9 Best Bali Hotels, From Private Island Hideaways to Tree Houses
With some 4,300 options to choose from, picking the best Bali hotels is no easy feat. The bar is set high: On this island blessed with postcard scenes around every bend, even the most basic Bali villas and bungalows offer dreamy views and innovative designs from bamboo and volcanic rock. There are countless hidey-holes dotting the jungles around Ubud, cliffside villas in Uluwatu, and clubby beach retreats lining the coast from Seminyak to Kuta, but only some manage to stand out with extraordinary settings, service, or amenities. From the classic big-hitters to whip-smart new arrivals, we've tried, tested, and whittled down the best Bali hotels to book right now.
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Robert RiegerhotelLost Lindenberg
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Hot List 2023Pekutatan
Over the past decade or so, most of the boutique hotels in Bali have become a little predictable: the rattan lampshades, the swirling infinity pools, and the bamboo yoga shalas. This whip-smart new arrival wants none of that. After traveling through the rice fields and past the near-deserted beaches of Bali’s little-visited west coast to the sleepy backwater of Pekutatan, the last thing you’d expect is a Las Vegas-esque wall screaming “Holiday Fast” in flickering neon. Lost Lindenberg is the first international outpost of The Lindenberg, a small, Frankfurt-based hotel group of a similar ilk as, say, Soho House or The Hoxton, where guests aren't just guests, but a ‘collective,’ and hotels are referred to as communal living spaces.
The eight studio-like rooms take over the watchtowers in sets of two and are built just high enough to spot the Indian Ocean through the floor-to-ceiling windows that cover most of their wall surface. The bathrooms are practically open-air: their louvred walls let the sea breeze seep in but keep the neighbors from peeping. Dining is communal and completely plant-based, with hummus lunch wraps, jackfruit baos served for lunch on a single, very-long table. For more, see our full review of Lost Lindenburgh.
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Tommaso Riva/Courtesy The SlowhotelThe Slow
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Readers' Choice Awards 2019Canggu
This 12-room bolthole is all of Canggu distilled into an achingly cool cocktail of art, music, and interior design. Conceived by fashion designer George Gorrow and his wife Cisco, the hotel matches brutalist concrete with tropical teak wood and mid-century modern furniture, topping it off with a jealousy-inducing collection of works from Gorrow’s artistic friends. Downstairs, the restaurant dishes up comforting fare inspired by Balinese flavors and international classics, the caramelized half chicken with Sichuan salt and fermented chilli mayo is a must. On the shopping front, there’s a sleek boutique with edgy T-shirts under Gorrow’s Non-Type label and a wide collection of Cisco’s beautiful ceramic-and-wood tablewares.
Courtesy Capella Ubud BalihotelCapella Ubud
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022Ubud
Anyone familiar with the work of eccentric hotel designer Bill Bensley knows that a stay at one of his projects is never a straight-line affair. But with Capella Ubud, a luxe tented camp 20 minutes north of Ubud, he takes his kookiness up a notch. Inspired by tales of European explorers poking around the Indonesian archipelago in the 19th century, he designed a whimsical base camp on a sloping patch of jungle where the 22 one-bedroom suites (with sprawling outdoor decks and private plunge pools), reception desk, and fitness centre each take over their own tents. All are furnished with Bensley's signature mix of clashing patterns—ikat-pillows, vintage trunks, and sofas upholstered in cowhide—and design quirks ranging from peek-a-boo windows in the showers to brass monkeys dotting the roofs. Dining options include Indonesian omakase-style menus at Api Jiwa, while breakfast-to-dinner Mads Lange dishes out comforting lobster wontons and crab tacos. Come nightfall, head to the campfire for marshmallows, hot cocoa, and vintage Indonesian flicks.
Buahan BalihotelBuahan, a Banyan Tree Escape
$$$ | Hot List 2023Ubud
Bali has no shortage of glamping spots or back-to-basic bamboo bungalows, but none will bring you closer to nature than Banyan Tree's first Escape outpost. Trundling down the jungled Buahan Valley 30 minutes north of Ubud, the hotel's 16 villas mimic Balinese balé pavilions, with creaky floors and heavy pillars from reclaimed ironwood. Like the real deal, they have no walls. At night, only a gauzy curtain keeps the insects out and lets the sounds of the valley in—the white noise of a waterfall, or a chorus of crickets. That doesn't mean you're roughing it, though: A smart air-conditioning system keeps the bed cool, each balé comes with a private plunge pool, and their hand-hammered copper bathtubs are a great spot to soak up the valley views after a day of foraging for local herbs and honey with Buahan-born head chef Eka Sunarya.
Courtesy AmanhotelAmankila
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2021, 2022Manggis
Even though this Ed Tuttle-designed classic on Bali's hushed east coast has been around for more than three decades, stepping inside its hilltop lobby still induces goosebumps. The view from here is dazzling: three travertine pools, cascading like Balinese rice paddies towards the crashing waves of the Lombok Strait below. There's a fringe of blushy bougainvillea and a backdrop of swaying palms, plus a small army of saronged staff serving satay skewers and passionfruit daiquiris to guests lounging at the poolside balés. The villas, connected by a stilted walkway cutting through the jungle, are spacious pleasure palaces with arched doors and floors from creamy terrazzo, vaulted alang-alang ceilings, and furnishing with mother-of-pearl-y coconut and seashell inlays. And while the two pools, that three-tiered stunner and a palm-fringed one at the beach club below, make it tempting to simply loll around all day, the sunrise breakfast in a hidden hilltop balé and the morning cruise with snorkeling tour on the resort's private outrigger is well worth the 5 a.m. wake-up call.
Courtesy Hoshinoya BalihotelHoshinoya Bali
$$$ |
Gold List 2021 Hot List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2021Ubud
Remember 'The Dress'? That black-and-blue or white-and-gold brain-twister that sent the internet in a frenzy back in 2015? Hoshinoya Bali has a similar feel. Some will see this hotel, flanking a subak irrigation canal east of Ubud, as decidedly Balinese, with a swirling temple-like entrance and roofs from wooden shingles. Those familiar with the architecture of Hoshinoya's native Japan, though, will clock distinctively Japanese features: floor-to-ceiling windows inspired by shoji–screens, and futon-like beds in the two-storied villas lining three pools that cross the property like rivers. The food, similarly, is a delicious Bali-Japanese mash-up, with tasting menus blending the best of both cuisines and breakfasts (in birds' nest-like gazebos overlooking the valley) of furoshiki-wrapped picnic baskets with meticulously carved fruits, tiny Japanese bowls of gado gado, and coconutty red bean porridge. A free shuttle to downtown Ubud makes exploring the area a breeze, while a host of complimentary activities—from matcha-whisking workshops to batik-dyeing sessions—make staying within the resort's lush confines just as worthwhile.
Courtesy NirjharaNirjhara
Tabanan
Tucked between the rice fields of Tabanan, a little-visited rural enclave on Bali's southwestern coast, Nirjhara feels like a hush-hush hideaway for the island's in-crowd. At the pool, overlooking the hotel's rambling waterfall, you'll find a stylish bunch of linen-clad expatriates, off-duty models, and high-society Indonesians on weekend jaunts from Jakarta. Between poolside sessions, they'll hop to the spa for flower baths or Ayurvedic marma-point massages, stop for yoga classes in the all-bamboo riverside shala, or venture out for trips to the nearby Tanah Lot temple on the complimentary guided bike rides. Nirjhara's lodgings—all straight lines, honey-hued woods, and Indonesian textiles—range from villas with balconies above the river to multi-bedroomed, private-pooled mansions with lush jungle views. If private pools are no priority, consider the Canopy Suites—these stilted tree houses surrounded by a palm grove come with brilliant rooftop decks overlooking the rice fields. And when Tabanan starts to feel a little too isolated, Canggu's buzzy bars and restaurants are just a short drive away.
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Kevin Mak/Potato Head StudioshotelPotato Head Suites
Seminyak
A sustainable stay in Bali might conjure up images of bamboo ceilings and rice field surroundings, but at Potato Head Suites, forward-thinking hotelier Ronald Akili takes a boldly different approach. As part of Desa Potato Head, an eco-minded creative village in the heart of glitzy Seminyak, this tropical modernist boutique hotel has sustainability embedded into its DNA. It shows everywhere: the facade from 1.8 million hand-pressed bricks, baked locally with only coconut shells; local textiles from plant-based dyes; and smart water and electricity system that helped the hotel gain an UN-approved Climate Neutral certification. Rooms are furnished with teak trimmings by local artisans and Akili's collection of mid-century modern furniture, plus wall-spanning cocktail stations to shake, muddle, and mix your own mojitos. As a guest, you'll have first dibs on daybeds at the hot-ticked Potato Head Beach Club, hidden behind a wall of recycled window shutters next door. Plus, access to the Desa's other features —including a jamu bar, eco-innovation lab, and a New Age-y wellness centre with ice baths, sound healing experiences, and guided breathwork sessions.
hotelBulgari Resort Bali
$$$Uluwatu
Teetering on a cliff on Bali's rugged southern tip, Bulgari Bali is as splendid as you could expect from a brand known for its diamonds and gold. But that's not to say the look is all-out-opulent: the hotel's 59 villas, each with a plunge pool and gardens frothing with bougainvillea, tastefully blend sharp Italian design with Indonesian materials such as mossy volcanic rock, Javanese mahogany, and kaleidoscopic ikat weavings. It's all laid out like one of those small Italian cliffside villages, with cobblestoned pathways connecting the villas to the restaurants—chef Luca Fantin's fine Italian Il Ristorante, and international all-day diner Sangkar—spa, and frangipani-fringed infinity pool. There's even a wedding chapel, and, of course, a Bulgari boutique selling exclusive silks and swimwear. Down at sea level, the rocky beach (accessible via a hair-raising steep Inclinator) is a lovely spot to spend a few hours on the mattress-thick daybeds. Apart from the stunning Uluwatu temple, a 20-minute drive away, there isn't a whole lot to see or do in the area—but considering the hotel's hefty price tag, you might as well make every minute count.
This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller India.
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