie €995 incl:
- Vlucht met Cathay Pacific (= erg goed) van Schiphol
- 20 kg ruimbagage
- 5 sterren hotel aan het strand in Sanur (score 8,2)
- Ontbijt inbegrepenhttps://t.co/4YGsNA68Zo pic.twitter.com/HpAYEnp6Y6
The Slow
Canggu
Everything of Canggu is condensed into this 12-room hideaway, creating an achingly cool concoction of art, music, and interior decor. The hotel, which was designed by fashion designer George Gorrow and his wife Cisco, combines brutalist concrete with tropical teak wood, mid-century contemporary furnishings, and a significant collection of works by Gorrow's creative colleagues. The restaurant below serves hearty meals with Balinese flavors and classics from across the world. The caramelized half chicken with Sichuan salt and fermented chili mayo is a must. There is a chic boutique with edgy T-shirts under Gorrow's Non-Type brand and a large selection of Cisco's exquisite porcelain and wooden tableware on the retail front.
Bulgari Resort Bali
Uluwatu
Bulgari Bali, perched on a cliff at the island of Bali's wild southern edge, is every bit as magnificent as you'd expect from a company famed for its diamonds and gold. The hotel's 59 villas, each with a plunge pool and grounds bursting with bougainvillea, artfully combine modern Italian architecture with Indonesian materials like mossy volcanic rock, Javanese mahogany, and colorful ikat weavings. Yet, that is not to mean the style is overtly luxurious. Cobblestoned walkways connect the villas to the restaurants, including chef Luca Fantin's excellent Italian Il Restaurant and the international all-day dining Sangkar, the spa, and an infinity pool surrounded by frangipanis. Moreover, there is a wedding chapel and a Bulgari store offering designer swimwear and silks. At sea level, the rocky beach is a nice place to relax for a while on the mattress-thick daybeds (accessed by a hair-raising steep Inclinator). There isn't much to see or do in the region outside the magnificent Uluwatu temple, which is a 20-minute drive away, but given how expensive the hotel is, you may as well make every minute count.
The Capella Ubud
Ubud
A visit to one of quirky hotel designer Bill Bensley's ventures is never a straightforward experience, as anybody familiar with his work will attest. But with Capella Ubud, a premium tented camp 20 minutes north of Ubud, he takes his kookiness up a level. Inspired by stories of European explorers exploring the Indonesian archipelago in the 1800s, he made a fun base camp on a sloped piece of jungle. It has 22 one-bedroom suites with large outdoor decks and private plunge pools, a reception desk, and a fitness center. All of the rooms have Bensley's signature clashing patterns, like ikat pillows, vintage trunks, and cowhide-covered sofas, as well as design quirks like peek-a-boo windows in the showers and brass monkeys on the roofs. Api Jiwa offers Indonesian cuisine with omakase-style meals, while Mads Lange serves hearty lobster wontons and crab tacos from breakfast till evening. When dusk falls, gather around the campfire for hot cocoa, marshmallows, and classic Indonesian films.
Betaalbaar best-of-the-best vakantie op Bali 🌴
— DutchFlyGuys (@DutchFlyGuys) February 17, 2023
9 daagse vakantie €1.038 incl:
- Vlucht met Cathay Pacific (= erg goed) van Schiphol
- 20 kg ruimbagage
- 5 sterren hotel aan het strand in Sanur (score 8,2)
- Ontbijt inbegrepenhttps://t.co/0Mwe2Tdgyb pic.twitter.com/BFIoXt5sYL
Amankila
Manggis
Even after more than three decades, entering the hilltop lobby of this Ed Tuttle-designed landmark on Bali's serene east coast still gives people chills. From here, you may see three travertine pools cascade like Balinese rice terraces towards the Lombok Strait's pounding surf below. Together with a tiny army of sarong employees offering satay skewers and passionfruit daiquiris to visitors relaxing at the poolside balés, there is a border of blushing bougainvillea and a backdrop of swaying palms. The villas are expansive pleasure palaces with arched entrances, flooring made of creamy terrazzo, vaulted alang-alang ceilings, and furnishings with mother-of-pearl-like coconut and seashell inlays. The villas are joined by a raised walkway that cuts through the rainforest. Even though it would be tempting to laze around all day in either of the two pools that three-tiered beauty or the palm-fringed one at the beach club below the sunrise breakfast in a secret hilltop balé and the morning cruise with snorkeling tour on the resort's private outrigger is well worth the 5 a.m. wake-up call.
The Hoshinoya Bali
Ubud
Do you recall "The Dress"? That black-and-blue or white-and-gold brain twister from 2015 that enraged the internet? The vibe is similar in Hoshinoya Bali. Some people would consider this hotel, which is located on each side of a subak irrigation canal east of Ubud, to be distinctly Balinese because of its whirling temple-like entryway and wood shingle roofs. Yet those who are familiar with Japanese architecture will notice distinctly Japanese elements like the floor-to-ceiling windows that are modeled like shoji screens and the futon-like beds in the two-story villas flanking the three pools that flow across the property like rivers. Similar to the décor, the food is a delectable fusion of Japanese and Balinese flavors. Tasting menus combine the best of both cuisines, and breakfasts include furoshiki-wrapped picnic baskets filled with expertly carved fruits, tiny Japanese bowls of gado gado, and coconut-flavored red bean porridge (all served in gazebos resembling birds' nests overlooking the valley). A variety of free activities, like matcha-whisking courses and batik-dying sessions, make staying within the resort's verdant surroundings just as worthwhile. A free shuttle to downtown Ubud makes exploring the region simple.
Nirjhara
Tabanan
Nirjhara feels like a secret refuge for the island's elite, nestled amongst the rice fields of Tabanan, a remote rural community on Bali's southwest coast. At the pool, which looks out over the hotel's tumbling waterfall, you'll find a stylish group of linen-clad ex-pats, off-duty models, and high-society Indonesians on weekend trips from Jakarta. They'll stop for yoga lessons in the all-bamboo riverfront shala in between poolside sessions, jump to the spa for flower baths or Ayurveda marma-point massages, or head outside on the free guided bike excursions to see the adjacent Tanah Lot temple. The accommodations at Nirjhara, which include straight lines, honey-hued woods, and Indonesian textiles, vary from villas with balconies over the river to private-pooled mansions with views of the verdant forest and several bedrooms. Choose the Canopy Suites if private pools are not a key priority; these stilted tree homes are encircled by a palm grove and provide amazing rooftop terraces with views of the rice fields. A short drive will take you to Canggu's lively pubs and eateries if Tabanan begins to seem a little too remote.
The Potato Head Suites
Seminyak
While a sustainable vacation in Bali would bring up ideas of bamboo ceilings and surrounds, forward-thinking hotelier Ronald Akili adopts a daringly different strategy at Potato Head Suites. This tropical contemporary boutique hotel is a part of Desa Potato Head, an eco-conscious creative hamlet in the center of flashy Seminyak, where sustainability is ingrained in its very Nature. It is evident everywhere: in the 1.8 million hand-pressed bricks used for the facade that was baked locally using only coconut shells, in the use of plant-based dyes in local textiles, and in the hotel's smart water and electricity system that allowed it to receive an UN-approved Climate Neutral certification. The rooms are decorated with mid-century contemporary furniture from Akili's collection and teak trimmings made by local artists. There are also wall-spanning cocktail stations where you can shake, muddle, and create your mojitos. You will get priority access to daybeds at the neighboring, hotly-anticipated Potato Head Beach Club, which is concealed behind a wall of reused window shutters. In addition, guests have access to the Desa's other amenities, which include a jamu bar, an eco-innovation lab, and a wellness center with ice baths, sound healing, and guided breathwork sessions that are somewhat New Age-inspired.
A Banyan Tree Escape: Buahan
Ubud
There are several glamping locations and rustic bamboo huts in Bali, but none will put you as close to the natural world as Banyan Tree's first Escape location. The hotel's 16 villas, which trundle down the forested Buahan Valley 30 minutes north of Ubud, resemble Balinese balé pavilions, complete with creaking floorboards and massive pillars made of salvaged ironwood. They have no barriers, just like the actual thing. Only a sheer curtain is present at night to keep mosquitoes out and let the sounds of the valley, such as a waterfall or a chorus of crickets, in. The balé's hand-hammered copper bathtubs are a great place to unwind after a day of foraging for local herbs and honey with head chef Eka Sunarya, a Buahan native. That doesn't mean you're roughing it, though; a clever air-conditioning system keeps the bed cool, each comes with a private plunge pool, and they all come with views of the valley.
Robert Rieger
Lost Lindenberg
Many of Bali's boutique hotels have developed a certain level of predictability over the past few years, with features like rattan lampshades, whirling infinity pools, and bamboo yoga shalas. This newcomer's razor-sharp desires none of that. When you arrive at the peaceful backwater of Pekutatan on Bali's west coast after passing through rice fields and nearly empty beaches, the last thing you anticipate is a Las Vegas-style wall yelling HOLIDAY QUICK in flashing neon. The Lindenberg, a tiny, Frankfurt-based hotel chain where visitors aren't simply guests but a "community" and hotels are referred to as communal living spaces, has opened its first foreign location with Lost Lindenberg.
The eight studio-style rooms are erected just high enough to see the Indian Ocean through the floor-to-ceiling windows that occupy many of their wall surfaces. They occupy the watchtowers in pairs. The bathrooms are essentially outside thanks to their louvered walls, which allow the sea breeze to enter while keeping the neighbors from peeking. On a single, extraordinarily long table, hummus lunch wraps and jackfruit baos are served for lunch as part of a communal, entirely vegan meal. See our whole Lost Lindenburgh review for more information.
Read more about Bali's prime travel season here.