Where to Stay on Bali, Indonesia, for a Local Experience
![Book an ocean-view villa at the Four Seasons Resort in Bali for unrivalled views of Jimbaran Bay](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/20x11/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/four-seasons-resort-bali-at-jimbaran-bay-hero.webp)
Sundowner cocktails on a balmy tropical beach, valleys stepped with rice terraces, waterfalls, smoking volcanoes, shadow puppet shows and sandalwood-scented temples – Bali ticks all the boxes for an unforgettable holiday in Asia. And the luxury hotels on the island are among the best on the continent – check out our selection of the top places to stay in Bali for a local experience and then book with Culture Trip.
1. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
Hotel, Luxury
![The outdoor pool, wooden deck, chairs and sun loungers looking towards the ocean at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/four-seasons-resort-bali-at-jimbaran-bay-1.webp)
Quieter than Kuta and more serene than Seminyak, Jimbaran Beach is every bit as broad and golden as both – and it’s equally well-positioned for Indian Ocean sunsets, as well as for the airport. The faux-Balinese villas at the Four Seasons sit on a bluff at the quietest end of Jimbaran. Oceanview villas come at a premium price, but this is the place to book them – with the entire bay (and that sunset over the ocean) at your feet as you sip a cocktail on your sundeck, toes in your personal plunge pool.
2. Wapa di Ume Sidemen
Luxury, Boutique Hotel, Resort
![A bed with white curtains, floor pillows and a small table in a hotel room at Wapa di Ume Sidemen](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/wapa-di-ume-sidemen-1.webp)
Bali’s not all about ocean sunsets. At Wapa di Ume, there’s a magnificent rural view at every turn: marvel at rolling rice terraces and rainforests from your four-poster bed or plunge pool, and, from the open-sided restaurant, enjoy the view of the smouldering cone of Mount Agung rising moodily against the sky. Sidemen village is remote even by Balinese standards – around a 2-hour drive from the airport – so, you’ll find more islanders than tourists here and more buffalos than cars: a lovely local touch.
3. Amankila
Resort, Hotel
![A waiter walking with a glass of wine at the outdoor pool area with couches, lit up with candles with a view of the ocean at sunset, at Amankila](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/amankila.webp)
4. Hotel Tugu Bali
Luxury, Chain Hotel
![The pond with lilypads and greenery, and the buildings lit up in the evening, at Hotel Tugu Bali](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hotel-tugu-bali.webp)
Set on a surf beach on the edge of a sleepy resort town, the Tugu is the antidote to the anodyne, corporate-designed luxury found elsewhere in Bali. It’s as quirky and individual as a Victorian collector’s hoard – crammed with Asian curios gathered over a lifetime of travelling by the owners. Snarling naga dragon-serpents hover over the giant copper bathtubs in the teak-wood cabins, intricately carved temple doors serve as headboards, stone Buddhas meditate next to bar stools in the ocean-view bar, and window shutters recovered from ancient Javanese painted houses open onto a garden of lotus ponds and frangipani trees.
5. COMO Uma Ubud
Luxury, Chain Hotel
![The outdoor pool, with red cushioned wooden couches and tables, at COMO Uma Ubud](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/como-uma-ubud.webp)
Once Ubud was a quiet, temple-dotted Balinese village in the island’s rural centre. Then, Julia Roberts came to eat, pray and love. At COMO, it’s still peaceful, thanks to its location in a forest, a 10-minute shuttle ride from the bar and restaurant hurly-burly of modern Ubud. The villas are so quiet that you can hear tinkling water and birdsong. All are kept in a minimalist white and bathed in light from open construction. Some have private pools. And, if you choose not to eat or pray in Ubud itself, the hotel has a tranquil low-lit Italian restaurant and provides free yoga mats.
6. The Slow
Independent Hotel, Hotel
![A couch, table and chair in a hotel room with floor-to-ceiling windows at the Slow in Bali](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/the-slow.webp)
The Slow works hard to be effortlessly cool. Every tiny detail has been carefully thought through: notice the arty black-and-white underwater nudes on the raw-stone walls, which match the matrix-grey counterpanes and the industrial concrete perfectly. In the bedrooms, you’ll find Asian-wicker Eames-style chairs to relax in. When you step outside the front door, you’ll find yourself in the backpacker-rushing, taxi-tooting whirligig of Canggu Beach’s main street.
7. The Anvaya Beach Resort Bali
Resort, Hotel
![A bed, chair, yellow lamps and floor-to-ceiling doors opening to a balcony in a hotel room at he Anvaya Beach Resort Bali](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/the-anvaya-beach-resort-bali.webp)
Most Balinese beach hotels target couples. The Anvaya is for families. Kids stay for free, and the hotel offers babysitting, a kid’s club, a huge menu of family activities (including shoreside cycling, with children’s bikes available) and several swimming pools with toddler-friendly shallow ends. Rooms include big family suites, and there’s a tropical garden, with plenty of family-friendly restaurants nearby. The small beach is far from Bali’s best, but it’s right on the doorstep.
8. The Apurva Kempinski Bali
Hotel, Chain Hotel, Resort
![The outdoor pool, with a covered dining area and main hotel building lit up in the evening, at Apurva Kempinski Bali](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/the-apurva-kempinski-bali.webp)
With interlinked villas climbing a cliff to a monumental main building, the Apurva looks like a postmodern reworking of the Triumph Palace in Moscow. But, while it’s more Bolshevik than Bali on the outside, interiors are soft and serenely Asian – with warm colours, honey-hued polished stone and Indonesian wood carvings. And, if you book a Cliff or Ocean Front villa or suite, there are beautiful views – out over plunge pools and broad, sandy Nusa Dua Beach onto the open ocean.