While Natalie and I were honeymooning at Amanusa I received a kind tweet from my friend Allison Sitch who is the PR whiz for Ritz-Carlton. She offered us a couples massage as a wedding gift at one of their hotels or sister properties. As you probably know Ritz-Carlton is owned by Marriott which also owns the uber luxury Bulgari Hotels and there just happened to be one of the five Bulgari hotels in the world just 40 minutes down the road.
She arranged transportation and the next thing you know we were at the Bali Bulgari Resort getting pampered. I wasn’t planning on writing about it but it was so cool I have to at least give you a flavor and show you my pics.
Bali Bulgari is six years old and has 59 villas. It has a sophisticated contemporary design with a mix of traditional Balinese forms and high Italian style. We were immediately whisked to the gorgeous spa that’s in a traditional Balinese house in one of the resorts buggies.
I don’t remember much after that but I do know we had a two-hour couples treatment with exotic oils and herbs that began with a scrub, then came a facial and ended with a Balinese hot stone massage. Afterwards the masseuses served us herbal tea and chicken spring rolls. It was so relaxing and I especially loved the Balinese music.
We were still hungry so we ate a late lunch on the outside patio of the hotel’s Sangkar Restaurant (menu). It’s 450 feet (150 meters) above the Indian Ocean and I had the Satay Campur – beef, chicken & pork with spicy peanut sauce and chili sambal. Yum!
The spa and restaurant were so nice that we asked to see a room and as expected they were plush too. In case you are wondering – like me – the bathroom was stocked with Bulgari toiletries.
On the way back to Amanusa the driver took us to the famous Pura Luhur Uluwatu temple. It’s regarded as one of the six most important temples in Bali and is an architectural marvel. It’s situated on the cliffs of south Bali and it was built in the 11th century but the current state was rebuilt in the 16th century.
The temple is just 10 minutes down the road from Bulgari and our driver warned us about the wild monkeys so we left our sunglasses and food in the car. FYI: To get there costs 20,000 INR (about $2) and they only take local currency. If you aren’t wearing pants or a proper shirt you will need to grab one of the sweaty used wraps to cover up.
Random but interesting Bali fact: Our taxi driver told us that in Bali kids go to school every day but Sunday. Classes are from 7:30 am – 12 pm.
Awesome pics, Johnny! The food looks delicious – seems like you had a fantastic time. Congratulations on your honeymoon!
This looks like a great place to spend a hen weekend. Not to mention, a day at the spa is something that most women will really enjoy.