Location: ★★★☆☆
Zen: ★★★★☆
Luxury: ★★★★☆
Sexytime: ★★★★☆
In a nutshell: Private as can be, good food to eat, distraction free.
Yup, I freakin loved The Santai.
Unlike IZE which didn’t have much of a Bali feel and was more busy hotel vibe, The Santai is way more relaxing, way more peaceful, and way more luxurious. I was pumped to smell incense upon arrival and the rest of my stay definitely had shades of Bali present in the experience, which is obviously an important part of visiting any country. Why would you fly across the world to stay somewhere that feels the same as any hotel in your own region, know what I mean?
I was a big fan of the architecture here, enough to take a pic of the name of the guy who designed it, so shoutout to architect and interior designer Anthony Liu because I think the guy did a good job creating a space that feels upscale and luxurious and most importantly feels like Bali.
The Santai isn’t exactly walking distance to the busy part of town, but a) you pretty much don’t ever want to leave anyway and b) if you do want to venture out, there are mopeds and bicycles to rent if you want to explore the area and/or peddle through the rice paddies for something to do 🌾
What I liked
Loooved being nakkie 90% of the time. Every villa is surrounded by a large wall covered in cascading vines and foliage with a few palm trees here and there, so you and your private pool are sheltered in complete privacy. The pool gets a full day of sunshine too… aka 0% tanlines 🙌🏼
I also liked the rooms because they were bright and spacious and came with a great iPhone 6-and-up-compatible sound system that worked like a breeze. It’s so nice when you can just walk into a new room and stick your phone on the speaker plug and everything just knows how to operate.
The Santai was also home to the very first deluxe bath I had all trip, complete with bubbles, mint-scented epsom salts, dried flower petals, and a jar of cookies.
I didn’t leave the property in three whole days and was happy to eat every meal from The Santai’s in-house restaurant called Gong, which serves all kinds of Western/Asian/Balinese dishes. I ordered into my villa most of the time, minus the very last night when Head Chef Gede visited my villa himself for my very own one-on-one traditional Balinese cooking class, which was easily a highlight of my stay. Chef Gede can chop carrots into paper-thin slices at rapid-fire speed while maintaining full eye contact the entire time without cheating.
FML and sorry in advance because I can’t remember the proper names of the dishes we made and apparently I never wrote them down either. Blogger fail; but it was some kind of vegetable curry in a traditional Balinese sauce, with fish steamed in banana leaf, and deep-fried rice-paper-wrapped bananas with rainbow sprinkles and coconut ice cream.
Things to note
This is the type of place where you come and have a good time in your villa. There’s not a ton to do outside the property aside from bike through rice paddies, so it’s ideal for groups and couples who want to lay low/relax/float around on inflatable pool toys. The Santai does have equipment to rent if you want to explore the area though.
Worth it?
I’d say so, for sure. Families and couples will be well taken care of and have a memorable time here.
TripAdvisor Reviews:
Gong Restaurant