Where to Stay & Eat in Bali: A Splendid Guide

2026-07-29 · By April Windsor

In: Bali · Travel Guides

It took me the better part of a year to start understanding Bali. The island gives you its postcard immediately, but the rest comes slowly: the small lanes that lead to the best restaurants, the hours when the light falls a particular way over the ocean, the moment in the afternoon when the heat lifts and you can think again.

I came expecting the postcard, like everyone does. What I found instead was quieter, a place where ceremony runs through every street, where the day is shaped around offerings. Bali isn't a place you stay in; you start to live with it. This guide is the island as I've come to know it after a year of being based here. These are the addresses I return to, the places I send friends when they ask. All of the photography was shot through the lens of Splendid. For the wider context, see our feature on the most cinematic hotels in the world , two of which sit on this island.

What follows are the places I have come to know best after a year of being based here. The hotels I send friends to, the tables I keep returning to, the wellness rituals that have become part of every week, and the small boutiques I quietly raid before every flight home. None of it is comprehensive. Bali has been written about exhaustively, and I'd never claim to have seen all of it. But these are the addresses I trust enough to put my own name beside. They have been earned slowly: the long lunches that became standing weekly bookings, the spas I tested before settling on, the breakfast spots I drive across the island for. The list keeps shifting as the island does, and I'd be surprised if it looked the same a year from now.

WHERE TO STAY

THE LEGIAN, SEMINYAK

There is no other hotel on the island quite like The Legian . A suite-only property facing the Indian Ocean directly, three decades of practice in barefoot elegance. I love returning here. The same maître d' remembers your aperitif of choice, the kitchen still serves the best breakfast on Seminyak's stretch. The spa deserves an afternoon of its own, a proper heat circuit of sauna, steam and plunge pools and a treatment menu built on Wellness by The Legian Creations, the house line blended free of anything harsh. Live jazz drifts through the Ocean Bar on weekends. Stay in a Legian Suite if you can; the view at golden hour is worth every bit of it.

lhm-hotels.com

THE CLUB BY THE LEGIAN SEMINYAK

Just along the same beachfront sits The Legian's gentler sibling, The Club. Designed as a private estate of villas and beachfront residences, this is where I send friends travelling as families or in larger groups. Each villa comes with its own pool, butler service, and the same long-practised hospitality the original is known for; the difference is scale and privacy. Mornings begin at the Club's beachfront pool with a service that knows what you ordered yesterday. The butlers train with The Guild of Professional English Butlers, and the two-bedroom Joglo villa, built in the Javanese manner with its own pendopo dining pavilion, is the one to book. The whole place feels less like a hotel and more like staying at the home of a very generous, very well-travelled friend.

lhm-hotels.com

CAPELLA UBUD

Capella sits in the hills above Keliki, between nine acres of rainforest and rice paddy. Bill Bensley dreamed it up from a story of Dutch settlers shipwrecked on Bali's shores in the 1800s, and the result is a tented camp that feels both theatrical and reverent. Copper tubs, carved teak, canvas pavilions suspended above the valley floor; not a single tree was felled during construction. I love that it asks something of you to arrive. The bridges, the canopy, the quiet. And once you do, you stay longer than you planned. Dinner at Api Jiwa runs to ten or so courses cooked over an open fire fed with rice straw from the Keliki paddies, sixteen seats and no menu to speak of. Each tent carries its own story, the Baker’s, the Photographer’s, the Toy Maker’s, and the camp took a Michelin Key in 2025. The full piece is in our Luxury Ubud Guide .

capellahotels.com

THE MERU SANUR

The Meru feels like a proper sanctuary, the kind of place that lets you arrive at your own pace. Stillwater pools threaded through pavilions, gardens shaded by frangipani, a beachfront that opens to the eastern sun. I send friends here when they need to disappear for a few days. The spa is excellent; the kitchen better than it needs to be. All 184 suites start at a generous 83 square metres and climb from there, sized for stays that stretch. The spa, Taru Pramana, draws its treatments from the Lontar Usada, a Balinese healing manuscript a thousand years old; book the Apun massage in its longer form, which ends in a magnesium soak. Breakfast at Arunika is cooked to order at live stations set amid the pools.

themerusanur.com

RAFFLES BALI, JIMBARAN

Raffles Bali keeps the marque’s 1887 idea of service to just thirty-two villas, set into a garden hillside above Jimbaran Bay. Every villa faces the water, each with its own pool and a walled garden, and every one comes with a Raffles Butler introduced by email before you land. Where much of the island sprawls, this stays contained: a single hillside of garden and water above the bay. Dining runs from Rumari at the top of the slope down to Loloan on the sand, wellness is largely complimentary and runs to a timetable, and the whole thing turns, as Raffles always has, on service. The Writers Bar at the top of the hill pours a Bali Sling made with local arak, and the Secret Cave below serves a single table a night, reached by torchlight.

raffles.com/bali

BALI BEACH HOTEL

On the same coastal estate as The Meru sits the property's older sibling, Bali Beach Hotel, a Heritage Collection address with deeper roots in Sanur. The Olympic-length beachfront pool is a particular pleasure; it catches the early swimmers and the morning light at once. The lawns have a mature, palm-shaded calm, the kind that only comes with decades of practice, and the four restaurants run from proper Nusantara to grilled fish served on the sand. I send people here when they want the broader, more storied side of Sanur. The postcard at its most generous. The history runs deeper than most on the island: Soekarno commissioned it, it opened in 1966, and it remains Bali’s only ten-storey beachfront building, renewed end to end for its 2024 relaunch. Ocean-view suites overlook the bay; ask for a balcony facing east.

balibeachsanur.com

SIX SENSES ULUWATU

Six Senses sits at the dramatic edge of the Bukit cliffs, with bone-white architecture and cathedral-scale spaces opening to the sea. Nothing here performs. The design is pared back in a way that feels earned. The hilltop pool is one of the great pleasures of the island. Their Alchemy Bar makes a turmeric tonic I order every visit. Rocka cooks farm-driven Balinese sharing plates, megibung style, and its cliff-edge counter, Rocka Edge, seats a handful for omakase. The spa runs to eight treatment rooms and will read your biomarkers before it plans your week. Stay long enough and you stop hearing the waves; you simply move with them.

sixsenses.com

FURTHER

Further sits at the quieter end of the Pererenan coast. A small, design-led property that has shaped this side of the island's new wave of hospitality. The architecture is considered, the public spaces generous, and the rooms strike that rare balance between warmth and quiet. Twenty-five suites spread across four terracotta buildings threaded through Pererenan village, in the Italian albergo diffuso manner, by architects MORQ with interiors by Studio Wenden. Beds sit sunken to the floor, courtyards fill with green, and the coffee downstairs comes from an outpost of Melbourne’s ST. ALi. I send people here when they want Canggu's contemporary energy in a smaller, quieter setting; a hotel that lets the place do most of the talking.

furtherhotel.com

WHERE TO DINE

Eating in Bali is genuinely good and almost never pretentious. The best meals I have had on the island are at small, family-run spots and a handful of design-led restaurants that have grown up with the place over the last decade. These are the ones I find myself returning to most, organised the way I tend to think about a day, by meal.

MY FAVOURITE SPOT FOR BREAKFAST

Café Kim Soo , Jl. Kayu Aya No.21, Seminyak, Bali . Tucked beside the Kim Soo homewares boutique on Petitenget, the small courtyard café I keep returning to. Strong coffee, considered breakfast plates, and the kind of light that makes you forget you have anywhere to be. Browse upstairs after. kimsoo.com

KU DE TA , Jl. Kayu Aya No.9, Seminyak . The legendary Seminyak beach club takes breakfast seriously. Direct beachfront seating, a serious egg menu, and the slow morning view that has made it iconic since the 90s. Get there for the early light. On Sundays the whole place turns into a market from ten in the morning, free to wander, with six kitchens including Sangsaka cooking alongside stalls of local jewellery, beachwear and Bali-made skincare. Come for the house-baked sourdough and let the kids join the cooking class; the food winds down at three. kudeta.com

Sisterfields , Jl. Kayu Cendana, Seminyak . The Australian-style café Seminyak has loved for years. Eggs, smashed avo, a menu that makes a long breakfast easy. Always busy, always reliable. sisterfieldsbali.com

La Naya , Jl. Pangkung Sari, Seminyak . The best croissants in Bali, full stop. Flaky, properly buttery, the kind you build a morning around. I go almost every morning. The wider menu is design-forward and quietly excellent (a newer Asian table from the Yawara group), but the breakfast pastry alone is reason enough. yawara.group

Coffee Cartel , Berawa, Canggu . For a serious coffee. Multiple roasts, a flat white that holds its own against any back home. I stop in for a take-away on the way to Anatomy. coffeecartelbali.com

Baked , Berawa, Canggu . The bakery I send anyone who asks where to find a proper pastry. Croissants, sourdough loaves, the laminated viennoiserie that disappears by 10am. Worth the early start. baked.co.id

ST. ALI , Canggu, Bali . Melbourne's specialty coffee royalty has set up shop in Bali, and it shows. The flat white is excellent, the breakfast plates quietly considered, and the room itself feels like a piece of Carlton transplanted to the tropics. stali.com.au

Bokashi , Jl. Subak Sari No.2, Berawa, Canggu . The organic grocery and tea house I keep returning to for a slow breakfast. A small café tucked beside a beautifully edited market of organic produce, premium pantry, and their own Seishin by Bokashi line. Order something light, browse afterwards. bokashibali.com

Ulu Cliff House , Uluwatu, Bali . A clifftop perch on the Bukit with one of the great morning views on the island. Coffee at the edge of the swell, breakfast that takes its time. I drive down early for the light and stay through to lunch. ulucliffhouse.com

MY FAVOURITE SPOTS FOR LUNCH

Revolver , Jl. Kayu Aya, Seminyak . The original specialty coffee bar that grew into one of Seminyak's most reliable all-day spots. The lunch menu is honest and Italian-leaning, the coffee still excellent, and the atmosphere carries that lived-in warmth that comes from being quietly good at one thing for a long time. revolverbali.com

John Hardy Boutique , Jl. Petitenget, Seminyak . The Seminyak outpost of the iconic Bali jeweller, with a small garden-to-table dining concept tucked behind the boutique. Menu drawn from John Hardy's Bali estate gardens. Quiet, lunch-only, the kind of place you stumble into and stay all afternoon. johnhardy.com

La Lucciola , Petitenget Beach, Seminyak . A legendary beachfront Italian that has quietly reigned over Petitenget for decades. The pasta is honest, the sea breeze unbeatable. I send anyone who wants the original Bali sunset moment to a corner table on the second floor. lalucciolabali.com

Margaret Bistro , Jl. Pantai Berawa No.99, Canggu . A two-storey bistro on Berawa with a particular gift for lunch. Fresh pasta, homemade bread, salads that arrive generous, a kitchen that moves between Italian and Asian without ever losing the thread. Sit upstairs by the open kitchen if you can. margaretbistro.com

Byrd House , Sanur Beach . A relaxed beachfront table with a quiet design eye. Light bites, full mains, an all-day spot that suits Sanur's slower pace. The lunch crowd lingers. byrdhousebali.com

Sundara , Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran Bay . The beachfront table at the Four Seasons that has anchored Jimbaran's long-lunch tradition for years. Fire-driven coastal cooking, premium seafood and grilled meats, a wine list close to 250 labels. The toes-in-sand setting and the bay's slow afternoon light make for the kind of lunch that turns into a swim. sundarabali.com

MY FAVOURITE SPOTS FOR DINNER

Satoshi , Jl. Bumbak No.55, Kerobokan . Where design, flavour and sound converge with Italian-Japanese sensibility. A modern dining experience in a beautifully styled space, with a soundtrack as carefully curated as the menu. satoshibali.com

Saltlick , Jl. Kayu Aya No.9, Seminyak (above KU DE TA) . Wood-fired steaks with serious technique, sitting a storey above KU DE TA. A grown-up dinner spot in the heart of Seminyak. Book the corner table for the long view. saltlickbali.com

Estia , Jl. Petitenget, Seminyak . Greek hospitality on Petitenget. Open kitchen, fresh seafood, long lunches that pull you through to dinner. Order the spreads to share and the catch of the day; stay for the music. estiabali.com

Mama San , Jl. Raya Kerobokan No.135, Seminyak . A vibrant contemporary Asian dining experience, a long, lively dinner that defines a Seminyak evening. Will Meyrick has been cooking his way through Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore here for more than fifteen years, and the menu still turns with the season. The room does half the work: green banquettes, dark timber, chandeliers throwing a low gold light that belongs more to old Shanghai than to Seminyak. The dish that keeps us coming back is the massaman curry, ordered with the fresh naan, which is the best on the island. Stay for the upstairs Lounge, where the DJs play vinyl and the evening quietly gets away from you. mamasanbali.com

Fu House , Seminyak . A small, design-led table on the Bukit with a quiet, considered approach. Flavours that draw from across the region, plates that arrive without ceremony. The kind of new arrival that feels immediately essential. instagram.com/fuhousebali

Da Maria , Seminyak . Contemporary Italian at the heart of Seminyak. A Lazzarini Pickering room of tropical modernism, with a kitchen built around 24-hour fermented Neapolitan-style pizza and a long cocktail list. The kind of dinner that drifts easily into late night; one of the most reliable evenings on the strip. damariabali.com

Bartolo , Berawa, Canggu . Italian, considered, the kind of dinner spot that makes you slow down. The pasta is honest, the wine list runs deep, and the room has the warmth of a place that has been here longer than its years. bartolobali.com

Lulu Bistrot , Canggu . Properly French. Steak frites, a long wine list, evenings that drift. The kind of bistro that feels imported wholesale from the 5th arrondissement and somehow sits beautifully on a Canggu lane. lulubistrot.com

Mei Mei , Canggu . Modern Chinese at the centre of Canggu's lifestyle scene. Dumplings, hand-pulled noodles, a great cocktail list. Plays loud at dinner; perfect for groups. meimeibali.com

Bella Canggu , Canggu . Honest Italian with beach-club energy. I order the burrata, the truffle pasta, and stay later than planned. The kind of long-table dinner spot that seems to know everyone. bellacanggu.com

Giselle , Canggu . A more grown-up new addition to Canggu. Refined plates, considered service, the rare local restaurant that takes itself seriously without losing the looseness of the area. gisellebali.com

Teja Uluwatu , Jl. Mamo No.8, Pecatu, Uluwatu . Elemental warmth and refined European cuisine on the cliffs above the Bukit. The kitchen treats produce with reverence; the wine list is built for slow afternoons. Sunset is the moment. tejauluwatu.com

Yuki , Uluwatu . A small, low-lit Japanese counter that has quietly become one of Pererenan's essential addresses. Sashimi precision, omakase if you can secure a seat. Book ahead. yuki-bali.com

Api Jiwa , Capella Ubud, Keliki . Designed by Bill Bensley as an imagining of a 19th-century laundry and mud room, with an open-grill kitchen at the centre. The omakase format places complete trust in the chef. Every course is touched by fire. capellahotels.com

Room 4 Dessert , Ubud . Chef Will Goldfarb's cultish outpost has long held legendary status among those who follow serious food. The tasting menu moves from savoury snacks through plated desserts, each course a study in technique. room4dessert.asia

Buzo , Seminyak . Modern izakaya energy, and in their own words, “Japanese precision meets Italian comfort through modern Itameshi cooking.” Will Meyrick’s kitchen delivers exactly that. Dinner is the moment: sushi and handmade pasta, grilled skewers and wood-fired pizza, all built to share across a long table. The lobster pasta is the one to order, with a steak and lobster set menu when the night calls for an occasion. The cocktail bar keeps going long after the plates are cleared, and on Friday and Saturday a DJ takes over from seven. No opening has done more to bring the glamour back to Seminyak’s Eat Street. buzobali.com

SPAS & WELLNESS

Wellness here is woven in. It's the air itself. The island carries a centuries-deep tradition of healing (Balinese massage, herbal remedies, water purification ceremonies) that sits naturally beside the newer wave of design-led studios and movement spaces. After a year here, I've stopped thinking of wellness as something I schedule. It is just part of the week. These are the places I make time for, even when the week is full.

Wellness by The Legian , The Legian, Seminyak . The Legian's in-house spa, opened to non-guests, with the same exacting hand of the rest of the property. Treatments rooted in Balinese tradition with a contemporary stillness; I go for the long-form massage and a quiet hour by the rooftop pool afterwards. lhm-hotels.com

Mello Day Spa , Jl. Kayu Aya, Seminyak . Seamlessly blending modern luxury with holistic wellness. A quiet sanctuary where considered design meets traditional Balinese ritual. The kind of place I send friends after a long flight. mellospa.co

Bodyworks , Jl. Kayu Jati No.2, Seminyak . Breathtaking design setting for spa treatments. A beloved Seminyak institution offering deeply restorative Balinese-inspired treatments in Moroccan-inspired surroundings. bodyworksbali.com

Pyramids of Chi , Jl. Kelebang Moding No.22, Banjar Bentuyung, Ubud . A unique wellness destination in Ubud’s lush jungle. Experience deep sound healing beneath towering pyramid structures – an otherworldly sanctuary for body and mind. pyramidsofchi.com

Anatomy , Umalas, Bali . A new heat-driven studio in Umalas that I now go to most weeks. Hot yoga, hot pilates, reformer. High-intensity, beautifully designed, and unmistakably community-led. Book ahead. anatomybali.com

Fields of Yarrow , Bali . The clean skincare brand I now keep on my bathroom shelf. Botanical formulations grown in their own garden, the kind of considered range that quietly raises the bar on what skincare can be. The Rose serum and turmeric mask are my regular order. fieldsofyarrow.com

The Rustic Sun , Bali . A small wellness sanctuary that has become my Sunday habit. Healing rituals rooted in the elements (sunlight, water, breath), and treatments that take their time. The kind of place that asks you to leave your phone in the car. therusticsunbali.com

Cocoon Medical Spa , Legian, Ubud & Canggu . For the days when wellness tips into medical. The menu is genuinely broad, from advanced facials and skin boosters to injectables, but the reason we keep going back is the vitamin IV drips. The Brain Booster is the one we love, our reliable reset after a long week. cocoonmedicalspa.com

SHOPPING

FASHION

Biasa Plus , Jl. Raya Seminyak No.36, Seminyak . Contemporary resort-wear and lifestyle destination. A vibrant two-level space filled with fashion, art, and homewares – the flagship of Bali’s most celebrated local fashion label. biasagroup.com

Aanoukis Swimwear , Seminyak . Bali-based swimwear with a European design sensibility. Sculptural cuts, considered fabric, the kind of pieces that pack flat and feel right on every coast. I keep going back. aanoukisswimwear.com

Erika Peña , Seminyak . Erika Peña's jewellery line is one of the small luxuries of being on the island. Hand-finished pieces with a quiet boldness (lapis, obsidian, gold vermeil), designed and made between Bali and Mexico. Stop by the Seminyak boutique for the full collection. erikapena.com

Uma & Leopold , Seminyak . A Bali brand with a particular eye for resort dressing. Printed dresses, easy linen, the kind you slip into at sunset. The Seminyak shop feels like a friend's well-edited closet; I always leave with something. umaandleopold.com

HOMEWARES & INTERIORS

Kim Soo , Jl. Kayu Aya No.21, Seminyak . Rare and beautiful homewares in Seminyak. A French-Korean editor's eye, ceramics, linens, the kind of objects you find yourself making space for in your luggage. kimsoo.com

The Medium Design , Bali . Hand-crafted furniture, sculptural lighting, rotating art and photography. A curator's eye more than a homewares store. The pieces feel made for collectors rather than tourists; consultations available for those building a room from scratch. themediumdesign.com

Maison Bloom , Bali . Our own florist at Splendid. An artist's approach to floral design, treating each arrangement as a composition in its own right. Sculptural pieces, hand-tied seasonal work, and the considered installations that quietly turn a room. The flowers I commission at home, and the larger pieces I send when I want to mark something. maisonbloom.worldofsplendid.com

STAYING CONNECTED

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What I have come to value most about Bali is its quiet refusal to be reduced. The island gives slowly. It asks for your patience and rewards you when you give it. After a year here I am still discovering things: small ceremonies tucked into ordinary mornings, restaurants locals keep to themselves, beaches the surfers haven't named, lanes I have driven past a hundred times without knowing what was at the end.

This is Bali as I know it now. Always changing. There will be more. There always is.