Tucked down an unassuming stone path off a busy road in Seminyak, you’ll find The Oberoi Beach Resort, Bali. A far cry from the beeping scooters and eager market vendors outside, walking through the Oberoi’s gates, I’m met with an immediate sense of sanctuary. The reception area is dotted with water lily ponds and the decor is unmistakably Balinese, with tall thatched ceilings, ornate carvings lining the walls, and a calming open-air design where sandalwood-scented incense drifts in the air. It sets the scene for my stay at one of the best hotels in Bali.
The hotel’s 74 thatched rooms and villas are scattered across 15 acres of tropical gardens, where stone paths are lined with frangipani trees, trickling fountains and the occasional temple. There are two room categories, standard ‘lanai’ rooms and villas, both very generously sized with private outdoor terraces, huge teak-wood beds and marble-clad bathrooms overlooking the peaceful, verdant gardens. My advice? Ask for a pool villa, where an enormous turquoise private pool stretches from your villa door to your raised dining pavilion, some of which offer views of the sea. A beautiful 200+ square-metre villa with your own private pool is the epitome of luxury, but with a private pool so big you can actually swim lengths? That really is a rarity.
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If you can tear yourself away from the pool (I struggled), there is plenty to keep you occupied in the pursuit of relaxation. At the Oberoi Spa, you’ll find two open-air couples’ treatment rooms framed by tall grasses rising from a waterlily pond. Book in for the signature Balinese massage – I arrived with tense shoulders and a knot-ridden upper back, and left feeling feather-light and ready to melt into my sunlounger. Elsewhere, the hotel’s main pool is – you guessed it – enormous, and made for whiling away the hours under a jewel-toned fringed parasol to the sound of the waves lapping at the shore just metres in front of you.
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On the days you’re craving something a little more adventurous, there’s plenty nearby – this is Bali, after all. The resort opened in the late 1970s, long before the island’s mass tourism boom, and back then was entirely enveloped by rice paddies. Now, it is surrounded by the bustling streets lined with boutique shops, beach clubs and restaurants the area has become synonymous with (La Plancha and Potato Head Beach Club are well-known hotspots worth imbibing at, and are within a 30-minute stroll away). The hotel can also organise a variety of activities and excursions, such as mountain cycling from Kintamani to Ubud, trekking through Taro’s rice fields and coffee plantations, learning to surf on Kuta beach, or catamaran sailing to nearby Nusa Lembongan.
The food at Oberoi Bali was some of the best I’ve eaten on the island. Pitch up for a sundowner at beachfront Kayu Bar, with cocktails made from Indonesian Nusa Cana rum or Balinese arak, before heading for dinner at the hotel's main restaurant, Kuru Kuru (the Indonesian word for ‘turtle’, affectionately named after the turtles that nest on the hotel's beach). The menu is extensive, spanning Western, Indonesian and Indian cuisine – the Malabar fish curry of Baramundi in spicy onion and coconut gravy was incredible, as were the slow-cooked Udang balado jumbo prawns with steamed rice.
Oberoi is a hotel group that takes breakfast extremely seriously, and their Oberoi outpost is no exception. It would be remiss not to order breakfast to your villa once or twice during your stay. Served on our dining pavilion, we tucked into platters of fresh fruits – papaya, dragon fruit, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon – with still-warm pastries and delicious Sumatran coffee; or traditional nasi goreng (wok-fried rice with prawns, veg and a fried egg) with cold-pressed juices (my favourite was the orange blossom: carrot, green apple, orange and ginger).
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If you're looking for a luxury Balinese retreat that will stay with you long after you've landed home, I couldn't recommend The Oberoi Beach Resort Bali highly enough.
Rates for private pool villas with breakfast start from £700 per night.
