The only problem with Ritz-Carlton’s Bali Resort is that you might never want to leave the grounds to explore the country. You’ll be too busy sipping cocktails from a watermelon while you lounge by the ornate water-spouting stone statues of the infinity pool, or taking advantage of the resorts private secluded beach. (For the experimental, try a piece of the snake skin fruit left in your room most days. Yes, the skin you peel look and feels exactly like the scales of a rattle snake, and the fruit looks a bit like garlic cloves, but it’s delicious.)
The resorts highlight is the spa. Many packages include a daily Balinese massage, but it’s worth trying the world’s largest Aquatronic seawater therapy pool. It’s pretty much a maze of channels with water jets that massage specific areas of the body, but the view of the Indian ocean is fantastic, and there’s nothing quite like soaking beneath the glow of the torches in the evening.
There are a number of restaurants on the grounds, ranging from seafood to Italian. Our favorite was Padi, a Thai restaurant with dishes that might seem uneven only because merely good dishes seem pale next to others which are nothing short of culinary masterpieces.
For those really looking to splurge, the villas come with a butler on call 24 hours a day. Now that’s living.