Luxury Accommodation in Bali – the Four Seasons Resorts

If your idea of a proper holiday break includes wonderful hotels, check out the Four Seasons Resorts for fabulous luxury accommodation in Bali.

I love a great hotel when I travel. For me, coming back to welcoming staff and a beautifully appointed room at the end of a long day is an important part of the holiday experience – and when it comes to luxury accommodation in Bali, the Four Seasons resorts offer that in spades.

While there on my recent media trip my colleagues and I were treated to some of the amazing experiences available in the region, including getting a glimpse of some seriously luxury accommodation in Bali.

The first night of my trip was spent at the beautiful Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay. Unfortunately, due to the rotten times for direct flights from Adelaide to Bali, I didn’t arrive to my room until almost 11pm – and had to leave for our road trip at 8.30am the next day.

When I saw the room I’d been given I was overjoyed – and broken-hearted that I had to leave it so soon. The facilities in my deluxe villa included a huge, free-standing bath tub in a stunning bathroom, a private garden courtyard and my own pool.

The hotel grounds were stunning, with extensive gardens looking out over the bay and the staff are among the warmest and most helpful I’ve ever come across. Their commitment to their guests was impressive – as was their tenure with Four Seasons. The ones I spoke to had all worked there since it opened.

It was a wrench leaving, but happily two nights later I found myself back in the welcoming arms of the Four Seasons at their Sayan resort.

This place is simply glorious. Tucked away in the hill region near Ubud, the resort is located in lush forest beside the Ayung River. It’s been recognised as one of the World’s Top 100 Hotels (ranked at 29) in the 2017 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards and it’s not hard to see why.

On arrival guests enter via a pedestrian airbridge that hovers over the riot of greenery below, into the three-level building which houses reception area, the main restaurant, spa and gym – all of which are surrounded by a rooftop, moat-like, lily pond. We arrived in time to be greeted by the tinkling of Gamelan music and graceful, traditional Balinese dancers – not just for us, as I had narcissistically thought, but a regular performance that occurs three times a week for guests.

The accommodation offerings are comprised of suites or villas. Once again I found myself in a fabulous villa, with courtyard, private pool, stunning bathroom and access to free yoga classes, meditation classes, local walks and a daily shuttle bus into nearby Ubud.

I had a little more time here and so took a walk with one of the hotel’s gregarious guides. The resort grounds are dotted with, and surrounded by, rice paddies which I had assumed were tended by the hotel staff to provide rice for the restaurant.

Not so, as I soon found out. The immediate region was once all rice fields, and the paddies both in and around the hotel belong to local farmers who work them with the support of the resort. Our walk took us through some of these and into the tiny nearby village where we met some of the locals – and a great many of the local dogs.

Our guide was fantastic – warm, friendly and engaging and, like the staff at Jimbaran Bay, had been with the Four Seasons since it opened there. In fact, once again I discovered this to be the case with a large number of their staff whose loyalty to the Four Seasons says all one needs to know about how much they value not only their guests, but also their employees.

Actually, you’re probably going to be hearing a bit more from me about The Four Seasons Sayan resort. One night was just enough to let me know that I wanted more of this experience so, after a little arm-twisting on the bloke when I got home, I’ve booked us a proper vacation.

We’re heading back there in March – so stay tuned!

Lambs’ Ears and Honey was a guest of  The Four Seasons and the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism.

 

 

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