Hotel Review: The Seminyak Beach Resort and Spa, Bali

In one of Bali’s most bustling areas, where things are ever-changing, one Seminyak hotel has stood the test of time.

Originally opening as Persona Bali, before changing its name to the Resort Seminyak, and finally the Seminyak Beach Resort and Spa after extensive renovations, this heavenly hotel has wooed visitors for the past 31 years.

The staff

Loyalty speaks volumes here, with most of the hotel’s current staff second-generation employees. And this kind of commitment is evident in the superior service delivered to guests – nothing is a problem.

The vibe

The Balinese owner has hand-picked everything in this hotel, which is perched on 1.37 hectares and is all about celebrating authentic Balinese culture with a five-star flourish.

Wander the gorgeous landscaped grounds that are dotted with traditional Balinese bales containing delightful day beds. The permanent wedding pavilion overlooking the ocean is the only one of its kind in Seminyak. This local, independent resort (it’s not part of any chain) was last year accepted into the Small Luxury Hotels of the World portfolio. And deservedly so.

Celebrate authentic Balinese culture with a five-star flourish

The entrance

Arrival at the resort is via a grand, white grand entrance punctuated by a colourful statue of a garuda. Guests are announced by a giant gong on arrival and greeted with a gorgeous garland of fragrant frangipanis. Check-in is not conducted at a desk, but is personalised while you sit on a comfy couch, sipping a welcome drink.

The rooms

With 103 rooms, 11 villas and 26 suites, there’s plenty of choice here.

The Ocean View Suites scream Asian elegance – all reds, whites, teaks and timber announced by a wood-carved entrance. There’s a dressing room replete with safety deposit box that is large enough to store a laptop as well as your valuables. The slender bathroom has a loo with a view towards the ocean and leads towards a double vanity.

Discover two types of bathrobes: a waffle weave, which can be purchased with your name monogrammed, or a stylish silk batik kimono, also available for sale in the resort boutique. Aromatherapy Associates toiletries are available in the bathroom, which boasts a separate shower leading to a sunken spa with TV and ocean views. There’s a large living area with couch, coffee machine, tea, coffee and mini-bar with local Plaga wine and premium Bali organic dark chocolate. Lie in your large bed and fall asleep to the sounds of the sea.

Dining

For traditional Indonesian fare, head to the Santan Restaurant just off the lobby, which is framed by colourful koi ponds. For those who prefer their dining oceanfront, the Sanje Restaurant & Lounge is the ideal spot, particularly for sunset. A dining highlight here is the Fisherman’s Night staged every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The concept is simple: instead of guests trekking to the busy Balinese district of Jimbaran for fresh seafood, the seafood comes to them. Dine on the likes of barbecued snapper, tuna, mahi mahi and prawns, washed down with a complimentary glass of sangria and a stunning sunset over Seminyak.

The Sanje is also a lovely breakfast spot: choose from a number of healthy breakfast bowls and juices, plus multiple coffee options. For something even more casual, dine on basic fare such as burgers and pizzas delivered to you by the pool or head for a cheeky nightcap at the classy bar, Klass & Brass.

Sanje Restaurant is just one of many dining options

The spa

The elegant Kahyangan Spa has been designed with the philosophy of transporting visitors from Earth to Heaven in mind, with guests entering on the ground level and ascending to the treatment rooms upstairs.

Even the reception area has been strategically placed on the left-hand side because the human heart is on the left side of the body. There are seven treatment rooms, a relaxation room and jacuzzi facilities here. Indulge in everything from a Bali Coffee Body Scrub to multi-day rituals like Energise & Shape; Balance Body & Mind; or Body Cleansing.

The pools

The long infinity pool overlooking the wild waves is somewhat of a Seminyak icon. There’s also a second pool with swim-up bar framed by delicious day beds.

Fitness Facilitates

There’s a 24-hour gym and fitness centre, plus some really cool classes. Partake in kick boxing, boxing, Muay Thai, Zumba, Tai Chi or Pilates. Yoga is also staged on the resort’s gorgeous lawns.

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

Brickbats

While the tap water in Bali is not safe to drink, hotels such as this need to consider other options such as filtered water in the lobby, rather than the four free plastic water bottles in the rooms, particularly given this Indonesian island’s recent ban on single-use plastic.

The hotel also boasts a ‘garden wing’ but it’s separate to the main buildings, across a busy road. Bathroom features such as the hairdryer and rubbish bin are so well hidden, it’s possible you may not know they exist. The hairdryer has such poor power it does not meet luxury expectations.

Bouquets

Guests will appreciate the convenience of an ATM on the ground floor. On the ground floor Chantique boutique sells classy goods such as silk kimonos and lovely books on Bali. Guest rooms contain gorgeous hard-cover coffee table books about Bali to read as well as high-end glossy Asian magazines.

Attention to detail in the rooms is so paramount, even the tissues are folded into the shape of a lotus flower. There’s even a day room on the ground floor for guest use either before check-in or after check-out.

The cost

The starting room rate for the Garden Room category is $495 including breakfast for two people.

The verdict

In a destination where you’re spoiled for choice, this stylish hotel in the middle of Seminyak manages a laid-back beach vibe while delivering on superior service standards.

The writer travelled as a guest of Wonderful Indonesia

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.