I have about 3 nights coming up in Bali with the wife, flying in late Wed night and leaving mid Saturday morning. I’m looking for a resort type of hotel, one that is on the beach, plenty of amenities, spa & massage, with good restaurants/food/service on premise. I don’t plan on doing any touristy sightseeing, maybe going one night to where the bar/nightclubs are and half of a day going to look at shops, but we are mostly looking for a relaxing trip. Would love to find a place that would have room/hut over the water on piers or something similar. Our price range is up to 300-400 a night, I looked at the Starwood properties, but I’m afraid it might be too much like a regular hotel and not a relaxing resort/spa type of experience with lounging on the beach etc…

Thanks,

You might want to consider Bali Hyatt - a bit old but still good.

There's also Nusa Dua - but that's really un-Bali like.

I agree that Nusa Dua is not Bali-esque.

Generally, I think that if you want to experience more of the local culture you may want to avoid big chain hotels.

IMO Bali and resort don't go well together. There are all sorts of villas with SPA and everything that have a much more local (and less Western) feel.

Grand Hyatt beach is not that nice for swimming. Actually, Bali itself is not a beach kind of place.

At $300-400 range, you have many options. The Legian or Oberoi are two nice properties. Don't forget to stop by Ku De Ta for drinks or lunch.

The new W (just opened) next to Legian is great, much better location than Nusa Dua and while still a W it is on the beach and sounds like what you want -- not high density convention type even if it is 5-star butlered luxury. Otherwise most of the nice private villa options that I know of are not on the beach (maybe close but not beachfront).