Trust LXR Hotels & Resorts to make a splash with their Southeast Asian debut: Umana Bali, the brand’s clifftop, all-villa hideaway in Uluwatu, feels both remarkably on-brand for the Hilton-owned hotel group while encapsulating the island’s essence with thoughtful touches. Global in ambition and local in feel, this is a resort where each guest gets to write their own Balinese tale.
Bar a few branded details here and there, we almost couldn’t tell that we’d just checked into the latest property by LXR Hotels & Resorts – the brand’s second foray into Asia, following a 2021 opening in Kyoto – upon arriving at Umana Bali. Welcome treats and refreshingly scented towels conveyed a sense of high-end hospitality while the staff proudly highlighted a melange of cultural storytelling all around us: the walls, clad in wooden panels designed to resemble local ikat fabric looms; the ceiling, reminiscent of the prop roots hanging from a banyan tree, and the lobby’s centrepiece, a breezy mobile inspired by Bali’s famous Legong dance, placed above a water fountain to great effect.
The resort’s very name is a nod to the local word for rice paddies, uma, which we thought was a humble way to describe a 72-villa property perched some 70 metres above Melasti beach (one of the island’s most popular), where views of the Indian Ocean and Bali’s southernmost tip are so omnipresent, you’d see them with your eyes closed. ‘Tri Hita Karana’, the island’s three-pillared principle of harmony with God, nature and people inspires everything at Umana, we were told by staff, and two Hindu altars to the Gods on the resort grounds, where canang sari – offerings in the form of flower arrangements – sit in the sun, attest to the spiritual sentiment. The hotel’s lavishly outfitted accommodations, too, arguably serve as a sort of shrine, albeit to luxury living.
Our 403 sqm/4,337 sqft Panoramic Ocean Pool Villa was a perfect example of this, with its outdoor jacuzzi and 10-metre infinity pool, which we could conveniently walk into from the comfort of our bedroom. Next to said pool, a pavilion reminiscent of a Balinese ‘bale’ offered shade to wine and recline, while on the other side of our deck, a walkway flanked by shrubs and a frangipani tree led down to a hidden outdoor shower. From here, we could also access our generous marble bathroom, equipped with twin vanities, a Japanese toilet, an in-door shower set with a bench and an enormous black soaking tub with a built-in pillow. We made plenty of use of the tub, helping ourselves to the bath salts and incense sticks provided, while a floor-to-ceiling glass wall offered views of the shadows of plants caught in the breeze, cast on a Balinese-style relief on a wall just beyond.
The layout of our villa was rather clever, opening to a living-room-cum-dining-area with a wet bar ideal for hosting (or in-room dining), which led past a separate guest WC to our bedroom, with its astonishing ceiling height and a half-tester canopy bed. Its furnishings, too, were of a premium feel and thoughtful touches like diffused-light mirrors, a Sonos loudspeaker, beautiful sage-coloured dressing gowns, a carved front door and over-water walkways – not to mention varying herbal brews at turndown – made staying in our villa extra agreeable. As anywhere in Uluwatu, the local macaques know of the luxuries on offer at the area’s numerous five-starred resorts, meaning guests are well-advised to close their doors upon leaving the property. We personally didn’t mind the monkeys that much, and the only thing we thought our villa lacked was just a little more space between it and that of our neighbours. Mind you, the hotel’s top-tier 1,200 sqm/12,916 sqft three-bedroom Umana Ocean Pool Villa gets you all the additional space you might want (plus a baby grand piano, a spa treatment room and an uninterrupted pool running along its entire length).
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Escapist | DPS | GMT +8 |
| While you’re Out There |
| The Batu Pageh cave temple near the hotel is a great place to have your soul blessed by a Hindu priest (‘pemangku’) while offering a decidedly less crowded experience than the famous Uluwatu temple. Be prepared for hundreds of sleeping bats hanging overhead as you receive your blessing – we thought they added a welcome touch to our visit. Another highlight near Umana Bali is the powerful Kecak dance performance that regularly takes place on Melasti Beach. |
When we emerged from our lodgings, we did so with an appetite for the gastronomic offering of Umana Bali. While the Uma Beach House on Melasti beach was yet to be completed when we visited, we headed to Mer for a craft coffee tasting and the adjacent wine room to try Balinese Hatten Wines (yes, Bali is home to vineyards!). Light bites and innovative cocktails inspired by a global, Hilton-internal Piña Colada competition are served at the Pad Pool Bar, where guests are also invited to concoct their very own potions – ask for the Filthy Steffen, a potent drink we made with the help of barkeeper Sumerta, using Selaka Ning snake fruit arak liquor and kaffir lime cordial. Immersive dining experiences can also be facilitated for those looking to have a private meal: we had the hotel set up a dinner by our pool, with our own private gamelan orchestra and a Legong performance just for our party. That, to us, was magical.
Meanwhile, Commune is the go-to for all-day, pan-Asian dining and Oliverra serves up Mediterranean fare with a side of epic sunset views. Though all our meals were fresh and tasty, our dietary requirements meant food choices were rather drastically reduced for us, and we found that staff hadn’t been trained to suggest adequate, alternative meals. This meant that at times, we had three variations of rice noodles with tofu or tempeh for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the very same day. We longed for things like lentil-based omelettes or coconut yogurt at breakfast, and were startled when the team assumed vegans wouldn’t mind handling ground-up meat during a cooking class: during these moments, it was clear Umana Bali has quite a way to go to really provide the tailor-made luxury the LXR Hotels & Resorts brand claims as its leading differentiator from similar players in the field. It’s something that will take initiative from the top down.
Luckily, other experiences we booked were more enjoyable: a canang-sari-making class followed by a blessing ceremony at a nearby cave temple offered spiritual connection; a walk around the local community of Ungasan immersed us in Balinese village life; and a yacht trip around Nusa Lembongan – which Umana Bali can easily arrange for guests – was as dreamy as you’d imagine. We also stopped by the Lohma Spa, where a sauna, a steam room, cold and hot tubs as well as a second communal pool await (make sure to call ahead for saunas and the like, as these were not on by default when we visited). There’s a stunningly designed and generously equipped 24-hour fitness centre as well, though seeing as our holiday mission was utter relaxation, we instead opted for a deep-tissue massage with a treatment bench set up right next to our pool. This was just divine, and we couldn’t tell what was more relaxing, our talented therapist’s touch or the gentle ocean breeze wafting down our spine.
Its location high above the sea is arguably among the resort’s greatest features, and we can’t recommend booking an ocean view villa enough. This is particularly true as guests of Umana Bali really tend to take advantage of their private lodgings (so much so, in fact, that we had the hotel’s enormous main pool all to ourselves on several occasions). Given its scale, the property feels remarkably private and calm, which we found to be its biggest luxury. Beyond that, we appreciated the ‘soft’ approach to branding by LXR Hotels & Resorts – Bali isn’t shy of bold places to stay that are about everything but the island itself. In contrast, subtle design features and an informal, heartfelt approach to service ensure that nothing at Umana Bali distracts from the simple fact that you’re on one of the world’s finest and most soulful islands. If that’s the hotel’s take on ‘harmony with God, nature and people’, then we’re all for it.
Photography courtesy of LXR Hotels & Resorts
