The Best Resorts to Book in Seminyak, Bali

What a welcome: red brick offset by lush foliage; stone lattices casting mosaics of light; lounge areas where the interplay of plate glass, honey-tone timber and muted whites might be in a Frank Lloyd Wright luxury home… The Katamama feels like a slice of Silicon Valley transported to a tropical beach. The hipster Potato Head beach club is on the doorstep (Katamama guests have complimentary access), but ocean views are even better from the rooftop bar.

With an al fresco restaurant, three pools right on the sand and a sunset-over-the-ocean rooftop bar, the Alila embraces Seminyak beach with open arms. Rooms are understated-minimalist (polished light stone, dark wood shuttering, uncluttered furnishing) and flooded with light through ample floor-to-ceiling glass. But not all are equal – to have the Indian Ocean at the foot of your bed and bath (and not visible only through a side window) be sure to ask for an ocean-view room… and do expect to pay more.

The Legian has the rooftop bar, shoreside infinity pools and sumptuous identikit balconied sea-view suites you can expect from a big Seminyak luxury hotel. But what sets it apart is that it also offers more secluded intimacy. Villas in the hotel club are secret enough for a celebrity to hide out in – with in-house butler and dining services and private pools (where no one can see you sunbathe) – set in lotus pond gardens, away from the hordes in the main resort of Seminyak.

W hotels don’t do understated luxury. With brilliant colour and blingy decor at every turn (the bar is neon orange), a spa lit in glacier-blue light and sinuous palm-shaded pools dropping like limestone terraces towards the sand, the W Seminyak is as subtle as a Swarovski-studded Lamborghini. Which is exactly why devoted fans love the brand. With five floors and more than 200 rooms it’s too big for intimacy but few guests are fussed about that – after all, they’re here to be seen and to sample Seminyak’s brashest bars and clubs, all a stroll away.

Tucked away at the quieter end of the beach, the Oberoi is about as serene as Seminyak luxury gets. The hotel is at its best in the evening – the lush, scented garden set under the stars, lambent light spilling from the palm-thatched villas, their reflections mirrored in private plunge pools. Their plush interiors are made for honeymoons – with four-posters draped in heavy mosquito nets and mood-lit marble bathrooms with sunken tubs and his-and-hers washbasins. If you don’t fall (deeper) in love while you’re both here, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be.

Start ticking: a beach in easy reach, romantic poolside restaurants, cocktail bar with heavenly marine view – Anantara has them all, but what really gives it the competitive edge is the affordable price. Huge rooms – of elegant hardwood floors offset with soft colours – come with hot-tub baths you could almost swim in. Some have private plunge pools, others have ocean-facing balconies. The Thai-trained spa staff are among the best in Bali. The setting is quiet and serene for Seminyak. Breakfast is included – and all for the same price as a Brighton B&B.

There’s so much to like about the Elysian, especially if you’re a couple. It’s that romance-inducing: modish villas come with private pools and ample, shaded sun-bathing space; you’ll have generous and good-looking stone-faced bathrooms as big as squash courts, while gardens tinkle with fountains. Our favourite thing? The black-stone bathtubs positioned in-room for soap-my-back intimacy… The downside? No ocean views. The beach is a five-minute walk away.

You want a private plunge pool and an ocean view from the foot of the bed? From the edge of your bath? You’ll find them at the Seminyak Beach Resort, together with the infinity pool, the sundowner cocktails, the al fresco restaurant, the spa… There are no designer touches, no glitz or pizzazz – the smiley service and rooms in dark wood, whitewash and plate glass could be anywhere in Asia. Which is the point. The Seminyak is about offering more of the same. With more. And when you’ve been, believe us you’ll want more.

OK, the beach is a 15-minute walk away, and the rooms are cells honeycombed into a corridor-cut concrete lattice. But we like them very much: they’re modern and bright, with light spilling in through floor-to-ceiling glass across warm woods and whites. The balcony suites on the upper storeys and the one- or two-bedroom garden villas (with private pools) are the best of the bunch. And with rates starting at under £30 B&B, you’re going to have to go some way to beat that price.

Architecture at the beachside Samaya is anodyne Asian: warm woods, ample floor-to-ceiling windows, polished stone floors, decorative tropical greenery. But what the hotel lacks in personality it makes up for in plushness. Beachside villas don’t have plunge pools, they have swimming pools. They’re not rooms so much as holiday homes – with separate living and bedroom areas, ensuites you can stroll around (fitted with whirlpool baths big enough for a hot tub party) and private gardens with al fresco dining areas. Avoid the restaurant though. There are many better a short walk away.

Tardis-like, the Horison squeezes more than 150 rooms, a pool, spa, rooftop bar and restaurant into a modest street-corner space 10 minutes’ walk from the sea. So it’s no surprise that everything feels small – the rooms are Hobbit-like and, entre nous, in need of a touch-up – but they’re pleasant retreats, with fresh white linens offset by red silk cushions and tasteful spot and wall lighting. The best have balconies. And with breakfast, beach service and a photo of yourselves in Balinese costume all for under £20, they’re nothing if not a bargain.

The Four Points is functional. Rooms are cubes in big concrete annexes overlooking a pool, decorated in whitewash, cream floor tiles and fitted wood veneer furnishing which might belong to any business hotel, anywhere. Even the batik wallpaper feels like it was chosen by a committee. But sitting in the heart of Seminyak and with slick service, a pool, a gym, a free beach shuttle and no extra charge for kids at just over £50 B&B, it’s easy to forgive the corporate anonymity.