Ubud, Ayung valley
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan
Entered across a bridge onto a lily-pond roof
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A little local perspective
Worth knowing.
Worth going.
- Destination
- Bali, Indonesia
- The selection
- 13 hotels
- Your kind of trip
- couples · honeymoon · wellness · families
$$$ to $$$$ — roughly $250-1,200 a night, peaking July, August and Christmas
People book Bali as though it were a resort island. It is a province of four and a half million people covering 5,700 square kilometres, with a mountain range down the middle, and the three places most visitors want to see are an hour to two hours apart on roads that are frequently single-lane and always slower than the map suggests.
Getting from Ubud to Uluwatu can take two and a half hours in traffic. Seminyak to the eastern coast is similar. A week split across two of these areas works well. A week in one, with day trips to the others, means spending a third of the holiday in a car.
The three Balis, and how to choose
Ubud and the river valleys, inland and up. Rice terraces, gorges, temples, yoga, and the cultural centre of the island. It is green, humid, cooler at night and has no beach. The best hotels here are built over river valleys and they are the most spectacular buildings on the island.
The Bukit peninsula and Uluwatu, at the southern tip. Limestone cliffs a hundred metres above the sea, dramatic sunsets, world-class surf below and small beaches reached down long staircases. The scenery is the best in Bali and the swimming is awkward.
Seminyak, Canggu and the west coast beaches, on the flat. Long dark-sand beaches, surf, and the restaurants, bars and shops. It is the most convenient, the most developed and the least beautiful.
Nusa Dua and Sanur, on the calm eastern side, are the fourth option and the right one if flat swimmable water for children is the priority.
The fourteen below are grouped by region. Pick two.
Ubud and the river valleys
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan sits on a bend of the Ayung river with a building you enter across a bridge onto the roof, which is a lily pond. The valley view from the rooms is the most photographed in Indonesia and it deserves it.
Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve occupies a river valley site with a garden of banyan trees, a spa built into the slope and the most polished service in Bali.
COMO Shambhala Estate is a wellness estate on a ridge above the Ayung, built around natural springs, with programmes rather than a spa menu. It is the most serious health property in Southeast Asia.
Capella Ubud occupies a rainforest camp of tented pavilions with copper baths and a nineteenth-century explorer conceit that works better than it sounds. It is the most unusual stay on the island.
Viceroy Bali is a small family-run property on the eastern ridge with the classic Ubud valley view from the pool and considerably lower rates than the four above.
The Bukit and Uluwatu
Six Senses Uluwatu sits on the cliffs at the southern tip with villas facing the Indian Ocean, an enormous spa and a beach reached by inclinator. It is the best combination of scenery and comfort in Bali.
Alila Villas Uluwatu occupies a clifftop above the surf breaks with a design that is all volcanic stone and cantilevered pools. The architecture is the reason to book it.
Bulgari Resort Bali sits on a promontory at Pecatu with a private beach at the bottom of a funicular and the most formal service on the island.
AYANA Resort Bali occupies a cliff site above Jimbaran with the largest resort grounds in Bali, several pools and a proper beach club. It suits families and larger groups.
Seminyak and Canggu
The Legian Seminyak, Bali sits directly on Seminyak beach behind a garden of frangipani, low-rise and long-established, and it is the best beachfront address on this coast.
Alila Seminyak occupies a site in Seminyak with a lap pool, a spa and a restrained interior. It is the most grown-up of the beach-strip hotels.
Katamama is a design property beside a beach club in Seminyak, built by local craftspeople with a strong Indonesian identity. It is the most interesting building on this stretch.
Potato Head Studios sits on the Canggu coast with a pool over the sand, a music and food programme and a young, sociable tone.
The calm eastern side
The St. Regis Bali Resort occupies a beachfront estate on the east coast with flat swimmable water, a large garden and villas with private pools. It is the family answer to the surf on the west.
What we have left off
The Kuta and Legian hotels are excluded. They are the cheapest beachfront on the island by a wide margin and they sit on the busiest, most developed stretch of coast in Indonesia, which is a different holiday from any described here.
What to do in each
In Ubud: the Tegalalang and Jatiluwih rice terraces early, the Campuhan ridge walk at dawn, Goa Gajah and Tirta Empul, and a cooking class, which here is genuinely worth doing.
On the Bukit: Uluwatu temple at sunset for the kecak performance, the beaches at Bingin, Padang Padang and Melasti, and surfing if you can.
On the west coast: eat and drink, which is what it is for. The restaurant standard in Seminyak and Canggu is high and the beach clubs at sunset are the scene.
Island-wide: sunrise on Mount Batur is a two-hour climb starting at three in the morning and it is worth it. Sidemen and the eastern rice country are the Bali that Ubud used to be.
Practical notes
Denpasar airport sits between the Bukit and Seminyak. Ubud is 60 to 90 minutes from it, Uluwatu 40, Seminyak 30, and all of those double at the wrong time of day.
April to October is the dry season and the best window. July and August are the busiest. November to March is the wet season, which means afternoon downpours and much lower rates.
Hire a driver by the day rather than taxis; it is inexpensive and it is how the island works. Scooters are everywhere and the accident rate for visitors is high.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Bali Hotels
Prices shown are sample rates from upcoming dates — not quotes for specific dates. Open a hotel and choose your own dates and guests to see the exact price.
Questions people actually ask
Ubud or the beach?
Both, split. Three nights inland and four on the coast is the standard shape of a good Bali trip and it avoids the driving.
Can you swim on the west coast?
There is surf and there are rips. It is a surf coast rather than a swimming coast. For flat water, go east to Sanur or Nusa Dua.
Is Bali overcrowded now?
The southern strip and Ubud's centre are very busy. The east, the north and the mountains are not, and the good hotels in all regions are insulated from it.
How many nights?
Eight to ten. Bali is a long flight for most people and the internal driving eats time.
