Where to stay in Bali: the luxury hotels we’d book

I have been coming to Bali for years, and the question I am asked most is not which hotel is best, but where to be. The island changes completely within an hour’s drive: limestone cliffs and surf in Uluwatu, calm bays in Jimbaran and Nusa Dua, restaurants and sunsets in Seminyak and Canggu, river gorges and rice terraces in Ubud, and a quieter, older Bali in the east. Choose the area for the holiday you want, then the hotel. These are the places I would book in each, what I would book once there, and what to do when you step outside the gate.

Hotels marked Our review are ones we have stayed in and reviewed in full. The others are hotels I would book, described from what each hotel publishes rather than from a stay of ours. Every hotel with a Book with Privileges link can be booked through The Luxe Destination Privileges, our partnership with Classic Travel, at the same rate as booking direct, with daily breakfast for two, a hotel credit and upgrade priority added.

Uluwatu and the Bukit Peninsula

Bali’s southern tip is a plateau of limestone ending in sheer cliffs above the Indian Ocean. The surf breaks here are world famous, the beaches sit at the bottom of long staircases or inclinators, and the hotels are built on the edge for the view. Come for sunsets, space and some of the island’s most spectacular architecture. It suits couples best, and it is about 45 to 60 minutes from the airport, more at sunset when the Jimbaran junction fills up.

Bulgari Resort Bali

The grandest address on the Bukit, and the one to book for a milestone. Bulgari’s 59 villas and mansions sit on 8.4 hectares at the top of a 160-metre cliff, designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel in hand-cut lava stone, local woods and alang-alang thatch. Book an Ocean Cliff Villa: a glass-and-mahogany pavilion on the edge with its own pool and a bathroom in glass and terrazzo. Every guest has a 24-hour butler, and breakfast is served at any hour.

Dinner at Il Ristorante – Niko Romito is Italian cooking from the chef behind three-Michelin-star Reale; Sangkar, on the highest point of the cliff, is the place for Balinese and Indonesian food. Take the inclinator down to the private beach for lunch at La Spiaggia, and be back at The Bvlgari Bar, 160 metres above the waves, for the aperitivo hour at sunset. The resort also offers a complimentary Melukat purification at its own temple and a walk through the neighbouring village. Book with Privileges (Marriott STARS: breakfast for two, a hotel credit and upgrade priority, with Marriott Bonvoy points still earned).

Alila Villas Uluwatu

If you love modern architecture, this is the one. WOHA designed it low and pale on the clifftop, and it was the first resort in Indonesia to receive EarthCheck’s highest certification for building and design. Every villa has a private pool, and each stay has a Villa Host who looks after the details, including dressing you in Balinese attire before a ceremony. Have a drink at the Sunset Cabana, a cocktail bar hanging over the cliff edge, and book CIRE for dinner with the whole ocean in front of you.

Alila’s experiences are worth planning around: a market-to-table morning with the chef in a fishing village, and a spiritual programme that ends at Uluwatu temple for sunset. Book with Privileges (Hyatt Privé: the upgrade is confirmed within 24 hours of arrival, and World of Hyatt points are earned).

Renaissance Bali Uluwatu Resort & Spa Our review

My pick for an easy-going Uluwatu stay that does not cost the earth. The lobby opens onto a terrace with the ocean in the distance, and on a clear morning you can see all the way to Mount Batur from the pool, which surprised me after driving down from the north the day before. My Junior Suite Garden View felt more like a chic apartment than a hotel room, and sat on the same level as the main pool and the breakfast restaurant. There are two big pools, the main one long enough for laps if you swim early, and a beach club to drift through the afternoons. The breakfast is the reason I would go back.

Read our review.

What to do around Uluwatu

• Pura Luhur Uluwatu at sunset. The clifftop sea temple at the island’s south-west tip is one of Bali’s most important. Stay for the Kecak dance performed there each evening, and arrive early for a seat. The temple monkeys take sunglasses, phones and hair clips, so put them away before you walk in.
• A day at Sundays Beach Club. A private cove in Ungasan reached by inclinator, with kayaks, paddleboards and calm water inside the reef.
• Sunset at Single Fin. The cliff-edge bar above the Uluwatu surf break has been the place to watch the surfers come in for years.
• Melasti Beach. White sand at the bottom of a road cut through the cliffs: one of the prettiest swimming beaches on the peninsula.
• Garuda Wisnu Kencana. Nyoman Nuarta’s 121-metre statue of Vishnu on Garuda, with cultural performances through the day.

Jimbaran Bay

A long, gentle crescent of white sand only 15 to 30 minutes from the airport, and the calmest swimming beach on the west coast. Jimbaran is where I send people on a first trip who want an easy beach holiday with the cliffs, the temples and the restaurants of the south all within reach. It is also the best place in Bali for a long first or last night.

InterContinental Bali Resort Our review

The resort I recommend most for a first Bali trip, and one we scored 9.2. It opened in 1993 as the first luxury resort on the bay, designed by the Indonesian architect Hendra Hadiprana, and a renovation completed in 2022 has made it feel fresh without losing its Balinese grandeur. The arrival through carved stone and an open pavilion of a lobby still sets the tone.

Book a Club room. Ours was the 58-square-metre Premium Club Lounge Access Garden View, and Club InterContinental is a resort within the resort: private check-in, 24-hour butlers, breakfast in the lounge from 6.30 to 10.30, afternoon tea from 2 to 4, evening cocktails and canapés from 5 to 7, and a quiet Club Pool reserved for club guests. The resort faces due west, so take a beanbag at the Sunset Beach Bar & Grill as the sky turns. For dinner, Bella Cucina is one of the best Italian restaurants in Indonesia, and the teppanyaki counter at KO is great fun. Read our review or book with Privileges (IHG Destined: a US$100 credit, breakfast for two and an upgrade on arrival when available).

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay

The family resort I would choose in the south. Opened in 1993, it is a hillside village of 147 villas and nine residences behind stone walls, each villa a set of thatched pavilions around a garden and plunge pool. Book an Ocean-View Pool Villa, 190 square metres with an oversized tub and an outdoor shower; families or friends travelling together should look at the three-bedroom Imperial villa, which has its own gym and a 68-square-metre pool. The Umah Rare Kids Club runs daily from 9am to 7pm.

Days centre on the Sundara Beach Club, which has one of the longest beachfront pools in Bali and a wood-and-fire dinner menu at night. Jala cooks Balinese seafood from the Jimbaran markets each evening, and the TELU cocktail bar sits in its own herb garden. Ask the resort priest to arrange a visit inside the cave at the ninth-century Goa Gong temple, twenty minutes away. Book with Privileges (Four Seasons Preferred Partner: breakfast for two daily, a credit and an upgrade on arrival when available).

Raffles Bali

For privacy above everything. Raffles opened in 2021 with just 32 villas, each with its own pool, on 23 hectares of hillside above the southern end of the bay, and it has its own heliport. Raffles Butlers look after you around the clock and are in touch before you arrive. For the sea, book an Ocean One Bedroom or Panoramic One Bedroom Pool Villa; on a clear day you can see Mount Agung from the 25-metre infinity pool by the water.

The food is the reason to stay in at night. Rumari serves progressive Indonesian cooking, with a ten-seat chef’s counter from Wednesday to Sunday; Loloan grills Peruvian dishes over wood by the pool; and The Writers Bar, at the highest point of the resort, is the place for a Bali Sling at sunset. The resort notes that nearby construction can occasionally be heard by day. Book with Privileges (Accor Preferred; Raffles asks for a two-night minimum).

Jimbaran Puri, A Belmond Hotel

A romantic, low-key beach hotel on the bay, an easy twenty minutes from the airport. There are 57 cottage suites and pool villas in gardens with four small open-air temples, and the beach is right there. For a honeymoon, book a Deluxe Pool Villa, which starts at 350 square metres.

Eat at Nelayan on the beach, with seafood from the Jimbaran market and produce from the hotel’s farms; take sunset cocktails at the beach bar; and go with the chef to the fish market at dawn before a cooking class. Several of the cultural activities, from offering-making to a village bike tour, are complimentary. Book with Privileges (Belmond Bellini Club: a credit of up to US$200 per stay).

What to do around Jimbaran

• Seafood on the sand at sunset. The bay’s cafés set their tables on the beach at dusk and grill the day’s catch over coconut husks. It is touristy and still one of the great Bali evenings.
• Kedonganan fish market at dawn. The northern end of the bay, where the night’s catch is sold. Loud, local and fascinating.
• Rock Bar at AYANA. A long cliffside bar reached by inclinator, famous for sunset. Book ahead.
• Balangan Beach. A surf beach under limestone cliffs just south of the bay, for a quieter afternoon.
• The cliffs of Uluwatu. The temple and beach clubs of the Bukit are 30 to 45 minutes away.

Nusa Dua

A planned resort enclave on the east of the peninsula, behind gates, with manicured gardens, a paved beach walk and some of the calmest water on the island. It is less “Bali” than Ubud or Seminyak, and that is its appeal: the easiest week on the island, particularly with children, 20 to 30 minutes from the airport.

Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort Our review

French polish with Balinese architecture, and a resort we scored 9.0. Book the Luxury Room Pool Access: ground-floor rooms that open straight into the resort’s interconnected lagoon pools, so the day starts with a swim from your terrace. If your room comes with Club Millésime, you check in privately away from the main lobby and have a quieter lounge for breakfast and evening drinks.

Breakfast at Kwee Zeen is one of the largest spreads I have seen, with live stations from Europe to Asia. Spend an afternoon at Toya, the beach bar on the sand, and do not miss the Sunday brunch at Cucina, a Nusa Dua institution. Read our review or book with Privileges (Accor Preferred: breakfast for two, a credit and upgrade priority, with ALL Accor points earned).

The St. Regis Bali Resort

Butler service is the point here: every guest has a St. Regis butler, 24 hours a day. Opened in 2008 on Nusa Dua beach, it is built around a saltwater lagoon pool, one of the largest in Bali. The suites start at 92 square metres; families should look at the Lagoon Villas, which open straight onto the lagoon, and couples at the beachfront Strand Villas. If an airport transfer matters to you, book from the Pool Suite upwards, which includes it.

The Sunday Astor Brunch at Kayuputi is one of Bali’s great tables. Each evening at The St. Regis Bar, a sommelier sabres Champagne with an Indonesian kris. Dulang serves Balinese dinners in a carved pavilion, and Iridium Spa, set among reflecting pools, has a 150-minute Champagne Ritual. For children there is a kids’ club, a teepee afternoon tea and a library card of their own. Book with Privileges (Marriott STARS).

The Apurva Kempinski Bali

A dramatic, terraced resort of 465 rooms, suites and villas cascading down the Nusa Dua cliff, conceived as an open-air theatre of Indonesian craft. We know it well as one of the island’s great wedding venues. For a couple, book a Cliff Private Pool Ocean Junior Suite, which includes the Cliff Lounge on the top floors: private check-in, breakfast until noon, afternoon tea, evening cocktails and its own infinity pool. Families can stay in the villa enclave, where the Singhasari villas have private pools.

Book Koral, Bali’s first aquarium restaurant, for a dinner beside the reef fish (adults only in the evening); the new NAMI teppanyaki opened in September 2026. The spa’s rituals follow the Serat Centhini, an eighteenth-century Javanese text. Book with Privileges (Kempinski Club 1897: a US$100 credit and breakfast for two).

What to do around Nusa Dua

• Water Blow. Ocean surges explode through a gap in the limestone headland, highest at high tide. Stay behind the barriers; the rocks are slippery.
• Museum Pasifika. A surprisingly fine collection of art from Indonesia, the Pacific and Europe, from Le Mayeur to Gauguin. An hour well spent on a hot afternoon.
• The Devdan Show. A staged evening of dance from across Indonesia, with acrobatics; good with older children.
• Pura Geger at sunrise. A clifftop temple above Geger Beach, best seen from the path outside, with a small sandy cove below.
• The beach walk. A paved promenade links the resorts along the coast: perfect for an early run or a sunset stroll.

Seminyak and Canggu

The west coast is Bali’s social side: long surf beaches, the island’s best restaurants, boutiques, and a sunset ritual at every beach club. Seminyak is polished and walkable; Canggu, further north, is younger, more laid-back and still changing fast. Stay here if you want to go out, and allow for traffic: 20 to 40 minutes to Seminyak from the airport, longer to Canggu and much longer in the late afternoon.

The Legian Seminyak

Right on the sand, with Seminyak’s restaurants and shops a walk away. The Legian is all suites: 67 of them, from the Studio Suite to The Legian Suite, with a three-tiered pool above the beach. For a larger group, The Beach House is a three-bedroom villa with its own infinity pool and direct beach access, and The Club behind the hotel is a quieter estate of pool villas with personal butlers. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Book with Privileges (Leading Hotels of the World).

The Oberoi, Bali

One of Bali’s original luxury resorts, and still one of its loveliest: thatched lanais and walled villas in gardens of lotus ponds and frangipani, with about 500 metres of Seminyak beach. Book a Luxury Ocean View Villa with Pool for the canopied bed, the private pool and an open-air dining pavilion facing the sea; the lanai rooms are the way in without a pool.

Eat at Kura Kura, named after the turtles that nest on this beach, and ask about the evenings of Balinese dance in the stone amphitheatre. The hotel arranges a sunset blessing at the fifteenth-century Petitenget temple next door with a priest, and a downhill cycle from Kintamani to Ubud. Book with Privileges (Virtuoso).

Regent Bali Canggu

The newest luxury hotel on this coast, opened in November 2025 as the first Regent in Indonesia, beside the Pura Batu Mejan sea temple. Its 150 rooms, suites and villas were designed by WATG, with interiors by HBA. Book a One Bedroom Beachfront Pool Villa, which includes the Regent Club; every guest has a Regent Experience Agent who arranges everything from surf lessons on Batu Bolong to private trips to Tanah Lot.

There are eight places to eat and drink. Book CURE, on the beach, for dinner, and try the spa’s signature Crystal Cure in the first Regent Spa. Children under 13 stay free, and there is a children’s pool. Book with Privileges (IHG Destined: a US$100 credit and breakfast for two, with IHG points earned).

What to do around Seminyak and Canggu

• Tanah Lot at sunset. The sea temple on its rock off the Tabanan coast, north of Canggu, is the most photographed sunset in Bali. Go on a weekday.
• Desa Potato Head. More than a beach club: a creative village with OMA-designed rooms, restaurants, a zero-waste programme and the famous lawn for sunset.
• KU DE TA. Two decades on, still the classic Seminyak beach club for a long lunch on a daybed.
• Dinner at Merah Putih or Mama San. Merah Putih serves modern Indonesian cooking in a dramatic, cathedral-like room; Mama San does Southeast Asian sharing plates. Book both.
• The Lawn, Canggu. Daybeds facing the surf for sunset, a short drive north.

Ubud

Inland Bali is the reason many of us fell for the island: river gorges, rice terraces watered by the centuries-old subak system, temples, painters’ villages, yoga and very good food. The best hotels are a short drive out of town, above the Ayung River valley or among the paddies, and most run a shuttle into the centre. It is one and a half to two hours from the airport, so give it three nights at least, and if you can, four.

The Purist Villas Our review

The most romantic small hotel I know in Ubud, and the only member of Relais & Châteaux in Indonesia. A handful of individually designed villas sit in the greenery five to ten minutes from the centre; mine was the Bamboo Pool Villa, with a virgin mojito waiting on arrival. The small things are what make it: a complimentary car into Ubud whenever you ask, a free 7am yoga class in the garden, and an à la carte breakfast at Café Balissimo where the salmon omelette is the order. Splurge on a private pool villa; you will use it at midnight. Read our review.

Visesa Ubud Our review

For the Bali of working rice fields rather than a view of them. Visesa is on a quiet road north of town, reached over a bridge lined with bougainvillea, and its paths wind between paddies, lotus ponds and open bale pavilions. There are 106 keys, from the 53-square-metre Jungle Suite, whose balcony over the river valley was the highlight of our stay, to one- and two-bedroom pool villas. Walk the farm, take the Balinese cooking class (the best thing we did here), and book dinner at Lumbung, a very good Indonesian restaurant. Read our review.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

The arrival is unforgettable: a suspension bridge above the treetops onto a roof pond of lotus, and then the whole resort below you in the Ayung River valley. Opened in 1998, it has just 60 suites and villas, recently reimagined. Book a Riverfront One-Bedroom Villa, 340 square metres at the water’s edge with its own pool; couples who want height should look at the two-level Premier Duplex Suite.

There are four restaurants: Ayung Terrace for Indonesian cooking in the treetops, Riverside for the Mediterranean, Sokasi in a bamboo pavilion, and the Jati Bar for afternoon tea over the valley. The newly reimagined Sacred River Spa borders the river. Plant rice with local farmers in the morning, or raft down the Ayung through the terraces to a riverside picnic. Book with Privileges (Four Seasons Preferred Partner).

Amandari

Aman’s Ubud house is built like a Balinese village on the lip of the Ayung gorge, and its green-tiled pool, shaped like the paddies below, is one of the island’s great sights. The thatched pavilions open onto walled gardens with outdoor soaking tubs; book an Ayung Pool Villa for a private pool and views over the valley. Return airport transfers, afternoon tea and a daily Balinese dance class are included.

Have breakfast or a candlelit dinner in the private dining bale on the edge of the gorge, and do the dawn water blessing at Tirta Empul, arranged before the temple opens to the public. The spa sits beside a lotus pond with a resident healer. Book with Privileges (Aman: breakfast for two daily and a credit).

Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

A resort built as a Balinese village where the jungle meets the Ayung River, with 35 suites and 25 pool villas. Every guest has a Patih, a personal butler, 24 hours a day. Book a one-bedroom river-view pool villa; the suites have rice-field, rainforest or river views and plunge pools.

The restaurant to book is Kubu, where you dine in a private bamboo cocoon by the river from a menu sourced within 100 kilometres. Sawah Terrace serves heritage Indonesian dishes with Balinese dance, and Ambar is the clifftop bar for sunset and live jazz. Take the vintage VW to Keliki village for a miniature-painting class and a rice-field walk. Book with Privileges (Marriott STARS).

Capella Ubud

Bill Bensley’s tented camp in the rainforest at Keliki is one of the most imaginative hotels in Bali: 22 one-bedroom tents and a two-bedroom lodge, each with its own pool, dressed as a tribute to the European adventurers of the 1800s. Book a One-Bedroom Keliki Tent for the heated pool facing the valley and the copper bathtub. Each guest has a Capella Culturist, and The Officers Tent is a shared living room for coffee, tea and evening cocktails.

Dinner at Api Jiwa is a farm-to-flame tasting menu at a single 7pm seating, for ages eight and over. The spa tents follow the phases of the moon, and evenings end at the campfire. The camp says it is not ideal for children under six or anyone with limited mobility, because the paths are steep. Book with Privileges (Virtuoso).

What to do around Ubud

• Tirta Empul. The spring-fed temple at Tampaksiring, where you can join the Melukat purification in the pools. Bring swimwear and go early.
• The Campuhan Ridge Walk. A free, easy path along the ridge above the Campuhan river, starting by the Gunung Lebah temple. Do it at dawn or before sunset.
• Dance at the Ubud Palace. Classical Legong, once performed for the royal court, is staged at the palace every evening. Seats are first come, first served.
• Museum Puri Lukisan. Ubud’s oldest art museum, founded in 1956, the best introduction to the painters who made Ubud famous.
• The Sacred Monkey Forest. A temple complex in the centre of town with more than a thousand long-tailed macaques. Keep bags closed.
• Dinner at Locavore NXT or Mozaic. Locavore NXT’s hyper-local Indonesian menu is on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list; Mozaic is Ubud’s long-standing fine-dining address.
• A day at Jatiluwih. The UNESCO-listed subak rice terraces on the slopes of Batukaru, an hour and a half west, are the most beautiful landscape on the island.

East Bali

The east is the Bali of fishing villages, black-sand beaches and royal water palaces, with Mount Agung behind and Lombok across the strait. It is one and a half to two and a half hours from the airport, so it suits the end of a trip, when you want to switch off completely.

Amankila

Closed for seasonal maintenance until 20 January 2027. When it reopens, it is one of the most beautiful places in Bali to end a trip: stilted suites on a hillside beneath Mount Agung, the famous three-tier infinity pool, and a beach club on its own black-sand beach. Book the Kilasari Pool Villa, with an infinity pool over the Lombok Strait, or one of only three Ocean Pool Pavilions. Airport transfers, afternoon tea and the watersports at the beach club are included, and the resort’s outrigger boats go snorkelling at Manta Point and Crystal Bay. Book with Privileges (Aman) from January.

What to do in East Bali

• Pura Lempuyang. The “Gate of Heaven”, a split gate framing Mount Agung, high on Mount Lempuyang. Go at dawn, before the queue for the photograph.
• Pura Besakih. Bali’s mother temple, terraced up the slopes of Mount Agung: the island’s most important temple complex.
• Tirta Gangga. The royal water garden built in 1948 by the last Raja of Karangasem. You can still swim in the spring-fed pools.
• Taman Ujung. The earlier royal water palace, completed in 1921, with ponds and gardens looking to the sea.
• Tenganan. One of the oldest Bali Aga villages, and one of only three places in the world where double-ikat cloth is woven.
• The USAT Liberty wreck at Tulamben. A Second World War cargo ship lying a short swim off the beach, one of the best snorkels in Bali.

A ten-night Bali trip, the way I would do it

1. Nights 1–3, the coast. Land and go straight to Jimbaran or Uluwatu: the InterContinental for an easy start, or Bulgari or Alila for a big one. Temple and Kecak at sunset, a beach club day, seafood on the sand.
2. Nights 4–7, Ubud. Four nights in the valley: the Purist Villas or Visesa for intimacy, Four Seasons Sayan, Amandari, Mandapa or Capella for a memorable splurge. Tirta Empul, the ridge walk, a cooking class, and a day at Jatiluwih.
3. Nights 8–10, somewhere to unwind. Seminyak for restaurants and shopping, Nusa Dua for an easy final stretch near the airport, or the east coast if you want true quiet before the flight home.

How to book a Bali hotel with more included

Bali’s luxury hotels are generous with space and breakfast, less so with upgrades in high season, from July to August and over Christmas and New Year. Booking through a preferred-partner programme puts breakfast for two, a hotel credit and the upgrade request on the reservation before you land: the treatment a top-tier loyalty member gets, from the first stay. It also covers hotels with no points programme at all, such as Aman and Four Seasons. For how each perk works, see our guides to hotel perks and late checkout, which is worth having before an evening flight from Denpasar.

Two practical notes. International visitors pay Bali’s one-off tourism levy of IDR 150,000 per person, online before arrival through the Love Bali portal. And at every temple, cover your shoulders and knees; a sarong and sash are usually lent at the entrance.

Frequently asked questions

Hotels marked Our review are ones we have stayed in. The others are described from each hotel’s own published information, checked in October 2026; restaurants, prices and opening hours change, so confirm with the hotel. Programme benefits vary by hotel and are confirmed when you book. The Luxe Destination Privileges is our partnership with our booking partner, Classic Travel, and we may earn a commission when you book through it. It never changes what we write.