Renaissance Bali Nusa Dua Resort
There’s a touch of the theatrical in this freshly opened resort back from the beach in Nusa Dua.
There are young food and beverage staff with CREW emblazoned on their black stagehand-style T-shirts. Lengths of sturdy white fabric swoop around freestanding ovoid bathtubs like theatre curtains. Arc lights and film lockers have been repurposed as funky design items. Tassels and textured skeins overlaid on pale botanical murals seem poised to reveal a scrim. Opened last year on the hills overlooking a stretch of popular coastline on the island’s southern peninsula, the five-star Renaissance Bali Nusa Dua Resort is nothing if not theatrical. Sometimes theming of hotels can feel too obvious and gimmicky, detracting from the atmosphere. But there’s a cohesive look and feel that’s entertaining and well-executed at this mid-sized property of 310 guestrooms and suites.
“Unfold the untold Bali.” That’s the message, and the breezy openness of the pavilion-style lobby feels, and looks, distinctly Balinese. It’s a massive space of tall carved columns and a centrepiece sinuous ceiling installation shaped like a fluted balsam flower. The effect is that of a living room, furnished with clusters of chairs (some with black rope edges that hang like dreadlocks), big round ottomans, sofas and side tables in myriad styles, colours and patterns. Floors are cleverly engineered with effects to resemble rugs or marble and at night groups of coloured table lights shine and sparkle. Elevators are not mere conveyances but come marked as Stage Doors that open to backlit stencilled walls. Elsewhere, as I loiter and take note, there are recurring Balinese barong dance motifs and clear design nods to festivals, rituals and the performing arts.
The gobo light that throws a pattern of a stylised Balinese dancer’s face and headdress on the timber floor of Room 1610’s foyer makes for a jaunty arrival.
“Don’t step on the lady’s head,” warns the little granddaughter as we enter. There’s more theatricality, too, in the welcome treats served on an empty film spool “platter”. A predominant palette of vivid turquoise and mellow mauve is welcoming and the long balcony comes with daybed, low-slung chairs and a reaching view across green slopes to a stretch of sea on the horizon. Mirrors and glass surfaces, plus frosted toilet and shower doors, are gently etched with Balinese motifs and the effect reminds me of a shadow puppet play, although it’s sufficiently restrained not to be too gimmicky. Free and fast wi-fi, huge TV and quality bed linens are all in place, and bathroom amenities are by premium brand Tokyo Milk. The lamps are (deliberately but oddly) mismatched and don’t throw much light for Luddites like me who still travel with paperbacks. A dining table doubles dutifully as a desk and there’s a bonus sofa bed. Ours is a deluxe king sea-view room, but the inclusions in all categories are consistent; the higher the floor, the better the panorama, of course, and you’ll pay more to overlook the coast than for a garden aspect.
And so to dine at Backstage, a breezy all-day diner of near-warehouse proportions with reddish orange and black chairs, graffiti-adorned brick columns and timber ceiling planks clearly inspired by a theatre’s lighting gantry. It’s semi-industrial in feel, but the breakfast buffet is a comforting triumph and surely enough to set up guests for an entire day. There are live cooking stations (hey there, nasi goreng), pancakes, waffles, congee, burritos, pyramids of fruit and pastries in abundance.
Tables are also set up on a pretty alfresco terrace beside a water feature and clipped bushes of tropical greenery. As the sun sinks, mocktails do the rounds with names such as Broadway, Silver Screen and Casting Call, and unusual ingredients include marmalade and orgeat syrup made with almonds and rosewater.
Courses are divided into “stages” and while such theatricality could sound a bit too much, the delivery and intent are spot on. And there’s a contemporary Chinese restaurant and traditional Indonesian diner about to open, too – both earmarked for a return visit.
Meantime, it’s a treat to linger poolside amid the frangipani trees at Atomic 17, a stylish café-bar open 11am-11pm that features a swooping timber ceiling and white tubular tables and chairs within cooee of a blue Vespa repurposed as a gelato cart, on-point mixologist and a blow-up flamingo the size of a lifeboat bobbing in the shallows. It’s very Miami (a Bikini Kill concoction leads the drinks list) in a completely unexpected way, and a resident DJ is in action in the evening.
Pick of the menu is the crispy soft-shell crab and nori taco with sushi rice and unagi sauce. I am not convinced by the prospect of beef rendang as a pizza topping, but bao buns and chilli cheese dogs are sure-fire crowd-pleasers. Ice cream sundaes? Big enough here for four to share (and the menu writers missed a trick by not dubbing these The Final Curtain).
There’s also a new Atomic 17 food truck in a converted VW Kombi at the beach. Grab the resort shuttle down for smoothies, fruit popsicles and bowls of prawns, mango and avocado with romaine lettuce and zesty citrus dressing.
The lobby-lounge R Bar, with adjacent balcony seating, is seriously cool and the place to loll for barista coffee, inventive cocktails, bowls of fruit punch and afternoon teas with inclusions such as matcha cheesecake, baked doughnuts, cocoa panna cotta and “bamboo charcoal scones” served on stands. All these communal spaces flow organically and there’s no sense of crowding, even on busy afternoons and evenings.
Lasting impressions are of helpful front desk staff and knowledgeable concierges wearing smart uniforms by local designer Paul Ropp. And gentle therapists at The Spa, experts in such wondrous floral-inspired extravaganzas as the two-hour Puspanjali treatment, involving petal exfoliations and massage and the best-smelling oils imaginable. Just like the performing arts theme throughout the property, the movement of expertly trained hands easing tired feet and unknotting stiff shoulders feels like the rhythm of a ceremonial dance.
In the know
The hotel is a member of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio; depending on traffic, it’s about a 30-minute drive from Denpasar airport. There’s a kids’ club and children’s menus, four pools and plenty of amenities suitable for teens. Pool-access rooms with terraces are available. Double rooms from about IDR2,420,000 ($242) a night depending on season. Packages available with breakfast, meal plans and other extras. Guests are invited to download a REN Navigator app to access hotel information and neighbourhood attractions. The Modernist Tea Party afternoon spread, also available for non-guests, is IDR450,000 a couple for a mix of eight savoury and sweet courses plus coffee or tea.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Renaissance Bali Nusa Dua Resort.