Where to Stay in Bali Right Now

Jungle-fringed or beachfront, deeply spiritual or all-out indulgent: The Island of Gods has a hotel to match every vibe. You could find inner peace at one of Ubud’s sprawling rainforest hideaways, or join the surfer-cool crowd at Further Hotel or COMO Uma Canggu along the lively southwestern coast. 

For a beach break, Uluwatu’s dramatic cliffside retreats are just the ticket, or you could venture far from the fray on the little-visited eastern coast, where Amankila tumbles down to a volcanic beach with eye-popping views over the Lombok Strait. Whichever corner you choose, Bali’s hotel scene is at the top of its game (it’s been perfected over almost half a century of mass tourism, after all). Here, it’s a choose-your-own adventure with no dull options. (Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan.)

COMO Uma Canggu (Canggu)
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With a sweeping lagoon pool and oversize penthouse suites, this white-and-cream beachfront retreat delivers a luxurious alternative to Canggu’s shabby-chic surf lodges. Private surf instructors can guide you to the area’s best wave breaks, while complimentary yoga classes and Pilates sessions will keep you busy on land. COMO has well-being embedded in its DNA, so food at the COMO Beach Club restaurant skews light and healthy (think: green goddess soups and chopped salad bowls)—but with Canggu’s restaurant-packed main drag just a short stroll away, there are plenty of ways to retox.

Bvlgari Resort Bali (Uluwatu)
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When it comes to dramatic settings, no Balinese resort can beat Bvlgari’s cliff-top perch in Uluwatu. This all-villa mash-up of traditional local handiwork and sleek Milanese design feels like a charming village transported from the Amalfi Coast—wild frangipani-scented gardens, sloping cobblestone alleys and all. There’s a dreamy beach club, reachable only via a vertigo-inducing funicular, and one of the island’s best Italian fine-dining restaurants for dinner (say sì to the wine pairing). Authentically Indonesian—or demure—it’s not, but if it’s no-expense-spared relaxation you’re after, you can’t do much better than this.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan (Ubud)
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Down an unassuming alley between the money changers and trinket shops on Ubud’s main drag, a magical world unfurls. This perfectly manicured jungle bubble, centered around a breezy, fortress-like pavilion made from local limestone, invites you to lean into Ubud’s hippie vibes with chakra-balancing body scrubs, jamu-fueled breakfasts and sacred sleep rituals with the whispery guidance of a local former nun. Book one of the riverfront villas, with teak-clad interiors and a private yoga pavilion covered in alang-alang thatch, to fully commit to the bit.

Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Ubud)
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Neon-green rice fields, bamboo yoga salas and incense smoke swirling through an on-site temple: Mandapa leaves no doubts about its Ubud zip code. A Balinese fire blessing is the perfect way to ease into a stay filled with quintessentially Ubud experiences, which could include pranic acupuncture sessions and a reading by healer Ibu Ketut Mursi, who will allay emotional ailments you didn’t even know you had. And if that all starts to feel a little too woo-woo, wasabi martinis await at the lounger-lined pool.

Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape (Payangan)

If Buahan’s bale-style pavilions were any more exposed to the surrounding rainforest, you’d be sleeping directly in the treetops. Rather than walls, a wispy mosquito net—and, in case of rain, bamboo roll-up curtains—separate your bed from northern Ubud’s steamy Buahan Valley, which means you experience every cricket chirp and rooster’s crow in ultra-high definition. But you’re far from roughing it: You can soak in the dreamy views from your private pool or copper bathtub, head to the riverside spa for herbal rubdowns and nosh on modern Balinese tasting menus featuring ingredients grown (often quite literally) just below your feet.

Capella Ubud, Bali (Ubud)

Spun from the mind of architect and interior designer Bill Bensley, this camp, pitched between Ubud’s rice terraces, draws inspiration from the European explorers who scoured Bali’s jungles in the early 1800s. The result is a gorgeous mix of 22 individually designed tents with velvety textiles printed in kaleidoscopic patterns, headboards made from hand-carved wooden doors and bathrooms furnished with mismatched antiques. Channel your inner adventurer with a vintage 4x4 tour or guided hike up Mount Batur, then unwind with a Hot River Stones Massage at the spa and an Indonesian omakase dinner at the open-air Api Jiwa restaurant.

Further Hotel (Pererenan)

Canggu? That’s old news. The Pererenan district, one beach to the west, is southern Bali’s new darling, and it has seen an influx of chefs and hoteliers set up shop between its rice fields. As a tropical-modern take on Italy’s scattered Alberghi Diffusi hotels, Further channels Pererenan’s cool through a trio of terra-cotta-tinted buildings that each house suites featuring chunky wooden furniture and wraparound outdoor bathrooms. On the ground floor of each building, you’ll find some of the district’s coolest retail and dining outlets, including international bistro Bar Vera and an all-natural skincare boutique.

Amankila (Manggis)

Even though this hilltop haven on Bali’s quiet east side is among Aman’s oldest resorts, it’s still considered one of the group’s best. It’s a testament to the architect’s timeless design, with a three-tiered infinity pool and sweeping stone staircases that still look as dazzling as they did when the resort opened in 1992. With their princely four-poster beds made from ornately carved timber and furniture inlaid with pearls and coconut shells, the temple-like villas will make you feel like Balinese royalty—so a predawn breakfast cruise on one of the resort’s teakwood-trimmed outriggers seems only natural. 

Nirjhara (Tabanan)

There’s an in-the-know quality to this bijou jumble of tree house–style suites and villas, all made from volcanic stone. Sandwiched between a rumbling waterfall and the endless rice paddies of little-visited Tabanan, it’s the address of choice for Bali regulars, who come here to bliss out with moringa body scrubs at the spa and long, seafood-heavy lunches at the breezy riverfront restaurant. The offbeat location is a blessing: It’s well out of earshot but just a 20-minute drive from Pererenan and Canggu, so you can dip in and out of the boomtown buzz on your own terms—if you manage to tear yourself away from Nirjhara’s sun-spangled pool, that is.