By Contributor - February 24, 2021
Energy healing and chakra alignment sessions await guests at the Balinese beachside resort.
The Hindu shrine at Jimbaran Puri, A Belmond Hotel, Bali. (All photos courtesy of Belmond)
To celebrate Nyepi, the Balinese New Year and annual âday of silenceâ that falls on March 14, 2021, Jimbaran Puri, A Belmond Hotel, Bali is enticing weary travelers with a special two-night program that allows them to bask in the spirit of reflection and realignment of the occasion. Over the course of 24 hours, Balinese Hindus typically remain in their homes and abstain from work and recreation; Nyepi is also marked by the closure of the international airport and an island-wide ban on the use of fire and electricity (hotels are exempt), which, depending on weather conditions, creates the ideal conditions for stargazing.
By Contributor - February 15, 2021
Due to open in Q3 of this year, the all-villa Nusa Dua resort will feature a spa and five restaurants and bars.
A rendering of a villa bedroom at Kimpton Naranta Bali. (Image: IHG)
Indonesia’s Island of the Gods will soon be home to the Kimpton brand’s second outpost in Southeast Asia, after the high-rise Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, and its fourth hotel in the wider Asian region. This upcoming property by IHG Hotels & Resorts is located in Nusa Dua, a 20-minute drive from Ngurah Rai Airport, and its opening date has been scheduled for July 1, 2021. Travelers can expect to see just 50 villas, a handful of dining and drinking venues, and the Samskara spa, where the treatment menu will incorporate Balinese healing practices and the resort’s Resident Guru will be available for private consultations.
For more than a century, the Indonesian island of Belitung has been mined for its tin. But visitors to its boulder-strewn shores will soon discover a wealth of scenic splendor and just-caught seafood to bootânot to mention the comforts of a new five-star beach resort.
Photographs by Christopher P. Hill
Left to right: A view of the beach at Pulau Lengkuas from atop the islandâs 19th-century lighthouse; a covered pathway leading to Sheraton Belitungâs Island Restaurant.
âItâs as beautiful as the Seychelles, but a lot more affordable,â says Frenchman Thierry Bratic as I follow his gaze along the empty beach toward a headland piled with smooth granite boulders. Heâs not the first person to make the comparison with that distant Indian Ocean archipelago; Belitung, situated at the confluence of the South China and Java Seas, has worn the âSeychelles of Indonesiaâ epithet for a while now, especially since its starring role in the hit 2008 Indon
By Contributor - January 12, 2021
Indonesia-based travelers will want to check out this unmissable deal on the Island of the Gods.
The main pool at Jumana Bali Ungasan Resort. (All photos courtesy of Jumana Bali)
A decade after its opening, the all-villa Banyan Tree Ungasan in southern Bali’s Bukit Peninsula has just been rebranded as Jumana Bali Ungasan Resort. To celebrate its renaming, the luxe property is now offering steep discounts of up to 68 percent for domestic travelers who book stays through June 2021 before March 31. Benefits include daily breakfast, welcome drinks on arrival, plus a welcome fruit platter.
Indonesian citizens and KITAS holders who opt for weekend stays at Jumana in the next few months will not only enjoy incredible savings on room rates, but also a complimentary upgrade to the next villa category. Booking a Garden villa will net you a Sea View villa, while choosing a Sea View villa means getting bumped up to a cliff-top Ocean View
By Contributor - January 7, 2021
New rules are set to take effect on January 11 and remain in force until at least the 25th.
Light traffic on Jakarta’s Jalan Sudirman. (Photo: Sopan Sopian/Pixabay)
Starting next Monday, more than 65 million people on the islands of Java and Bali or about a quarter of Indonesia’s population will be covered by stricter large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) set to last two weeks or more. It comes as a response to the rising number of active coronavirus infections since November and an expected surge after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Airlangga Hartarto, the chairman of the national Covid-19 task force, announced the new measures yesterday as Indonesia logged 8,854 cases, a record high of daily new infections since the start of the pandemic.