Visited: October 20-23, 2024
From Gili Trawangan, we took a morning ferry boat back to Bali for our final days in Indonesia. The ferry took about 2.5-hrs and we arrived at the Paddangbai port on the east side of Bali. At the port, we found a driver to take us directly to the long-awaited Alila Villas Uluwatu resort which was about 1.5-hrs.
Staying at Alila Villas Uluwatu using points was a long-time bucket list item for us. And throughout our time in Indonesia, we regularly checked to find availability for three consecutive nights using points, which is rare. With persistence, we were fortunately able to book three nights to end our time in Indonesia. This was a point-splurge stay but it was 100% worth it.
Day 1: We Really Get to Stay Here?
Upon arriving, we were blown away by the ocean views with palm trees and an infinity pool. The lobby and common area were smaller than Umana Bali, but equally impressive. It was cool to see how different the vibe and aesthetics were at the two resorts. We were offered a welcome drink and snacks along with a refresher towel. The manager noticed that we were carrying huge backpacks and offered us a complimentary 10-minute back and shoulder massage – it was such a thoughtful and kind gesture. Although we had arrived before the check-in time, we were able to check into our rooms right away.
I was smiling from ear to ear walking into our private villa. It was beautiful and I couldn’t wait to enjoy such a nice, big place. The massive windows revealed our back patio with our private pool and a huge sun bed. The villa was smaller than at Umana Bali, but it was still amazing and I was so excited to spend three nights here. We were at Umana Bali for only two nights which felt too short to truly take advantage of the villa, so I was determined to spend a day just enjoying our luxurious space at Alila. I know we booked it, but I couldn’t believe how lucky we were to spending our last days in Indonesia in this incredible place.
We hadn’t had lunch yet and we were tired from the long journey from Gili T. So we promptly ordered room service pizza. We had sticker shock from seeing how expensive the food was, even compared to Umana Bali. But we knew that at a high-end resort, we would be paying high-end prices. I was excited to find that Netflix was still logged into from a previous guest (we don’t have Netflix) and promptly started to watch the breakout Korean cooking show, Culinary Class Wars, that I had been wanting to watch. Pizza and TV – a great way to start our stay.
I love binge watching TV and hadn’t done it on the trip, so I spent the afternoon watching several episodes in our comfy abode. We finally went outside to explore the ground before sunset. The resort was not too big (smaller than Umana), so it didn’t take us long to see everything. We stumbled upon a gorgeous proposal setup amongst the cliffs (was very impressed by whoever planned this) and then went to get pre-dinner cocktails at the Sunset Cabana Bar.
After drinks, we went to The Warung, the Indonesian restaurant for dinner. The Warung is one of just two restaurants at the resort, the other being Western cuisine. We were served a massive sambal sampler as a starter. It was a lot of fun trying a variety of sambals. We then ordered tiger prawns with a spicy Sumatran sauce and seafood noodle soup as our entrees. Then we headed back to our villa to watch more Culinary Class Wars and called it a night.
Day 2: A Slow Day Enjoying the Entire Resort
The next morning, we went to the gym to work out. We always need to take advantage of a gym when we can. Like everything else, the gym at Alila was quite a bit smaller than at Umana, but it was still well equipped and nice. I was so happy to finally run, albeit on the treadmill. Unfortunately, I had to stop quickly because the gym was way too hot. The Bali sun can be brutal. But I was still able to get a nice workout in.
After our morning workouts, we went for lunch at CIRE, the western restaurant. We were able to nab an ocean view table. We had refreshing mocktails and I had delicious shrimp baos and Nate had a fancy wagyu burger. The wagyu burger was quite pricey and luckily, worth the price. He claims it is the best burger of the trip (excluding the Hawaii burger).
We took a big common area pool bed to hang out by the infinity pool and swim. But because it was so hot, it was hard to comfortably swim for a while. And the fan in our beach bed wasn’t working. After a while, it got too hot so we went back to our villa. We swam in our private pool and spent the afternoon watching more TV and working on our blogs and videos until dinnertime.
We went back to The Warung for dinner. This time we ordered a sampler appetizer with a fried mackerel dumpling, a curried lamb fried rice, and pork ribs with sambal. This dinner was amazing and these two entrees were probably our favorites of our stay. Unfortunately no good pics of these dishes.
After dinner, we went to Batique, the whiskey bar for post-dinner drinks. I ordered a cocktail with “fat washed truffle whiskey” and it was incredible – one of the best and most unique cocktails I’ve ever had. I love truffle and I was blown away by the truffle taste and aroma infused in the whiskey. Nate got a classic whiskey sour which was also excellent. Batique was amazing and had a great ambiance.
Day 3: Adventure Down to the Rocky Beach
On our second morning, Nate woke up early to join a yoga class while I went to work out at the gym. I have never enjoyed yoga, and was still more excited about having access to a gym. We then walked down hundreds of stairs (we were told 600, but we think it’s a lot fewer steps) on the cliff from the resort to the wild, rocky beach below. You have to properly time beach visits according to the tide. It was quite hot by the time we started, but luckily the path down was heavily shaded by trees so it wasn’t too bad.
After a while, we finally arrived at the beach and it was breathtaking. We had visited many beaches in Indonesia, but they were usually nice, maintained beaches for swimming or lounging. This looked to be a beach left unkempt in its natural state. The waves were massive and roaring. There were rocks strewn around everywhere. We were the only ones there and we explored the beach admiring the crashing waves, the smell of the salty water, and the wild and more dangerous feel of the beach compared to everywhere else we’d been.
We climbed the hundreds of stairs back up, hungry for food. We went to eat a late breakfast at CIRE. It was a delightful meal. Breakfast is all-you-can-eat from a massive menu of both western and local foods. So it is like a la carte, but you can order as much as you can. After two workouts, we were starving and ordered a lot. I think we definitely got our money’s worth. My favorite was the basket of breads and pastries. So good!
We returned to our villa with full stomachs to relax for the afternoon after an action packed morning. We went back to the Sunset Cabana Bar for sunset cocktails and nibbles again. It was clearer than the first night, so we saw a beautiful cliffside sunset.
For our last dinner, we went back to The Warung again. As always, it did not disappoint. We ordered nasi goreng (fried rice) and a duck dish. Nasi Goreng is the national dish of Indonesia and we had it well over a dozen times throughout Indonesia. The nasi goreng here is the best we had. It was also probably 10+ times the price, so it would be a travesty if it wasn’t outstanding, but I was still so impressed by it.
The skies were clear at night so we stargazed by the pool for a while before returning to the villa. We were trying to take everything in, stamping it into our memories, before we had to leave the next morning.
Day 4: A Sad Goodbye to Alila and Indonesia
I woke up sad knowing that I had to leave this wonderful place. I was excited to go to Vietnam, our next destination, but I loved Alila Villas Uluwatu and Indonesia so much that it was bittersweet. I was determined to come back here again.
We went back to CIRE for a late breakfast and ordered a ton of food again knowing that we wouldn’t be eating again until dinner at the airport. We packed up our bags and then checked out of our rooms by noon. Our flight wasn’t until late afternoon, so we hung out in the lobby for a while before calling a Grab to the airport. I had a mini almost fiasco where I couldn’t find my Vietnam visa and thought that I hadn’t properly applied for one. Luckily, it turned out that I had used a different email for the visa and so it was a false alarm.
At the airport we hung out in a lounge for a couple of hours before we boarded our flight to Hanoi where we would be meeting Kim for our next adventure!
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