JOURNAL

Notes from the island.

Hotels, chefs, and places worth knowing about, written by Sven, not a content team.

Forty-three hotels written up. Not forty-three hotels to choose from. These are the stays we can vouch for personally, not the limit of what we book. Through Fora, a Virtuoso member agency, Sven places reservations at effectively every five-star property in Bali, with the same upgrade, credit and breakfast attached. Ask about any hotel on the island →

Amandari infinity pool overlooking the Ayung Valley
THE ONE TO READ FIRST

Amandari: the original, and still the best argument for restraint

The 1989 blueprint for Bali's boutique resort era, and a staff member quietly moving a parasol so nobody would ever have to see it happen.

READ THE STORY →
The infinity pool at Alila Ubud above the Ayung valley
STAYS

Alila Ubud: a magical hotel that comes with a manual

Kerry Hill’s 1996 Chedi, one of the most beautiful buildings in Bali, with service that never quite catches up. Two former Chedis in Ubud: one kept the people, this one kept the building.
Tanah Gajah at dusk
STAYS

Tanah Gajah: the last hotel Adrian Zecha never quite left behind

Overlooked since it lost the Chedi name, but the staff who trained under Zecha never left, and neither did the philosophy.
Aerial view of Como Shambhala Estate, its residences and pools set into the jungle ridge
STAYS

Como Shambhala Estate: not one hotel, but several

The jungle retreat where Como's spa and cuisine were born, a walk down to natural river pools, and a massage that quietly resets your benchmark.
Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, lit up at dusk above its rice terraces in the Ayung Valley
STAYS

Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve: the only 3 Michelin Key hotel on this island

A stay from before the Michelin Keys existed. On a five act arrival, a design built to look older than it is, and a kitchen that earns every bit of the ambition.
Aerial view of The Oberoi Bali's beachfront gardens and villas
STAYS

The Oberoi Bali: the island within the island

The first hotel I ever stayed at in Bali, and the reason I fell for the place at all. On a 1970s private club that predates Amandari, and a wall that still holds.
The Raffles Bali's main pavilion at dusk, perched above the valley overlooking the Indian Ocean
STAYS

The Raffles Bali: the island's most underrated hotel

Just 32 villas across 23 hectares, a decade in the making, and a staff whose quiet fanaticism runs from the gardens to the kitchen.
Amankila at dusk, cut into the hillside above the Lombok Strait
STAYS

Amankila: a more beautiful Bali than the one outside the gate

Bali's most photographed resort, and what's actually behind the three-tier pool once you stop chasing the legend.
The Legian's pools stepping down to the beach and the Indian Ocean
STAYS

The Legian, Seminyak: the closest Bali still gets to old Aman

An accidental all-suite hotel built closer to the sea than anything else on the island, with a designer's first commission and a temple's worth of quiet conviction.
Capella Ubud tented pavilions in the jungle
STAYS

Capella Ubud: a magnificent hotel that could be anywhere

One of the most inventive hotels on the island, and a reflection on what spectacle can and can't give you.
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan at dusk
STAYS

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan: who this hotel is really for

An extraordinary hotel that isn't extraordinary for everyone in the same way. On architecture, wellness, and knowing which kind of good you're looking for.
InterContinental Bali Resort aerial view
STAYS

InterContinental Bali Resort: the best deal in Bali, hiding in plain sight

A guilty-pleasure five-star that shares an architect with Tanah Gajah, and opened the same year Four Seasons redefined Bali luxury entirely.
A villa terrace and infinity pool at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay at sunset, overlooking the ocean
STAYS

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay: the hardest hotel on this island to write about

Almost the first Aman, one of the best resorts in Bali for families, and a hotel with nothing to circle and everything to trust.
Andaz Bali's red brick entrance gate in Sanur, lit at dusk
STAYS

Andaz Bali: turning a small plot into the best village in Sanur

A narrow stretch of beachfront, turned into 149 rooms wrapped around hidden courtyards and 80-year-old trees. On design over practicality, and two stays that felt like two different hotels.
A garden entrance at Jimbaran Puri, with a koi pond and thatched roofs
STAYS

Jimbaran Puri: the best land and the best service, and almost nobody talking about it

A low-key Belmond hotel on one of Bali's finest, calmest beaches, built around real temple ruins and barely touched by decades of corporate ownership.
An aerial view of Hyatt Regency Bali in Sanur, showing the dense garden, pools, and 500 metres of beachfront
STAYS

Hyatt Regency Bali: the club I never expected to be the reason I'd go back

A family-friendly Sanur resort with a maze-like garden by Made Wijaya, and a club lounge that quietly outshines everything else on the property.
An aerial view of Alila Seminyak, showing its vertical gardens, pool deck, and direct beach access
STAYS

Alila Seminyak: the surprise hiding in the middle of a five-star hotel

A hyper-modern Seminyak hotel built around a five-century-old family temple, with no grand narrative and one of the better nightlife bases in the area.
The St. Regis Bali Resort entrance pavilion
STAYS

The St. Regis Bali Resort: a masterclass in excess

Atlantis Bahamas energy, transplanted to Nusa Dua. On bottomless breakfasts, nightly fire dances, and an award-winning wine list.
Koi pond walkway at Como Uma Ubud's reception
STAYS

Como Uma Ubud: the hotel that felt like a warm blanket

Centrally located, quietly minimalist, and frustratingly all-round perfect. A Como property that pulls you toward the island rather than away from it.
Raised walkways crossing living rice fields at Komaneka at Keramas Beach, leading toward the ocean
STAYS

Komaneka at Keramas Beach: the address nobody asks me about

A Balinese family-owned resort on the quiet east coast, born from an art gallery, where the rice fields still belong to the farmers who work them.
The interior of the Javanese joglo housing the restaurant at Kayumanis Jimbaran
STAYS

Kayumanis Jimbaran: a resort missing half its checklist

No public pool, no beach access, and one of the most quietly generous stays on the island. On a former coconut grove, a joglo restaurant, and the loyalty it earns.
The Apurva Kempinski Bali at dusk, the Grand Staircase and pools cascading through the resort
STAYS

The Apurva Kempinski Bali: the dream factory that converted a cynic

I decided I hated this hotel in 2019, sight unseen. Four days in, a stranger's off-key wedding song drifting across the pool talked me out of it.
The infinity pool at Bisma Eight at sunset over the Campuhan valley
STAYS

Bisma Eight: the Ubud hotel that stops pretending Ubud isn’t there

Every other hotel in this valley sells distance. This one sells the opposite, four minutes from the Monkey Forest with the jungle below, and turns the noise into its strongest card.
Grand Hyatt Bali from above, four villages in seventeen hectares of garden along the Nusa Dua beach
STAYS

Grand Hyatt Bali: beautiful, enormous, and nowhere to sit

A water palace built to serve a convention centre. The finest grounds in Nusa Dua, and the only hotel on this island where I never found my spot.
Sunset at the pool at Conrad Bali, palm trees silhouetted against the sky
STAYS

The Conrad Bali: the best hotel in the wrong bracket

The hotel readers ask me about more than any other. Unbeatable at one price and one comparison, merely fine at another.
The entrance staircase at Samabe Bali, lit at dusk
STAYS

Samabe Bali: the Uluwatu answer that isn't in Uluwatu

My most contrarian piece of advice on this island: skip the famous clifftop names and book this instead.
The Ritz-Carlton, Bali seen from above, resort, pool and chapel by the sea
STAYS

The Ritz-Carlton, Bali: right in every part, wrong as a whole

The only hotel on this island that leaves me genuinely ambivalent. Every part is excellent. The whole still doesn't quite add up.
Aerial view of The Laguna's seven lagoon pools winding through the gardens
STAYS

The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort: the one Nusa Dua hotel that feels like somewhere

The only hotel in Nusa Dua I recommend without hesitation, and the only one I actively daydream about going back to.
The Mulia complex in Nusa Dua, pools, statues and buildings spread across the property
STAYS

The Mulia, Nusa Dua: a hotel with no centre

Four days at one of the island's largest resorts, and I never once held a picture of the place in my head.
Soori Bali's coastline at dawn, mist over black volcanic sand
STAYS

Soori Bali: the most photographed hotel in Bali that nobody can photograph

A week of global attention in 2018 for the one quality this hotel doesn't have, and nothing about it changed.
The winding pool at W Bali, Seminyak, palm trees leading down to the beach
STAYS

W Bali, Seminyak: the hotel I visited for fourteen years before I ever slept there

Fourteen years of evening walks from The Oberoi next door, before curiosity finally won.
A reflecting pool at The Samaya Seminyak
STAYS

The Samaya Seminyak: the kind of hotel that doesn't need you to notice it

A printed menu, a suitcase kept for two years, and the kind of service no budget can reliably buy.
Desa Potato Head's brutalist wings above the beach in Seminyak
STAYS

Desa Potato Head: I still think the ranking is absurd, and I was still wrong about the hotel

The Follow the Waste tour that rearranged how I understood everything else on the property.
Swing beds and a teal ceramic sculpture on the deck at COMO Beach Club, Canggu, at sunset
STAYS

COMO Uma Canggu: a brilliant beach club with a hotel attached

Three good things sharing one address in Canggu, and no connective tissue between them.
Aerial view of Shore Amora's villas and pool arranged around a working rice field in Pererenan
STAYS

Shore Amora, Pererenan: the only address on this site that breaks my own rules

The last street in Canggu where the locals still come for sunset, and the only real hotel on it.
The main pool at Regent Bali Canggu at dusk, framed by palm trees and cabanas
STAYS

Regent Bali Canggu: money buys almost everything except time

The only genuine luxury resort in Canggu, and why the rate it's asking is still ahead of what it delivers.
Aerial view of InterContinental Bali Sanur, its orange tiled roofs and single main pool set among dense gardens by the beach
STAYS

InterContinental Bali Sanur: the biggest rooms in Sanur, and the emptiest days

A resort halfway through rebuilding itself, and which of Sanur's three hotels actually deserves your money.
The infinity pool at Buahan, red umbrellas and loungers set into the dense Ayung valley canopy
STAYS

Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape: only a thin veil separates you from the jungle

Sixteen balés with no walls, and what it actually means when a hotel means that literally.
Anantara Ubud perched on its hillside, the infinity pool running along the building with Mount Agung behind
STAYS

Anantara Ubud: the hotel that stopped pretending it had a garden

No grounds to wander, and why turning everything inward is exactly what made it work.
Viceroy Bali's signature infinity pool curving along the edge of the gorge at dusk, thatched pavilion roofs above
STAYS

Viceroy Bali: what's left when everything you invented becomes standard

The island copied everything that made it remarkable. What's left is what nobody could.
Alila Villas Uluwatu's cliff-edge cabana and infinity pool on the Bukit Peninsula
STAYS

Alila Villas Uluwatu: I never worked out who this hotel is for

Empty loungers, an events lawn disguised as the best view on the property, and a hotel most guests will only ever visit once.
Bvlgari Resort Bali's infinity pool at sunset, lanterns lit along the cliff-edge terrace
STAYS

Bvlgari Resort Bali: a jeweller's idea of a hotel

Why a jewellery house's clifftop resort behaves exactly like a jewellery boutique, and the morning outside the gate that gave this site its name.
Jumeirah Bali's Majapahit water palace and pools above Dreamland Beach at dusk
STAYS

Jumeirah Bali: everybody reviewed it three years too early

A Majapahit water palace, a garden designed by the man who invented the Balinese luxury resort, and a reputation formed in the one year that mattered least.
COLUMNS

From the desk.

Short pieces on what is happening in Bali hotels, and on the people ranking them. Published here first, then sent out by email.

  1. The Oberoi Bali from above, fifteen acres of walled grounds on Seminyak beach
    23 Sep ’26 · Column

    Michelin has ranked Bali’s hotels. Here is what a Key actually means.

    Thirty hotels here won a Key this month. One of the island’s landmark resorts was never eligible for one, which tells you most of what you need to know about reading a plaque as a verdict.

GUIDES

The manual.

The conditions nobody puts in the brochure. What this island actually asks of you, area by area, before you book anything.

EASY STAYS

The easiest luxury hotels in Bali: flat grounds, few steps, quiet gardens

For bad knees, a parent travelling with you, or a holiday without stairs. Which hotels are flat and compact, which are flat but far too big, and why the room matters as much as the hotel.

The easiest five It depends on the room The difficult ones
READ THE GUIDE →
The St. Regis Bali from the air The lobby at the Andaz The entrance at Tanah Gajah The Laguna at sunset
FAMILIES · MEASURED

What Bali’s best hotels really charge a family of four

We checked 43 luxury hotels on their own websites, for two adults and two small children. A quarter charge a family nothing extra. A quarter charge three times as much or more. And neither has anything to do with how good the hotel is.

The best five All 36 hotels Why hotels do it
READ THE GUIDE →
A villa garden at the Grand Hyatt Bali A room at The Oberoi Raffles Bali from the air The entrance at Samabe
OFFERS · CHECKED MONTHLY

Bali hotel offers, checked: the five worth booking, and every other one

Fifty offers at nineteen hotels, from free nights to a USD 1,000 credit, read line by line. The five I’d plan a trip around, the rules that save you money, and the small print moved to where you’ll read it.

The best five How to read an offer Ubud Uluwatu Nusa Dua
SEE THE OFFERS →
The bar at Mandapa A villa at Raffles Bali The lobby at The St. Regis Bali Breakfast at Four Seasons Sayan
BEFORE YOU BOOK

Virtuoso, Amex or booking direct? You are buying the second email

On paper the benefits look alike. What differs is who writes to the hotel after you book, and why hotels treat an advisor’s guests differently from a platform’s. From a former points obsessive who took the shampoo home.

The Amex years The second email Midnight in Ubud Why hotels care Side by side
READ THE GUIDE →
Amankila after dark The lobby at The Oberoi The restaurant at The Oberoi The spa at Kayumanis Jimbaran
DINNER

The ten hotels in Bali that actually understand their own restaurants

Every hotel here has a food and beverage vision. Few understand the one they imported. Judged on breakfast, the sunbed and room service rather than the tasting menu, and none of it correlates with the room rate.

Number one The chef next door The best idea Who is missing The test
READ THE GUIDE →
Rumari at Raffles Bali The Tempayan at Tanah Gajah The bar at Apéritif, Viceroy Bali Ombak at Soori Bali
DINNER

Where you actually eat: the two hotel restaurants that decide your week

The all-day room is the hardest kitchen in any hotel and nobody reviews it. The workhorses, the outward-facing rooms that let strangers in, and why the daily cooking gets duller as the rate climbs.

The workhorse The open door Price and caution Two tests All eighteen
READ THE GUIDE →
Fisherman's Club at Andaz Bali on the Sanur beachfront The dining room at Rumari, Raffles Bali The joglo restaurant at Kayumanis Jimbaran Mads Lange at Capella Ubud
DINNER

The Indonesian restaurant is usually the weakest kitchen in the hotel

On the island the food comes from, most hotel Indonesian restaurants are decor with careful cooking. Why that happens, why the rijsttafel is Dutch, and the twelve kitchens that take it seriously.

The Hague The rijsttafel Eight dishes The good ones All twelve
READ THE GUIDE →
Bejana at The Ritz-Carlton, the Indonesian restaurant built into the cliff The dining room at Rumari, Raffles Bali The joglo restaurant at Kayumanis Jimbaran Mads Lange at Capella Ubud
DINNER

The ten hotel restaurants in Bali worth your evening

There is not one Michelin star in Indonesia, and it is not because of the cooking. Why resort kitchens here play safe, and the ten that refuse to, all of which will feed you if you are sleeping somewhere else.

Why no stars Rumari The wine list The missing Nobu All ten
READ THE GUIDE →
The dining room at Rumari, Raffles Bali The Cave at The Edge, twenty-two seats under limestone The counter at Izakaya by OKU, The Apurva Kempinski Il Ristorante at Bvlgari on the Uluwatu cliffs
BEFORE YOU BOOK

Which room should you book, and when is the upgrade a waste?

Four rules from forty-two paid stays: look at the jump rather than the name, skip the middle of the ladder, judge a category against the island, and count the square metres per dollar.

The jump Skip the middle Private pools Upgrades Hotel by hotel
READ THE GUIDE →
The grounds and pool villas at Tanah Gajah A Reserve Suite interior at Mandapa A villa pool at Kayumanis Jimbaran A suite bedroom at The Apurva Kempinski
THE ISLAND ITSELF

Is Bali ruined? The most beautiful land is behind a gate

Not ruined, unevenly preserved. What these hotels saved, what that fence costs the rest of us, and how much of this island you can still see without paying anybody.

Where it went Saved or taken The catch Free of charge Which hotels
READ THE GUIDE →
A village gate at the entrance to a suite at Amandari The five-century-old family temple inside Alila Seminyak Walkways over working rice fields at Komaneka at Keramas Soori Bali on the black-sand coast below the mountains
THE COAST

Bali beaches: which ones can you actually swim from?

Every beach here comes with a set of conditions, and nobody hands them over before you book. Where the water is calm, where it only looks calm, where the tide decides, and which hotel sits on which kind of sand.

Jimbaran Nusa Dua Seminyak Sanur Uluwatu Canggu Snorkelling
READ THE GUIDE →
The wide gold sand of Jimbaran Bay Samabe's reef-protected white sand beach at the southern tip of Nusa Dua Seminyak beach from above Black volcanic sand on the west coast at Soori Bali
BY BRAND

By brand.

What a hotel group's name actually promises on this island, where it came from, and which of its hotels is the one worth your money.

  1. The InterContinental Bali Resort at Jimbaran
    IHG

    What does an IHG badge get you in Bali? Two job titles and a booking system

    Two InterContinentals forty minutes apart, one excellent and one struggling. In a hotel IHG manages, the people it employs are the general manager and the financial controller. Everybody else works for the owner.

  2. Amankila on its hillside above the Lombok Strait
    Aman

    What does an Aman get you in Bali? I was an addict, and I am not sure I have recovered

    The least standardised hotel company on earth created the most compulsive collectors in travel. Why the expansion is no betrayal, what it costs, and the Bali Aman that quietly lost its name.

  3. A villa and private plunge pool at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay at sunset
    Four Seasons

    What does a Four Seasons get you in Bali? The company that invented normal

    The villa resort with a private pool was invented in Jimbaran in 1993. So were the bathrobe and the shampoo. When everything you invent becomes the standard, what is left to sell?

  4. The Ritz-Carlton Bali above the beach at Sawangan
    Marriott

    What does a Marriott get you in Bali? You are buying a document

    Six luxury brands from $250 to $1,200, and a badge that guarantees the paint while prescribing the welcome. Why nothing is ever broken at these six, and why so little of the person serving you comes through.

  5. The gardens at the Hyatt Regency in Sanur, laid out for the original Bali Hyatt
    Hyatt

    What does a Hyatt actually get you in Bali? Eight hotels, four names, one operator

    The logo on the gate and the building underneath it belong to two different companies, which is why a five-star can have world-class architecture and worn paint at the same time. Eight hotels, and Hyatt built one.

  6. Alila Villas Uluwatu on its clifftop plateau above the Indian Ocean
    Alila

    What exactly is an Alila? Four hotels, one name, and a lot of history

    It began as a split from GHM with two Kerry Hill hotels, built its masterpiece at Uluwatu, then sold three times in five years. The best hotel in Bali used to be one, and left.

COMPARED

Side by side.

Two or three hotels, one decision. Where they differ, who each is for, and which one to book.

UBUD HILLSMandapa vs Capella vs Buahan
A villa pool above the rice fields at MandapaCapella Ubud's tents in the jungleA plunge pool at Buahan above the jungle
COMPARE

Mandapa, Capella or Buahan: three answers to what luxury means now

Three experience-led hotels in the Ubud hills, all around $1,000 a night. How far each goes, where each breaks, and which is worth it.
CANGGURegent vs Como Uma Canggu
A pool at Regent Bali Canggu at sunsetA penthouse pool at Como Uma Canggu at sunset
COMPARE

Regent or Como Uma Canggu: choosing a luxury hotel in Canggu, where there are only two

Why Canggu has so few luxury hotels, the realist and the idealist, and which one I'd book.
SEMINYAKThe Samaya vs W vs Alila vs Potato Head
The deck at The Samaya at duskThe lawn above the beach at W Bali at sunsetSeasalt at Alila Seminyak at duskA suite at Desa Potato Head at dusk
COMPARE

Seminyak beach hotels compared: W, Alila, The Samaya or Desa Potato Head?

Four generations of luxury on one beach, close in quality and price. Which one you're in the mood for, and why together they make Seminyak.
NUSA DUA · SAWANGANThe Apurva vs Ritz-Carlton vs Samabe
The beach pool at The Apurva KempinskiThe Ritz-Carlton, Bali above the coastSamabe's clifftop pool above the ocean
COMPARE

The Apurva, Ritz-Carlton or Samabe: choosing a hotel on Nusa Dua's southern cliff

Three neighbours on one cliff, and not one turned out the way I expected. Beaches, food, guests, and which one to book.
SANURAndaz vs Hyatt Regency
A pool screened by garden at Hyatt Regency BaliA courtyard at Andaz Bali
COMPARE

Andaz vs Hyatt Regency Bali: which Sanur hotel is for you

The same land, split in two by the same designers. The garden that grew, the village that was built, and which one to book.
JIMBARAN · UBUDFour Seasons Sayan vs Jimbaran
Four Seasons Sayan in the Ayung valley at duskA villa pool at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay at sunset
COMPARE

Four Seasons Sayan vs Four Seasons Jimbaran: which Four Seasons in Bali is for you

The valley or the sea. What the Four Seasons name buys you, where each one wins, and which one to book.
ULUWATUBvlgari vs Alila Villas
Bvlgari Resort Bali's cliff-edge pool at sunsetAlila Villas Uluwatu's infinity pool at sunset
COMPARE

Bvlgari vs Alila Villas Uluwatu: the better building or the better hotel

Two famous hotels on the same cliff. Villas and views, the beach, the nights, the food, and which one to book.
SEMINYAKThe Legian vs The Oberoi
Fire bowls by the pool at The Legian at duskTables set by The Oberoi's amphitheatre at dusk
COMPARE

The Legian vs The Oberoi: two Seminyak classics, one beach apart

Two grandes dames on the same sand, facing opposite ways. History, grounds, food, suites, service and which one to book.
NUSA DUASt. Regis vs The Mulia
The St. Regis Bali Resort's entrance pavilion at duskThe entrance to The Mulia, Nusa Dua
COMPARE

St. Regis Bali vs The Mulia: which Nusa Dua icon is for you

Two of the most over-the-top hotels on the island. Warm or cool, calm or spectacle, and which one suits you.
JIMBARAN BAYRaffles vs Four Seasons vs Jimbaran Puri
The Writers Bar at The Raffles Bali at duskA villa pool deck at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay at sunsetThatched bales beside the pool at Jimbaran Puri
COMPARE

Jimbaran Bay: Raffles, Four Seasons or Jimbaran Puri?

Three famous names on one bay, and none of them behaves like its brand. Service, food, villas, beach and price.
UBUD · CANGGUShambhala vs Uma Ubud vs Uma Canggu
Como Shambhala EstateComo Uma UbudComo Uma Canggu
COMPARE

COMO in Bali: Shambhala Estate, Uma Ubud or Uma Canggu?

Three Como hotels, three entirely different trips. The retreat, the base and the beach club, and which one to book.
UBUD · EAST BALIAmandari vs Amankila
AmandariAmankila
COMPARE

Amandari vs Amankila: which Aman in Bali is for you

One was built like a village, the other like a palace. The feel, the guests, the suites, the food, and which one to book first.
START WITH THE MAP, NOT THE HOTEL

On this island you don't really choose a hotel. You choose an area, and that decision shapes the trip far more than the room does. Eight areas, forty-three first-hand stays, and the driving times nobody warns you about.

WHERE TO STAY IN BALI →
Rice terraces in the Ayung valley above Ubud
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