Alila Villas Uluwatu

The cliff at Uluwatu rises about 100 metres straight out of the Indian Ocean, and in 2009 the Singapore architects WOHA set a line of flat-roofed pavilions along its top, with a timber-framed cabana pushed out beyond the edge so that a guest with a drink at sunset has nothing beneath them but the sea. Alila Villas Uluwatu opened in June that year and changed what a resort on Bali could look like.

History

Alila Hotels and Resorts began in Bali and Singapore, and Uluwatu was its most ambitious project, planned as a resort with villas for sale and for hotel use on the dry limestone of the Bukit peninsula. The design was conceived to meet Green Globe certification from the start, with rainwater collection, local materials and landscaping that needed no irrigation. Hyatt acquired the Alila brand through its purchase of Two Roads Hospitality in 2018, and the resort has been part of Hyatt's portfolio since.

Architecture and design

WOHA, led by Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell, used the local Bukit limestone, recycled ironwood and bamboo, and gave the buildings flat roofs planted with grass or paved in stone so that from the road the resort reads as a series of terraces rather than a hotel. Lattice screens shade the walkways, and water runs through the public areas in a sequence of reflecting pools that lead the eye to the cliff. The sunset cabana, a timber box on steel supports over the void, has become the image of the resort.

Rooms and suites

The one-bedroom pool villas each have a private pool, a garden courtyard and a bale pavilion for sitting outdoors, with the bedroom and bathroom opening on to the terrace. Larger villas of two and three bedrooms, built for owners and rented through the hotel, stand along the cliff with longer pools. All villas have a butler service.

Dining

The Warung serves Indonesian food, with dishes from across the archipelago, in an open pavilion facing the sea. CIRE is the all-day restaurant for breakfast and Western menus, and the Sunset Cabana bar serves drinks on the cliff edge. Private dinners can be arranged on the terraces and in the villas.

Wellness

Spa Alila occupies a series of treatment rooms and a relaxation pavilion in the gardens, with Balinese and Asian therapies. There is a gym, a yoga pavilion and a 50-metre main pool, and the resort provides a path and a lift down the cliff to a small beach reached at low tide.

Weddings and events

Alila Villas Uluwatu is one of the most sought-after wedding venues on Bali. Ceremonies take place on the cliff-edge lawn and in a wedding pavilion above the sea, with receptions in the restaurants or on the terraces. The resort also takes small meetings and incentive groups in its function rooms and villas. Published capacities are not available.

Location

The resort is on Jalan Belimbing Sari at Pecatu, on the south-western cliffs of the Bukit peninsula, about 45 minutes by car from Ngurah Rai International Airport. Uluwatu temple, with its sea cliffs and evening kecak dance, is about ten minutes away, and the surf breaks of Uluwatu and Padang Padang are below the headlands to the north. Seminyak is about an hour by road. The Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park is about 20 minutes to the north-east and the fish market at Jimbaran about 30 minutes.