Review of The Bale, by John Borthwick

A good boutique hotel starts with an aesthetic. The structure, service and everything else then, hopefully, follow suit. That The Bale, located on a Nusa Dua hillside-with-seaview, has opted for the aesthetics of balance and clarity is apparent from the moment you step into its domain of pale palimanan sandstone and laser-clean angles. Stepped, temple-like perspectives, framed by watercourse margins and greenery, lead you up to the public areas of pool, spa and restaurant, then on to the 29 villa suites (known as "pavilions").

The facilities

The Bale extends this aesthetic (temple clean, temple calm) to your pavilion, which turns out to be a temple of snooze - its vast bed is as much an altar of repose as a place to simply stack the z's. Beyond your panoramic doors lie a small lawn, a private lap pool and a Balinese-style balé bengong pavilion with its siesta-inducing daybed.

Likened to a cross between a Greek temple and a Japanese ryokan, this boutique hotel is several worlds apart from the other, numerous (and excellent) "International Clone" resorts in Nusa Dua. This contemporary aesthetic extends to its gourmet restaurant, Faces, that is renowned especially for seafood and very good lamb. Nicely located beside the main pool, Faces' open kitchen offers light cuisine for lunch and dinner while nearby, the Fluid Lounge bar then lets you slump in comfortable chairs and candle-lit postprandial languor.

The Balé, overlooking the Indian Ocean, is walking distance from the white sand beach of Geger and the Beach Club, with cushioned deck chairs, warm water and gentle surf. (Transport is also available to the beach at any time, free of charge.) Then, when you get a little more "serious" about relaxing, The Bale offers a range of holistic spa treatments and well-being programs, plus something called the "Master in Residence." Despite the feudal-sounding title, the programme is about well-known holistic practitioners and masters in specific therapies being in residence for a time, sharing their expertise.

A checklist of other features at the boutique hotel includes a gym, yoga room, library, nearby golf and country club, butler services and wireless internet in rooms. The Bale is not only a sanctuary of the spirit and body, it is also the ideal place to start your sojourn in Bali. You're just 12 km and 20 minutes from the airport. The drive is mercifully brief especially if, after a long-haul flight, all that you're looking forward to is checking-in and crashing-out (as opposed to being hobbled for an hour in southern Bali's wearying traffic snarls when en route to more distant resorts). Here you can feel that you're miles from Bali's sometimes madding throng of trinket vendors and circus sands - which, after a few days of chilling out, Bale-style, you'll then be more than a match for.