From the loungers by the 50-metre infinity pool straddling a cliff that overlooks the Indian Ocean, it’s hard to tell where exactly the sea blends into the sky at Six Senses Uluwatu. So limitless are the views that we inevitably got lost in them – but turning our heads, we looked back at an escapist luxury resort that’s just as magnetic.
Its waterscape of tiered pools with varying depths is arguably the most ambitious design feature of Six Senses Uluwatu, drawing parents with children, retreat-goers with celery juices and content creators with oversized sun hats (Jacquemus still has a moment in Indonesia). This most photographable part of the hotel, flanked by clifftop restaurants and an open-air cinema, was our first point of call after a check-in as wholesome as you’d expect from any Six Senses property (think scented towels, Balinese jamu juice and organic seed bars, “freshly made just this morning”, as we were assured).
As with any resort on the island’s upscale Bukit peninsula, it’s no easy task standing out from the crowd. Six Senses Uluwatu caught our eye thanks to its location near Pecatu village, which affords guests particularly epic views over a coastline that’s been shaped by millennia of waves crashing ashore. As a result, the local topography is less ‘blissful beach’ and more ‘ocean-meets-land at full speed’, a confluence of natural forces and elements that – paired with a salty breeze – gives the place a uniquely healing quality: even if you don’t see the ocean, you’ll hear its roar, and at night, fishing boats visible only as tiny specs of light resemble fireflies in the dark.
Equipped with coconut cakes and dragon fruit sodas, we loved looking out over the sea from a cabana on our private deck, home to a 21 sqm/228 sqft infinity pool and a pretty frangipani tree. Six Senses Uluwatu cleverly brings the maritime theme into its guest accommodations through azure dressing gowns, paintings depicting coastal scenes and teal-coloured cushions that break up the otherwise subdued interiors informed by wood and natural textiles – these splashes of colour and joy are a reassuring trademark of the hotel company its followers will immediately recognise. Other brand-typical touches include handmade Naturalmat mattresses and Hanse organic pillows and duvets as well as kingsize hanging canopy beds (and, as if all this wasn’t rest-inducing enough, a ‘Sleep Upgrade’ comes with moisture-wicking linens, a humidifier and a sound machine).
Between its 28 Sky Suites (starting at 108 sqm/1,162 sqft), 73 private villas from one to three bedrooms, and two four-bedroom residences – The Presidential Villa (1,530 sqm/16,459 sqft) and The Retreat (3,626 sqm/39,015 sqft) – the resort offers a large variety of accommodations to suit each traveller type. We stayed in a 198 sqm/2,136 sqft Clifftop Pool Villa with indoor and outdoor showers, double vanities, a wireless speaker for late nights and a generously sized workstation for early mornings (though preferably not in that order). Little extras made our stay more convenient, from bath salts to a candle, a yoga mat and a stylish bag to carry our belongings around in while on property. The ‘big stuff’, too, was impressive, from high, vaulted ceilings to sliding double doors and a high-tech Japanese toilet. Just the light switches were a nuisance and we couldn’t quite believe how much time we spent trying to switch off every little lamp on our villa at night.
Thankfully, a seriously impressive breakfast spread made up for any lost sleep, owing not least to aromatic coffees, freshly squeezed juices (try the zesty ‘Detoxifire’), noodles prepared to our personal preferences and even a Cendol station. While Six Senses Uluwatu’s flagship restaurant Watu Steakhouse is popular for dinner, we herbivores instead headed to Rocka, where we enjoyed a traditional ‘Megibung’ meal with pumpkin soup, mushroom rendang, sambal-spiced aubergines and moringa leaves with smoked coconut – all as delicious as it sounds. We were a little puzzled by the countless options for a Megibung dinner at first, though the team couldn’t have been more helpful in ensuring all our questions were answered; something representative of service overall, with the staff offering help and five-starred hospitality at every turn.
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| While you’re Out There |
| The small but pretty Suluwan Beach, often referred to as ‘Blue Point’, is a popular surfing spot that flies a little under the radar due to its location hidden behind limestone cliffs. It’s accessed via several ramps and steps (which sadly means it won’t be accessible to everyone), but the shielded atmosphere and pretty views from here make it worth a detour as you explore the Bukin peninsula’s more obvious tourist attractions. |
For a special dining experience, try The Cliff Bar, where Mediterranean classics with a tropical twist are served on an open-air deck overlooking the sea. The sunset views from here alone are enough to warrant a booking, though we were a little surprised the menu featured no plant-based mains or desserts. A few alternative dishes suggested by the team were certainly tasty, just not as original as what guests with dietary requirements tuck into at Rocka (a whole mango for dessert, anyone?). That said, we loved an array of specially prepared vegan amuse-gueules the Executive Chef surprised us with, and hope more of these imaginative flavour combinations that embrace diverse dietaries find themselves on the menu going forward. Non-vegans will delight in the resort’s complimentary ice cream corner, a Six Senses staple, where gelatos and sorbets offer some cool by the pool.
For your wellness needs, visit the spa, which is laid out across several pavilions connected via walkways straddling a turquoise-tiled water feature, itself interspersed with frangipani trees festooned with lanterns. We enjoyed a signature Balinese massage before unwinding in the wet facilities, where experience showers, saunas and an enormous jet pool have the potential to induce nirvana. A little hidden from sight and conceptualised as a destination spa, the space is surprisingly expansive, featuring eight treatment rooms alongside a boutique, a nail bar, a light-filled gym and a yoga pavilion welcoming visiting practitioners throughout the year. While stopping short of treading into medical retreat territory, Six Senses Uluwatu does offer non-invasive health screenings to analyse guests’ biomarkers and curate bespoke wellness programs. Personally, we were content with ‘just’ a massage in the spa, which we found to be perhaps the most distinctively designed – and strangely under the radar – part of the entire resort.
Its design is simultaneously the hotel’s most obvious differentiator from its sister properties, and, to some visitors, perhaps a drawback. Opened in 2018, Six Senses Uluwatu sits chronologically between the brand’s original, rustic resorts, like Six Senses Yao Noi or Six Senses Laamu, and its newer properties, which opened after the company joined the wider InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in 2019, including vibrant Six Senses Ibiza. Don’t get us wrong, the Balinese resort isn’t without charms (we liked the onsite Hindu temple and the Earth Lab, for instance), but its row-format, which strings together near-identical villas along concrete paths, with Sky Suites in a multi-storey building at the back, fails to conjure up that unique take on barefoot luxury or a certain sense of magic tropical islands afford their guests. The resort still catches the eye, but don’t expect the kind of inimitable edge that’s made Six Senses a leading industry innovator in recent years.
If you can look past this, there’s a lot to love here, of course: the villas are luxurious, the breakfasts are sumptuous and the views, oh the views! Aside from all that’s obvious, there’s also the hotel’s status as the only resort on the island with World Green Council certification. Six Senses Uluwatu converts kitchen oil to biodiesel, its wastewater is treated onsite and reused for landscaping, and the property partners with the R.O.L.E. Foundation and Bali WISE to provide learning opportunities to young, local women. That’s quite a bit in the way of making a luxury holiday more sustainable, and this holistic approach to hospitality arguably suggests an authentic connection with nature during one’s stay. Throughout our time on property, the sound of waves washed over us and the air was scented with flowers. By the time we checked out, we felt as though our stay here had been longer than it actually was… just perhaps, as we lost ourselves in the ocean panorama with an iced tea in our hands, time stood still for a while.
Photography courtesy of Six Senses Hotels, Resorts and Spas
