5 newest sustainable hotels in Bali - International Traveller

Bali’s tourism ministry is now encouraging visitors to ditch ‘sun, sea and sand’ for ‘serenity, spirituality and sustainability’. Here’s where to find it without leaving your hotel.

Lying in bed watching fireflies flit past your villa, tucking into flavour-packed feasts driven by the onsite permaculture garden and connecting with local culture on a deeper level… this is what eco-luxury lodging looks like in Bali in 2023. And we’re here for it.

Returning visitors will notice a sustainable shift in the Bali experience, with zero-waste eateries and ethical boutiques now popping up across the island, along with hotels embracing not only a more holistic approach to sustainability, but also a regenerative one.

view of the rice terraces in central Bali — See the rice terraces of central Bali.

“We wanted to create something where we could confidently say, because of us, things are getting better around us," says Aska Hamakawa, co-founder of Mana Earthly Paradise – an Ubud eco retreat that in 2022 became Southeast Asia’s first hospitality B Corp.

“Bali has so much potential to be an example to the world, and I hope in the coming years we’ll start to see more effort from every sector to make tourism more sustainable," she adds.

scenic views of the Ubud forest — Find yourself sequestered between Ubud’s lush forests.

Here are five of Bali’s newest hotels following Mana’s positive-impact lead.

1. Lost Lindenberg

Where: West Bali

Follow the coastal road northwest of Canggu and the concrete jungle soon gives way to a patchwork of lurid rice paddies and spindly coconut palms that stir memories of a Bali before the beach clubs arrived.

treehouse-style rooms at Lost Lindenberg hotel, Bali — Stay in Lost Lindenberg’s treehouse-style rooms. (Image: Robert Rieger)

Putting a sustainable spin on the utopian fantasy with eight treehouse-style rooms floating above a rewilded jungle property is Lost Lindenberg. One of just two Bali retreats in Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s Considerate Collection recognising actively sustainable accommodations, this minimalist-chic eco lodge feels like a natural extension of the local village of Pekutatan.

the minimalist-chic interior of Lost Lindenberg hotel, Bali — The retreat deals in minimalist chic. (Image: Robert Rieger)

Community is, indeed, at the heart of Lost Lindenberg. Heavily involved in the lodge’s design process, locals now hold meaningful staff positions and host local tours, with the wider community regularly invited to events ranging from surfing competitions to barbecues on the property’s black-sand beach.

views from Canggu Beach — Soak up the warm sea breeze at Canggu Beach.

Made for social travellers, Lost Lindenberg guests are encouraged to embrace the lodge’s collective concept and mingle with fellow holidaymakers in common spaces including the elegantly understated dining room, where wholesome plant-based meals are served at a communal, sustainably sourced wooden table. Solitude can be savoured at the rustic spa, with e-bikes and e-scooters available for exploring further afield.

an ocean panorama suite at Lost Lindenberg hotel, Bali — Jungle meets ocean at Lost Lindenberg. (Image: Robert Rieger)

2. Potato Head Suites

Where: Seminyak

Potato Head has evolved into one of the island’s most innovative hospitality businesses since arriving on the scene in 2010 as one of Bali’s first beach clubs. Its 2022 reincarnation of the Brutalist-chic Katamama Hotel furnished this ‘eco village’ with 58 artisan-led suites.

ocean views from the balcony of Potato Head suites, hotel in Bali — Capture sweeping ocean views from Potato Head Suites. (Image: Martin Westlake)

The brand’s sustainability journey began in 2016 when its Indonesian entrepreneur owner Ronald Akili found himself surfing in knee-deep plastic. Exploring creative ways to morph waste into stylish and useful objects is now a key focus at the onsite Waste Lab, which hosts free sustainability workshops (open to non-guests).

artworks made during waste lab eco workshop — The village’s Waste Lab hosts eco workshops.

After a few days padding around your traditional terracotta-tiled suite in biodegradable coconut husk and palm leaf slippers and exploring the local area toting your complimentary zero-waste kit, it’s easy to forget plastic ever existed.

a bartender mixing up drinks at the counter inside Kaum bar — Kaum Bar is part of Potato Head’s ‘eco village’.

And if you’re flirting with vegetarianism, Australian chef Dominique Hammond’s plant-based degustation at onsite restaurant Tanaman might just seal the deal. Also housing 168 studios alongside a slew of wellness, music and gallery spaces, Desa Potato Head was Asia’s first hospitality company to be certified carbon-neutral in 2017.

With the brand now focusing on more impactful strategies to prevent emissions (rather than simply offset them) such as mangrove-planting projects, its ‘good times, do good’ philosophy has never felt more apt.

a plate of local seafood at Potato Head hotel, Bali — Local seafood is a hero at Potato Head.

3. Buahan – A Banyan Tree Escape

Where: Ubud

Who needs Netflix when you can watch fireflies dance on the tropical breeze as you drift off to sleep? Certainly not at Buahan – A Banyan Tree Escape, which reinvented the luxury hotel concept with its ‘no walls, no doors’ idea carried throughout the jungle property near Ubud, including its 16 spacious balés (villas).

a look inside Banyan Tree’s balés, sustainable hotel in Bali — Banyan Tree’s balés have no walls.

Encouraging guests to commune with nature on a whole new level (with mosquito nets providing a welcome buffer), the resort’s game-changing design forms part of a meaningful commitment to sustainability that only enhances the guest experience.

an overhead shot of Buahan Valley, Banyan sustainable hotel in Bali — The resort sits within the jungle.

Notice it in the quality of the local craftsmanship, from the hand-carved wooden headboards to the natural-dyed furnishings; taste it in the freshness of the wholesome dishes served up from the zero-waste kitchen, where produce is sourced from within an hour of the property; and embrace it on a range of local-led experiences helping to safeguard ancient traditions, from a crash-course in the art of loloh (traditional Balinese medicine extracted from nature) to spiritual healing guided by a Balinese priest.

If you’re unsettled by the possibility of sharing your loo with a frog, Buahan may nudge you out of your comfort zone. But for adventurous visitors with cash to splash mindfully, this first property in a new tier of sustainability-focused wilderness retreats is a memorable place to do it.

a look inside Banyan Tree’s open-air Toja Spa — Get pampered at Banyan Tree’s open-air Toja Spa.

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4. Desa Hay

Where: Canggu

Entranced by Bali’s beauty and culture, Canadian couple Scott and Julia Kowaleski and their son Josh set about finding a way to share their love for the island with visitors – without contributing to its problems.

an open-plan villa at Desa Hay sustainable hotel in Bali — Its ultra-chic villas are open-plan.

The result is Desa Hay, a six villa stay just 10 minutes from the heart of Canggu. Stepping through the hand-carved door into the lush private garden cocooning your meticulously designed, ultra-energy-efficient pool jabu (Northern Sumatra-style villa), you’d never know this is the family’s first foray into hospitality.

a chair beside a curtain inside Desa Hay sustainable hotel in Bali — Enjoy a boutique stay at Desa Hay.

Thoughtful touches such as the copy of Tresna (the first book in a memoir series by Canadian-born Frances Tse Ardika, the first foreigner to become a Balinese temple priestess) gently encourage a more mindful Bali holiday experience.

Also part of the SLH Considerate Collection, Desa Hay supports the IEPD Foundation-led construction of rainwater-fed ‘recharge wells’, designed to regenerate Bali’s shrinking water table and the schooling of disadvantaged children via a scholarship fund.

Look as hard as you can, but you won’t find a skerrick of single-use plastic. And with all water treated onsite, this might be the only hotel in Bali where you can safely drink from the tap. Add to that a relaxed restaurant and bar fringed by a serene communal pool, and Desa Hay makes a strong case for spending your entire stay on the premises. It has a similarly sustainable sister retreat (Munduk Cabins) in north Bali’s highlands, too.

a bathtub with jungle views at Desa Hay sustainable hotel in Bali — Take a luxe outdoor soak at Desa Hay.

5. Anantara Ubud

Where: Ubud

Big hotel groups are often criticised for a sluggishness to implement (and meet) meaningful sustainability targets, yet even small steps taken across entire chains can have substantial impacts. One larger hotel group doubling down on its sustainability goals in 2023 is Anantara, which in January released a Sustainability Charter outlining a commitment to ramp up sustainability initiatives across its portfolio and chart its progress transparently.

an exterior view of Anantara Ubud Bali Villas — A sleek yet sustainable stay awaits at Anantara Ubud.

Spilling down a lush hillside near Ubud, the brand’s newest property, due to welcome its first guests in June 2023, embodies this deeper commitment with initiatives ranging from an onsite water-purifying and bottling facility to energy-efficient technology and a clutch of restaurants showcasing organic produce from the resort’s own chef’s garden.

John Roberts, group director of sustainability and conservation at Anantara, confirms there’s also a long-term conservation initiative in the pipeline for the 66-room hotel – a Sustainability Charter objective for all nature-based properties. So you can feel better about kicking back in your stylish pool villa and indulging in an array of Balinese-inspired treatments at the Anantara Spa.

breakfast inside Anantara Ubud, sustainable hotel in Bali — Enjoy a hearty breakfast inside Anantara villa. (Image: Sven Ellsworth)

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.

5 of the newest sustainable hotels in Bali

Bali’s tourism ministry is now encouraging visitors to ditch ‘sun, sea and sand’ for ‘serenity, spirituality and sustainability’. Here’s where to find it without leaving your hotel.

1. Lost Lindenberg

2. Potato Head Suites

3. Buahan – A Banyan Tree Escape

4. Desa Hay

5. Anantara Ubud

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