Relaxation Is All in the Details

Katrin Figge is reminded why the Anantara resort is a standout in Seminyak

Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa offers a wide range of activities, including daily yoga classes that overlook the beach. (Photo courtesy of Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa)

In Seminyak, Bali’s sophisticated hub of restaurants, bars and chic boutiques, it’s not an easy task for a hotel to survive the competition.

From low-budget accommodation to luxury villas, Seminyak offers a plethora of places for tourists to stay. The Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa is one among many, yet it seems to have found the right formula to stand out from the rest.

Anantara has secured a prime location at the beach where it features 59 suites plus a spacious penthouse on the top floor.

This makes for a rather intimate setting, and so Anantara is a popular choice for weddings and honeymooners — although the see-through bathroom window might be a tad too cozy.

The suites boast an elegant and chic interior with elements of Balinese traditional design, and have large balconies with private Jacuzzis, perfect for a bubble bath at sunset time, or a game of congklak, a traditional Indonesian board game that awaits on the rim of the bath tub.

The ground floor suites also have a direct access to one of the resort’s three swimming pools.

Breakfast, both Asian and Western, is served at the Wild Orchid, which is adjacent to the infinity pool and offers a nice view of the Indian Ocean, meaning that a fresh breeze is guaranteed.

Wild Orchid turns into a Thai restaurant at night, where eager guests can also take cooking classes with the chef.

Anantara also houses the SOS Supper Club, which stands for Sunset on Seminyak. As the name reveals, this place attracts throngs of visitors when the sun goes down, as many tourists enjoy the panoramic view of the rooftop restaurant.

SOS is famous for its mouth-watering steaks but also boasts seafood dishes and Spanish tapas on its menu. A live band entertains the diners for the first part of the evening; a DJ spins some tunes later in the night.

Another highlight of Anantara is the spa, which is located on the fourth floor of the property and can be reached via an outdoor bridge.

One recommended item on the menu is the resort’s signature treatment, a deeply rejuvenating oil massage that lasts for 90 minutes. An iPod station in the treatment room allows guests to listen to their preferred music, enhancing the relaxation even further.

“All elixirs and oils that we use are made from fresh and indigenous Indonesian ingredients,” spa manager Gusti Made Parwathi said. “And we are more than happy to adjust our treatments to your specific needs.”

Yoga classes by the beach take place early in the morning or in the late afternoon but those who are still beginners and feel awkward being seen in public while trying to achieve some peace of mind by stretching, bending and striking other complicated poses can also retreat into one of the rooms at the spa and take a private lesson.

Besides activities within the resort, Anantara also offers day trips to Bali’s most famous sightseeing spots. But surprisingly, the most popular excursions don’t lead guests to the puras, Balinese Hindu temples, but to an egg painting class conducted by skillful local artisans in Ubud.

“Many guests also like to go to see dance performances,” said Yohanes Hutauruk, Anantara’s marketing and communications manager.

“But the egg painting class is the most popular activity, especially with foreign tourists. It’s something different from what they usually see and do in Bali.”

The egg painting classes begin late in the morning after a two-hour-drive from Seminyak.

Ibu Sutini, who has been in the business for quite some time, passed down her craft to her daughters, all of who help out with the classes whenever they are around.

“I don’t force them to, of course,” Sutini said. “And I don’t expect them to become painters, they are free to do whatever they like. But they have watched us painting on canvases and wooden eggs growing up, so it is maybe only natural that they wanted to try it themselves.”

Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa offers guests a wide range of activities. (Photo courtesy of Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa)

Painting the wooden eggs — using real egg shells can be tricky as they break easily — is certainly a task that requires a steady hand, an imaginative mind and most of all, patience.

With the help of Sutini and her daughters, tourists learn how to come up with their own design (although it is recommended to start with something simple, such as flowers and butterflies), and turn a blank egg into a colorful creation, which is then left to be dried in the sun before it can be taken away in a small hand-woven basket.

Luckily, Sutini and her daughters stick around to help with the more difficult parts of painting the eggs, like the glazing, so the final product does look quite presentable.

In addition to excellent facilities, top-notch service and a wide range of activities both within and outside the resort, Anantara goes that extra mile to ensure guests have a holiday to remember.

It’s the addition of little, almost unnoticeable things that make Anantara stand out in a very unassuming, subtle way: on the ride from the airport to the resort, for instance, fresh towels, cold water and chocolates are provided in the car; at the resort itself, a small delicacy as well as booklet with bedtime stories are placed on the pillows each night.

Combined, Anantara’s finer points attest that the devil is, and always will be, in the details.
Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa

Jl. Abimanyu (Dhyana Pura)
Seminyak, Bali
Tel. 0361 737 773
bali.anantara.com