Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, Bali: Nailing it on every level

It's early morning, even by Balinese standards. I stumble out of bed, feet sinking into manicured grass so soft it's like standing on plush carpet. I look out over the infinity pool as the gentle dawn light spills across Jimbaran Bay. Fisherman in long-tail boats float on the languid, silvery inlet tinged with pink and gold. Sipping on an espresso in my private cabana, I watch Bali wake to a new day.

Here at the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, a famous five-star resort and global standard bearer for tropical luxury when it first opened 25 years ago, a new era is unfurling. If the Oberoi Bali, at 40, is considered the "isle's Grand Dame", then the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay is surely of a similar, albeit younger, ilk. It's Kate Winslet to Diane Lane. Glamorous and impeccably groomed, she's a classic stateswoman on an island obsessed with the hip, the fashionable and the new.

New isn't necessarily better, yet let's face it, even those with good bones can use a little help. Today, following the completion of an exhaustive two-year renovation, the resort continues to hold its own against a surge of newcomers. Balinese vernacular architecture rules, yet the 147 relaunched thatched villas have been given a contemporary twist that also maximises the ocean and sunset vistas.

Renowned Indonesian design firm Jaya International – responsible for the interiors of luxury properties including the Aman at Summer Palace, Beijing; the Setai in Miami and Capella Singapore – is behind the elegant new-look villas. The villas are more spacious and offer shaded bales (swim-up bales in deluxe and premier categories), along with larger plunge pools, housed within the high walls of traditional-style dwellings. The Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay was the first resort to offer plunge pools in every villa – something now practically de rigueur at high-end hotels, resorts and villas across not only the Island of the Gods, but also globally.

Also new are the freshly minted Imperial and Royal Villas. Located steps from the five-kilometre sweep of Jimbaran Bay, which is famous for its barbecue seafood shacks, the two-storey Imperial Villa is a luxury haven with three bedrooms, infinity pool, fitness studio, private breakfast chef, personal trainer and yoga master. Perched on the ocean edge, the villa can host private parties for up to 80 people.

There are other new offerings, too. The resort has recently changed its Western-style Sundara grill into a contemporary Balinese restaurant serving shared plates of upscale takes on local dishes. With its luxe daybeds and Bali's longest beachfront pool, Sundara Beach Club has been a popular hotspot with the fashionable set since it opened in 2013. Olympic gold medallist Michael Klim and his family are regulars. Named after the Sanskrit word for beautiful, Sundara morphs from chic beach club by day to one of Bali's best restaurants by night.

Also new is an airy oceanfront pavilion for spa treatments and yoga (the anti-gravity yoga is particularly fun), an artists-in-residence program for guests to learn traditional woodcarving, weaving, painting and dance, while experiences such as heli surfing, a sunset cruise and water biking adventures are also on offer.

About 14 hectares of hilly headland and tropical water gardens cascade down to the Indian Ocean below, meandering paths wind through the resort where bougainvillea spills over high stone walls and traditional Balinese doors mark the entrances to villas. The resort commands one of the best positions on the island. With vistas across the narrow peninsula that connects the mainland to the arid Bukit Peninsula, it's also a mere 20 minutes from the airport (handy given Bali's escalating traffic congestion).