After leaving Ubud, we headed to Seminyak.

Seminyak is a beachy area closer to the airport, about an hour by taxi from the hilly rainforest area where Ubud is situated. It’s a more bustling area with lots of beach clubs, restaurants, and shops. The beaches in Seminyak are not the prettiest; we didn’t even bother going - but more on that later. In Seminyak, we stayed at a stunning resort called eqUILIBRIA SEMINYAK. This is probably one of my favorite hotels that we’ve ever stayed at.

This hotel is 100% villas, and we opted to stay in one of their ‘signature villas.’ All of the villas are nice, so any one would be a good choice. They have very high walls, ensuring the utmost privacy, and are built in a modern minimalist style. All of the villas have private pools, which vary in size based on which villa you select.

*In addition to the pool, our villa also had an outdoor bathtub.*

The upper level of the villa contained a dining area as well as a couch, television, and gaming console. It had two accordion-style doors which opened completely to give the upper area an open-air feel, and looked out over the pool.

*We enjoyed our breakfast in the upper part of the villa, overlooking the pool. Breakfast was included with the room.*

*The waterfall from the pool emptied into this pond below. This sculpture was directly outside our bedroom and could be viewed through the sliding glass door.*

*We really spent quite a lot of time in the pool, as it was very hot in Seminyak, with little rain to cool things down.*

In terms of amenities, the hotel also has a spa, a common dining area, and a pool. It was extremely quiet the entire time we were there and we rarely saw any other guests. The food wasn’t anything to write home about but the hotel was beautiful, quiet, and clean.

*There was a common pool area, but I think most guests probably opted to enjoy their private pools.*

*The bar/restaurant area, adjacent to the pool. The food was so-so, and I don’t think we had any drinks.*

*Grand staircase near the check-in area, and leading up to the restaurant and pool.*

*This is the spa. A short couple’s massage was included in the promotional price of the room.*

If you’re looking for a quiet relaxing stay in Bali, I’d highly recommend this hotel! This place is best for lounging by your pool in privacy, enjoying spa treatments, and generally taking it easy. In terms of food, it was okay for breakfast and lunch, but I would venture out for dinner to enjoy Seminyak’s dining. It is centrally located in town, and we were able to walk to other restaurants. You can also taxi to the popular beach clubs/pool parties. If you’re going to be spending your time mainly away from the hotel and aren’t able to take full advantage of what it has to offer, I might find a place that is a little bit cheaper.

During a night out in Seminyak, we dined at a restaurant called Bikini (photos above), which had great reviews online. The restaurant served Asian fusion food, with a kind of high-end modern twist. Honestly, it was just okay. I think it was one of those places more popular for its looks than its eats. Very instagrammable. After dinner, we popped over to Akademi bar, which is on the premises of the popular Potato Head Beach Club.

Akademi is a small bar (I am guessing the masses tend to patronize the beach club), that places emphasis on mixology. We talked for hours with the mixologist about the different ingredients they use for their cocktails. Many of the cocktails call for flavored syrup, all of which is made in-house. The mixologist deconstructed cocktails for us to allow us to taste the different components of the cocktails separately, and then together. We also tried different Balinese liquors and liqueurs that they use in their cocktails. I don’t know that everyone has this experience, as it was a very slow night, but we had a really fantastic time!

We had other meals while in Seminyak, which were not memorable, and for the most part stayed close to our hotel. We did venture out to Uluwatu, while using Seminyak as our home base, twice, to enjoy the natural beauty of that part of Bali. I’ll share about our experiences in Uluwatu in my next and final Bali post!