DAVE SMITH: The most over-the-top hotel in Bali

“OMG.” That’s all I can say as I sashay through the 2000sqm lobby of the Apurva Kempinski Bali, half an hour’s drive from the international airport on the Nusa Dua beachfront, Bali’s Billionaires’ Row. Perched on a 55m clifftop with uninterrupted Indian Ocean views, this grand hallway is almost a religious building — something archaeologists centuries from now may reckon to be an ancient portal on par with the Pura Besakih or Mother Temple, on the slopes of Mount Agung volcano, the largest and holiest religious site in Bali. The floor is covered with black marble from Mongolia embedded with swirls of white and blue stone that capture and reflect light like precious stones. At the centre of the roof is a pagoda or inverse pyramid inlaid with copper-covered tiered steps — a statement of immense power and wealth. In each corner of this gigantic space are four soaring wooden temples, facsimiles of the meeting areas used by Indonesian royalty in the past, with arched entrances and intricate flowers and plants carved into the wood that would’ve taken months, if not years to complete. “This lobby represents the architectural styles of Hindu, Islam and Buddhist empires that swept across Indonesia through the centuries and their peaceful coexistence today. It’s a statement of enormous pride the Indonesian people,” says Vincent Guironnet, the general manager, a Frenchman who’s lived in the country for 35 years. As if the landscaping and architecture were not breathtaking enough, there is a beachfront chapel, glass-fronted, shaped like a whale with 12m-high bamboo arches and a shingle roof. The owners appeared to have as much money as taste when they envisioned this hotel, which is more of a small city than a resort. “The entire project took 12 years to build,” Vincent says. “You should see the back end, where all the engineering is; it looks like the engine room of a giant ship.” With 475 rooms, the Kempinski is the second biggest hotel in Bali after the Mulia, which has 526 rooms, double the acreage and towering white statues set in reflective pools, and is also situated in Nusa Dua. But the Kempinski is regarded as the best in terms of rock-star features, including a seafood restaurant set inside a giant aquarium with 15cm thick glass and a Michelin-starred chef from France manning the pans. “Fifteen percent of our guests are from Australia, and once they arrive, they usually don’t leave the resort during their holiday in Bali,” Vincent says. And why in the hell would you? Apart from meals and sunset walks along the beach with my significant other, I barely left my room; an oceanfront suite that had a private pool, a digital dunny with a warm seat that opened automatically whenever I entered the room, a shower with six jets and a cloud-like bed 2m wide. Oceanfront suites like mine cost around $1800 per night with a la carte breakfast included, though the Kempinski’s smallest rooms, which are still big compared to others and have balconies with views, start at $600. *Dave Smith was a guest of the Apurva Kempinski Bali. They have not influenced or read this story before publication.