Bali honeymoon ideas: the 10 most romantic places to stay

Times

01-05-2025

Bali stocks the perfect blend of honeymoon ingredients; beaches that shimmer from black to silver to gold; rainforested mountains and mist-kissed volcanoes; 1,000-year-old lava stone temples on almost every corner (there are nearly 20,000 puras dotted across the island). And that's without mention of the pleasingly priced designer shopping, deliciously hip bars and restaurants, fantastic cuisine and evocative hotels.
On the Island of the Gods, romantic places to stay abound, ranging from sleek tropical-modern villas to palatial clifftop resorts, fantastical tented camps and beachside bolt holes. Here's our pick of the dreamiest resorts for a honeymoon, anniversary or special occasion to suit all tastes.
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One of the smartest, most original, sustainable hotels to come out of Asia in the last few years, Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, has a 'no wall, no doors' concept that brings new meaning to being immersed in nature. Every part of the resort, cascading down a valley of tangled rainforest and rice fields 45-minutes' drive north of Ubud, is open to the elements. That includes the 16 private pool bales (villas); dreamy affairs on huge wooden platforms with covered bedrooms stocked with sophisticated Indonesian furniture, ikat fabrics and copper bath tubs that are illuminated by fireflies in the evening.
Luxury Escapes has regular offers for Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, which come with half-board and complimentary daily activities.
• Discover our full guide to Bali• More of the best hotels in Bali
This stylish resort, sister to Four Seasons Sayan in Ubud, enjoys a prime position on Jimbaran beach on the island's south coast. If the magnificent sunsets don't melt your heart, there's always the Healing Village Spa, where you'll find lengthy heart-opening massage rituals, water purification ceremonies and a crystal-filled colour therapy suite. The bars, restaurants and beach club are all on point and there isn't a bad room to be had; every spacious standalone villa comes with a separate living area, rolltop bath tub, jasmine-scented terrace, private swimming pool and sea views.
Book your escape to Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay and enjoy cooking classes, working out at the gym or indulgent spa treatments.
• Read our full review of Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay
Suffice to say, you won't just be staring into each other's eyes with the Edenic scenes Mandapa has to offer: rainforest and rice fields tumbling down both sides of a steep valley to the serpentine Ayung River; spotted doves and ornate sunbirds pirouetting in the trees; the distant rumble of a sacred waterfall. The suites and villas are downright sybaritic in chocolate tones with vaulted ylang-ylang ceilings, mother-of-pearl chandeliers and hand-painted screens of bucolic Balinese village life. The latter also have large private swimming pools. There's plenty more to keep you locked in situ — from the fashionable Japanese fusion restaurant to the exceptional spa, free wellness activities every day (chakra cleansing, medicinal plant workshops, hatha yoga) and the freeform swimming pools that cascade through the resort's heart.
British Airways Holidays has numerous deals for Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, with flights, transfers, B&B or half-board options.
• Read our full review of Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Foot massages on arrival, swimming pools filled with petals and aromatherapy turn-downs await at this intimate resort in the sleepy little seaside village of Sanur. Laid out like a Balinese village, everyone gets their own supremely private villa, tastefully decorated in warm whites, honey-hued woods, rattans and local ikat fabrics. All of the villas have flowery outdoor spaces and most also have private swimming pools. Between dips you can pop to the spa for hot-stone massages, try a private yoga class in a leafy bale, or venture to Sanur's golden shores, a 15-minute walk away.
Travelbag has seven-night deals staying in a pool villa at the Pavilions Bali, including breakfast, flights and transfers.
• The best luxury villas in Bali
A quirky Bill Bensley design, theatrical tented villas, superb restaurants and a winning location on the peaceful fringes of Ubud make this one of Bali's star stays — and one of its most unique. Spend the morning communing with nature on a stroll through the surrounding rice fields before a dip in the tank-like swimming pool. In the afternoon join your fellow guests for afternoon tea and game of billiards in the Officers Tent, the rainforest equivalent of an executive lounge. Later, sample some contemporary Balinese cuisine — duck slow-cooked in cacao and beets, seared scallops with sweetcorn velouté, chilli pineapple with coconut ice cream perhaps — followed by hot chocolate and s'mores around the campfire, and a night in tented suite with a sumptuous four-poster bed, travel trunk drinks cabinet and huge copper bath tub.
Choose from a range of accommodation at Capella Ubud, including lodges with one or two bedrooms, and tent rooms with river or rainforest views.
• Read our full review of Capella Ubud
The view from the Bulgari Bali's colossal reception pavilion will leave you weak at the knees; the pointy roofs of 64 sultry pool villas teeter on the edge of 500ft-high cliffs, with the frothy white waves and piercing blue expanse of Indian Ocean unfolding below. There are bursts of bougainvillea, jasmine and fragrant frangipani, threaded with cobblestone paths and a private funicular that shuttles guests from the clifftop infinity pool down to the golden boulder-strewn beach. Catering to the one-per-cent club, activities include helicopter tours, surf school, private Balinese blessing ceremonies, personal shopping expeditions and gourmet meals. It all adds up to a very special stay.
Luxury Escapes has accommodation-only deals available for stays Bulgari Resort Bali.
• Read our full review of Bulgari Resort Bali
If you're looking for a regal retreat to celebrate at, look no further than Jumeirah Bali, which has been lavishly styled to emulate the great palaces of the ancient Javanese-Balinese Majapahit Empire. Hidden behind high carved-stone walls, amid resplendent tropical gardens and flowing water fountains, are 123 villas. Decorated in calming white and mink tones, even the entry-level villas feel palatial thanks to soaring ceilings, oversized canopy beds, marble bathrooms, garden terraces and deliciously deep swimming pools. Tempting you out of the rooms is Dreamland beach. Fronting the hotel, it's a vision of silver-gold sands, mille-feuille cliffs and surfers rolling in Indian Ocean barrels.
Travelbag has seven nights staying in a garden villa with a private pool, including breakfast, international flights and transfers.
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Most hotels in Bali offer Balinese blessing ceremonies but they're often delivered by hotel staff rather than ordained persons. But couples staying at the Oberoi Beach Resort can book private blessings performed by a Balinese priest inside Petitenget Temple, a 15th-century pile of burnt-orange sandstone, winged statues, manicured gardens and decorative bamboo penjor poles. Renewal of vows can also be arranged in the hotel's gorgeous beachfront gardens; dinners à deux can be organised in the elegant pool villas.
Stay on a B&B basis at the Oberoi Beach Resort Bali — or upgrade to half-board — in anything from a garden-view room to an ocean-view villa with your own private pool.
• Read our full review of the Oberoi Beach Resort
For something entirely different, consider Aqua Blu. Converted from a former British naval ship, this five-deck, 15-suite yacht, voyaging between Bali and Komodo National Park, epitomises the trend for soft adventure. The plush interiors, a palette of warm woods, glossy veneers, soft ivories and brass trimming are juxtaposed against the wild outdoors of Indonesia — Bali's lurching southwest coast, the dolphin-peppered waters of the Lombok Strait, thundering waterfalls on Moyo Island, Saleh Bay's whale sharks, the puff-puff of Mount Sangeang's volcanic twin peaks, Komodo's famous dragons. The itinerary might sound jam-packed but every moment feels memorable and there's still plenty of time factored in for leisurely swims and lounging on the top deck.
Mundy Cruising has a seven-night Bali and Komodo National Park cruise on board Aqua Blu, including all meals, wine, beer, non-alcoholic drinks, as well as shore excursions and non-motorised water sports. Flights are extra.
• The best hostels in Bali
If fabulous design makes you swoon, then Alila Villas Uluwatu is the only one for you. The resort's unique styling is signalled the minute you pass through the open-air lobby onto a clifftop terrace where sharp lines of white limestone run towards a bright blue infinity pool backed by a seemingly endless Indian Ocean. The money shot belongs to a contemporary Balinese bale cantilevered above the 500ft abyss, but everywhere you look is a masterclass in cool contemporary Balinese design. Energy-efficient lava rock roofs, a robust recycling programme, a sustainability lab and EarthCheck certification makes everything even easier on the eye.
Stay in a hillside or panoramic pool villa, take an ecotour and spoil yourself in the three restaurants and spa at Alila Villas Uluwatu.
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