Top 12 Bali hotels and resorts for different budgets

Ketut's Place, Ubud

Perfect for: Budget travellers, backpackers, small groups, solo travellers, long-term stays
There’s no mistaking you’re in Bali at Ketut’s Place, with its richly decorated traditional Balinese architecture and garden setting. That it’s located in Ubud, Bali’s heart, seals the deal. Four different room and villa categories, and a B&B option at a neighbouring property, mean this place is suited to budget and solo travellers as much as it is couples and families. Simple deluxe rooms have garden views; dial it up a notch with a swimming pool view and balcony; or treat yourself to a royal Balinese villa. All rooms and suites have amenities including bathrooms, air-con, mosquito nets and Wi-Fi plus the luxury of toiletries and bathrobes. Completing the immersion, Pancali Spa offers Balinese massages and Kunti cafe serves traditional local dishes. Rates include breakfast.
From $60 a night. Jl. Suweta No.85, Sambahan, Ubud. Phone : +62 361 980 851. See ketutsplace.business.site

Nirjhara, Tanah Lot

Perfect for: Honeymooners, splurging couples, explorers
Nirjhara means ‘waterfall’ in Sanscrit — surely the only name for a resort with a waterfall pounding into its centre. Opened in 2021, Nirjhara might be located in Tanah Lot near the popular temple, but this secluded tropical oasis is hidden in lush jungle surrounded by rice paddies. Honeymooners take heed. Twenty-five suites and villas include seven treehouse ‘canopy’ suites with rooftop bathtubs and views through the tops of coconut palms to the waterfall. Villas have their own pools and a sustainable-chic aesthetic that includes an earthy blue colour palette, traditional woven furnishings and dark wood furniture. The extras here are impressive given the number of rooms: Ambu is an exquisite Indonesian restaurant in a pavilion overlooking the main pool; The Retreat spa has four treatment rooms; and there’s a dreamy bamboo yoga shala by the river.
From $420 a night. Jl. Nirjhara, Banjar Kedungu, Belalang, Kediri, Tabanan. Phone: +62 361 2095333. See nirjhara.com

Tandjung Sari, Sanur

Perfect for: Bali-ophiles, multi-gen families, couples
Since the 1960s, Tandjung Sari has been the purveyor of immaculate Balinese hospitality in a traditional setting. Age has not wearied it. Owned by the Dutch-Indonesian Wawo-Runtu family, the resort occupies one of Sanur's best waterfront locales with white sand stretching from the bar pavilion and banyan-shaded swimming pool to the water's edge. Accommodation ranges from two-storey sea and garden bungalows to village bungalows with little walled gardens and private day-bed pavilions. A five-bed bungalow with connecting room, and four-bed village bungalows cater well to families. All rooms are sympathetic to a serene Balinese aesthetic with canopied beds, teakwood furniture and fresh flowers. Chef Wirata's Indonesian dishes – served poolside, are some of Bali's best.
From $330 a night. Jl. Danau Tamblingan No.41, Sanur, Denpasar Selatan, Kota Denpasar. Phone: +62 361 288441. See tandjungsarihotel.com

Melia, Nusa Dua

Perfect for: Families, multi-gen travellers, big groups, flop and drops
Mums and dads looking to flop and drop while the kids are entertained should have Melia on their radar. This is a resort hotel, the expansive kind you find on Nusa Dua with sprawling landscaped gardens, a lagoon pool, five restaurants and a calm, white sand, rubbish-free seafront. The rooms are in four-storey courtyard towers some with spacious balconies, others opening onto a communal pool. Balinese tropical architecture reminds you of where you are, even if the cuisine doesn’t delve too deep into the locale. The kids club includes outdoor movie nights, go-carts for cruising the resort, scheduled activities like fencing, badminton, giant chess and, best of all, free fairy floss daily.
From $230 a night. Kawasan Pariwisata ITDC Lot N1, Nusa Dua. Phone: +62 361 771510. See melia.com

Mamaka by Ovolo, Kuta

Perfect for: Digital nomads, young travellers, solo travellers, long-stayers
Beachfront Mamaka by Ovolo is the new kid on the Kuta block with digital nomad coolness coming with it. Its 191 hotel-style rooms and (just four) suites incorporate funky wallpaper, quality linen and cushions and couches that pop with lively colours. Coffee-table mags and bookshelf curios add that interior designer touch. Street 32 on ground level sells Euro-Asian food and coffee. For cocktails, Mamaka Rooftop bar and eatery, next to the pool, overlooks the area’s best surf break. Long-term stayers will appreciate a self-serve laundry, high-speed Wi-Fi, a 24-hour ‘wellness zone’ with TRX gym equipment, boxing bag and balancing surfboard. Quicksilver Bali Surf Academy is based in the lobby.
From $135 a night. Jl. Pantai Kuta No. 32, Kuta, Legian. Phone: +62 361 8496500. See ovolohotels.com

Four Seasons Bali at Sayan, Ubud

Perfect for: Honeymooners, a splurge on luxury, anniversary celebrations, wellness travellers
Whether you cross a dramatic suspension bridge or arrive via the Ayung River on a white water raft, checking in to Four Seasons, Ubud, is to enter a sanctuary where greenery and serenity reign. This is a gift-to-self resort with every need catered to. True to the brand, service, styling and scenery are second-to-none. Choose between family and one-bedroom suites in the central building overlooking the river landscape or exceptional one- and two-bedroom villas that are sunk below entry level for privacy and full immersion in the jungle landscape. Sacred River Spa is known in Bali for its chakra ceremonies and energy healing treatments. So too the Chef’s Table at Sokasi, which takes taste buds on a journey through Balinese ceremonial cuisine.
From $950a night. Jl. Raya Sayan, Sayan, Kecamatan Ubud. Phone: +62 361 977577. See fourseasons.com

Hotel Tugu, Canggu

Perfect for: Wellness travellers, Bali-ophiles, anniversary celebrations
Tugu is the grande dame of Balinese accommodation exuding a grace and charm grounded in its proud Balinese architecture and Indonesian cultural aesthetic. In the central grass-roofed pavilion, guests check-in surrounded by the owner’s private collection of artworks, antiques and historical intrigues from across Asia. Beguiling rooms and suites, some with open-air bathrooms, occupy stand-alone buildings mirroring traditional Balinese compound architecture. Walk through frangipani-scented garden to the lotus lily pad breakfast pagoda, yoga pavilion, swimming pool, spa and lux villa home to artworks by famed Belgian artist and Bali resident Adrien-Jean Le Mayeau. Ji, a Japanese rooftop restaurant, has impeccable sunsets over Batu Balong beach, just 50 metres away.
From $430 a night. Jl. Pantai Batu Bolong, Canggu Beach. Phone: +62 361 4731701. See tuguhotels.com

Potato Head Studios, Seminyak

Perfect for: Digital nomads, solo travellers, party people, long stayers
Potato Head Studios is the latest addition to the Desa Potato Head creative village that includes neighbouring Potato Head day club and boutique Potato Head Suites (formerly Katamama). All three occupy a vast interactive open space stretching along Seminyak’s popular Petitenget Beach. The 168-room hotel was designed for longer-stay digital nomads as much as short-term guests, with open-plan rooms catering to lounging (hammock, modular cocktail bar-cum-coffee table) and working (desk) as much as sleeping (king sized bed). Similarly, with a library and co-working space, recording studio, 95-metre pool, Sanctuary spa and rooftop yoga and meditation classes, who’d leave? With sustainable luxury as a focus, seafood eatery Ijen, one of five in-house F&B establishments, boasts a ‘no-leftovers’ kitchen.
From $320 a night. Jl. Petitenget no. 51B, Seminyak Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung. Phone: +62 361 4737979. See seminyak.potatohead.co

Subak Tabola Villa, Sideman

Perfect for: Wellness travellers, serenity seekers, explorers
Formerly the property of the province’s royal family, Subak Tabola Villa rests on a glorious rural hillside overlooking tiered crops of rice, banana and coconut palms. In the distance is the ocean and, when the clouds allow, Mt Agung rises in the background. Co-owner and host Mama Arti ensures an intimate and meditative home-away-from-home experience. The resort’s 14 suites, with ensuites and petal-filled baths, occupy traditional Balinese villas with front balconies, perfect for contemplating the view. They’re spaced throughout a rambling organic herb garden complete with koi pond and roman-bath style swimming pool. Massage therapists and yoga teachers are on-call from the local village. The restaurant, serving Indonesian and Thai cuisine, doubles as a sunset bar, with Arak-based cocktails a speciality.
From $125 a night. Jl. Raya Tebola No.80864, Telaga Tawang, Kec. Sidemen. Phone: +62 812 3829 936.