We stayed at the Bale in December 2011 on a short getaway from Perth, and our entire experience surpassed our expectations.

We were greeted at the airport by a friendly driver with cold towels, airconditioning and delicious fresh fruit, which was a lovely welcome to the island of Bali. From check-in to check-out the staff could not have been more attentive, warm and friendly. Everyone working around the hotel had a welcoming smile when we saw them, from the butlers and concierge to the restaurant staff and gardeners.

The restaurant was fantastic, and the variety of food (in addition to the delicious cocktails each evening by the common pool) was excellent. Just as easy as heading to the Faces restaurant was to arrange for the restaurant to come to us - and we enjoyed many of our meals in our own pavillion. The wait staff were just as attentive, and we had some wonderful conversations with them, including Siriani who was so friendly and made us feel right at home.

We stayed in a single deluxe pavillion. On of the butlers showed us around when we arrived, and poured us a welcome drink while we were able to check in in the privacy of our own room. The single deluxe pavillion was just amazing - so well appointed. Read all the reviews below - and they are all accurate. The rooms are just so luxurious.

We had a massage at the Spa which was so relaxing, but make sure you book with a couple of days notice because they are very popular and advance bookings are essential.

It's the little things at the Bale that make it so amazingly luxurious. When we sat down by the main pool late in the afternoon, we were not just given a free cocktail, but fresh cold towels, small satays and warm nuts and treats.

We felt well looked after, and Michele the General Manager greeted us several times with warm conversation and to make sure we were enjoying ourselves (and had some great tips for restaurants in the area).

All in all, if you're looking for a luxury getaway, you must try the Bale. We most certainly will be back again!

Andrew and Brooke

We stayed in July 2011 for 5-6 nights. We spent quite a bit of time researching options for a hotel with a pool villa in Bali, and picked the Bale in the end because we believed it offered the best value package. We booked the Deluxe Pavilion, which gets you a larger villa/pool, as well as lunch, dinner or a 60-minute spa package thrown in per person (plus breakfast and free cocktails 6-8pm). Our experience of boutique/5-star hotels is that the cost of meals can quick add up, so this seemed a good way to enjoy our stay without worrying too much about costs! All in all, I think we were paying around USD 400+ per night.

In booking the hotel, we nearly overlooked because the website doesn't do a very good job I think of selling the hotel. By that I mean that there aren't too many large images to give you a feel for the place - you have to find the image gallery.

We arranged an airport pick up, and arrived at night. The resort itself has quite a neutral colour palette and spartan look, from the light coloured stone. The villas themselves are massive with a Bali style roofing (high ceiling) and woods, a large pool, garden and day bed area. The look is a little bit spartan/plain, and whilst modern, I wouldn't say the design is trendy. There's a large seating area in the villa, desk and large cupboards. The bathroom is large and on one side opens up to the pool and on the other to an outside shower (this design seems a little silly though, as if you want to shower before/after the pool, you need to walk through the bathroom). There's a massive bath tub also. The bed was fairly comfortable, although there were quite a few mosquitoes which was an issue - the hotel staff did supply a spray and plug-in repellent, although these weren't 100% effective. We kept the doors and windows shut, but still had problems - I'm not sure unfortunately what more the hotel could do though unfortunately.

But the truth is, you won't be spending much time inside... Despite there being a very nice main pool at the hotel, we spent nearly all our time chilling by our own villa pool. The sunbeds and the shaded day bed were great. The villa location was discreet and private.

The breakfast at the Bale was one of the highlights of our trip. You can order anything you want from the menu, and enjoy these at the restaurant or in the comfort of your villa (as we did most days). We still talk about how good the breakfast was months after... (it's one of the best hotel breakfasts I've had...if not the best). We very much enjoyed the rest of the food at the restaurant also - both in terms of the menus (as part of the Deluxe Pavilion package) and when ordering a-la-carte, at both lunch and dinner. There was a good mix of local and western cuisines.The free cocktails 6-8pm also were phenomenal.

We visited the nearby beach (around a ten minute walk) and saw the reserved area for the hotel. To be honest though, when you have a gorgeous private pool villa, why would you want to go down to the beach? The beach itself was nothing special to be honest. There are a few bar/restaurants if you want some cheap beer and food.

We did a bit of exploring also in the nearby Nusa Dua area (worth an evening stroll to check out the shops, bars and food) - the hotel kindly provided a car. We also arranged a day trip to Ubud with the hotel (nice town and great to see the rice terraces, but terrible traffic to and from), and had dinner one night in Jimbaran (sea food out on the beach - well worth it).

We tried the spa which was great - as most spas though in luxury hotels, the prices are high compared to what you could pay elsewhere in Bali (though luckily it was included in our package).

Aside from our great pool villa and the food/drink/spa package that I've mentioned, what really set aside the hotel was the quality of the service. Everyone was incredibly friendly and the service was extremely attentive and faultless (very rare in Asia). The manager would also frequently stop by in the evening to ensure we were having a pleasant stay and would introduce us to various members of staff, e.g. the chef. I really liked the personal touch, and the quality of the recommendations that were made to help us enjoy our stay.

We had one of our best holidays staying at the Bale, and would thoroughly recommend it to other couples looking for a romantic luxury break in a great boutique hotel.

On the way back from 6 weeks in Europe we decided to break up the trip home and relax in Bali.
My partner found us the most perfect place to finish an amazing holiday.

In all our hotels on this trip i must say the service and attention to detail under the great guidance of the GM was faultless. I can not believe it is undergoing a renovation as it was already fantastic and can not wait to go back when the renovation is finished latter this year.
The restaurant is excellent, great breakfast, great for dinner and the floor staff are seriously good. I look forward to our return

The Bale is a world class property so close to Australia

I read the reviews and they convinced us to stay there.Better than my expectations.Such peaceful attractive surroundings.The beach at Nusa Dua is only average but I'm Australian so have a different perspective to many travellers.We found most of the beaches around that southern part of Bali were a bit average.But back to the Bale....the staff were sooo helpful and our villa was divine. Having said all that,the manager told us they are about to renovate so it will be even more beautiful soon. Not sure how they can improve on it.