Alila Villa Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia

I have been to Bali twice. I don’t really know why I returned there as it is really not my type of travel destination. The island is more for relaxing than exploring, but there are some exploration opportunities. It does have one redeeming quality for me though, the island has some fantastic Hyatt brand hotels.

I am a mileage and point enthusiast and have learned the trade of nearly free travel. My favorite point currency is Hyatt points because of the great value they represent and the great Hyatt brands. A prime example is the Hyatt brand Alila Villas Uluwatu at the southern coast of Bali.

Uluwatu is known for its cliffs and views from these cliffs. Although the beaches are not as renowned as those on the southeastern area of the island, it does have some dramatic surf breaks here. I will attempt to describe the area as viewed from my hotel.

This particular hotel sells 1 bedroom pool villas for around $1,000 USD per night. Personally I would never spend that much for a hotel room, but I used my Hyatt points I generated for free. The points required per night are high for Hyatt at 30,000 points per night, but I have over 1,000,000 Hyatt points so I could easily cover my 3 night stay.

I’m not much of a hotel review person so I’ll skip much about the Villa (except the personal pool). Mostly I’ll focus on the dramatic views from the hotel and the seaside at the bottom of the cliff.

Each Villa is equipped with its own personal pool attached to the Villa with an accompanying cabana. This is where I hung out most when at my room.

View from my living room looking out over the private pool and cabana.

The pool was cleaned each day and new luxurious towels were replenished. Total privacy was secured via privacy fencing around the pool.

There is an additional common pool at lobby level that could get quite busy. But I'm not sure why people would swim in a common pool when they have their own personal pool. Perhaps for the better views?

Common pool area

Since the villas are set on the cliffs, it is a steep climb from the  hotel lobby to the upper villas. However, transportation by golf cart was continually offered. This could be secured by a simple phone call.

The breakfast was quite remarkable. It was a different menu each day with a La carte options. Everything was made with fresh local ingredients and prepared fresh. Much better than the typical buffet offerings at hotels. And all complimentary due to my globalist status with Hyatt.

But the true highlight for me at breakfast was the view:

There are steps that take you to the bottom of the cliffs. I took them each day but never encountered anyone as I descended or ascended. I never even saw anyone at the water edge. Probably because it is an arduous journey. I counted about 350 steps and they are quite steep. But the reward is at the bottom:

Uluwatu is a special place on the Indonesian island of Bali. It stands in contrast to the beach lover's areas for which Bali is so famous. It was my favorite part of the island.