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.
Courtesy of The Oberoi Beach Resort, Bali
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Courtesy of The Oberoi Beach Resort, Bali
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Courtesy of The Oberoi Beach Resort, Bali
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.
