A tonic for the soul

Chef Gaetan is garnishing my ahi tuna with oscietra caviar. My visit to Raffles Bali, fortuitously coincides with one of restaurant Rumari’s frequent culinary collaborations; in this instance, with owner/chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn of San Pellegrino’s World 50 Best Restaurants’ number one restaurant in Asia, Bangkok’s ‘Le Du’.

The dinner is, as expected, exquisite – nine courses matched with Champagne Krug and a global selection of fine wines, but even when chef Ton and third collaborator, chef Dej Kewkacha, of omakase dessert restaurant ‘Kyo Bar’, pack up their pans and their Pacojets and head back to Thailand, chef Gaetan and his team don’t take their foot off the pedal.

The food at Raffles turns out to be one of the many highlights of a stay at a property that is an exemplar of quiet luxury.  

Separated from its neighbours by a gorge of dense tropical vegetation down a kilometre-long driveway, the 23-hectare property is utterly serene, the only noise, bird call and the occasional putter of a fishing boat motoring across the water.

This is the 15th iteration of a Raffles hotel. The land was bought back in 1984, but it wasn’t until 2020, a decade after building began, that it opened. Being mid-pandemic, the first guests were only local, but in December 2021, Raffles staged a grand (re) opening, welcoming its first international visitors.

The property incorporates familiar elements of the Raffles brand, but the worldly elegance is imbued with a sense of place - suggested through the breezy open architecture, the use of local materials and artworks such as batik wall hangings and woodcarvings. 

There are 32 well-spaced villas cascading down the hill, sheltering behind high stone walls and carved wooden doors, surrounded by gardens blooming with hot pink bougainvillea. At the bottom, a small golden-sand cove, accessible only by guests or the occasional local fisherman, adds to the sense of seclusion.

The villas have private infinity pools and a thatched pavilion with luxuriantly padded day beds and sun loungers. Views, shared by the expansive bathrooms with deep, freestanding tub are across the Indian ocean to the horizon, particularly evocative at sunset, while at night, the lights of coastal towns glitter around the darkened shore. 

There’s a Japanese-style bidet, drawers full of Italian toiletries and both inside and outside showers. A mini-bar includes free soft drinks, tea and coffee and the huge, walk-in robe provides beach bag and sun hats, a yoga mat, robes and both indoor and outdoor slippers.

Service is prescient, the friendly staff remember every guest by name and seem genuinely concerned that they enjoy themselves at all times.

Raffles recently introduced Five Senses of Wellness Retreat – an immersive, experience for body, mind and spirit, incorporating healthy food, gentle exercise sleep rituals, meditation and specific Balinese cultural experiences. 

Guests are assigned a personal 'wellbeing butler’ and mine transports me by buggy to treatments and activities, taking me at sunrise to a session of Tai Chi on the beach or a breakfast picnic he has set up on the lawn overlooking the water. He messages to ask me how I find my pillows, replenishes my fruit and flowers, and each evening after dinner, I return to find he’s left a pot of herbal tea, a traditional snack and a bedtime story.  

Some of the wellness treatments on offer are spiritual, employing local healers and priests.

I experience a fire purification ritual with a fifth generation healer and a moving soul blessing ceremony at one of the temples on the property. I have my chakras cleansed at ‘The Sanctuary’, an open-air pavilion hanging above the jungle ravine, where the priest also points at my left knee, telling me to take care of it (it is already problematic).

More treatments are available at the spa, a menu that meanders from mainstream, such as deep tissue massage, facials and body wraps, to more esoteric, like reiki and singing bowl therapy. 

Other pursuits include daily yoga, a botanical tour of the property’s vegetable and herb gardens with a botanist and cooking or mixology classes. Highly recommended is a visit to a traditional Balinese home, where your butler will translate and explain the concept of 'Asa Kosala Kosali’ the placement of buildings within the family compound that has significant meaning and you can learn to make the floral offerings called ‘Canang Sari’.

You could of course, just choose to spend your days lazing about the private pool or sunbathing or swimming at the beach. 

Come days end, many guests head to The Writers Bar in the main building, to enjoy the sunset while sipping a signature ‘Bali Sling' made from gin, grenadine and arak, (a liquor made from palm tree sap) infused with blue pea flowers and jackfruit, both from the property’s gardens.

If you need a little something between lunch and dinner, you can take afternoon tea in the small but elegant library with its comfortable couches. 

For more substantial meals, Rumari, who serve 80 percent local food including some produce harvested from their own gardens, have a contemporary tasting menu drawing inspiration from Indonesia’s regions from Lombok to Central Java. 

Down by the pool, (and beach) the Loloan Beach Bar serves international food, with a local twist – like a riff on bouillabaisse, gently spiced and featuring Jimbaran Bay seafood.

Ask and staff will also arrange a candlelit seafood dinner au deux in the Purnama Honeymoon Bale, a romantic private bure suspended over the water, or even in a secret cave on the property. 

It’s another side of Bali to the one some of us have experienced (or expected), but the gentle rhythm of life, along with the natural hospitality of the Balinese people combine so seamlessly with the ethos and experience of the Raffles brand that it feels like it might have been born here.