Bali Hotel Review: Alila Seminyak

Wondering where to stay in Bali? Check out the beautiful and luxurious Alila Seminyak!

I have stayed at the Alila Diwa in Goa three times and love it more everytime. Four years ago, it was the first “fancy” hotel I stayed at, in a Club room. Ever since I have always remembered how spoiled I felt there by their stellar service (massages at check-in!).

While the Alila Seminyak did not have shoulder massages during check-in, the rest was spot on! I thoroughly enjoyed staying here. When I travel long term in a country, I try to mix up with eco-friendly properties, boutique villas, young hostel type vibe like the surf camp, and a little bit of a 5-star getaway. I chose to do the 5 star bit in Seminyak because it’s more city vibes and that is when I prefer a 5 star.

The location of Alila Seminyak is ideal. It’s walking distance to a lot of cute shops and my new favorite taco place, Sea Circus. But the offer a free shuttle to Seminyak Square if you want to go further into town and be dropped off. This was a nice touch!

The rooms at the Alila Seminyak

They were in one word: HUGE.

I love a spacious room! Our room was an ocean facing room with a living room and bathroom that had a bathtub. Honestly, when it comes to 5 star hotels, there has never been a chain that does better than Alila on my travels.

The view from the room is above. Not bad! There are three pools on the property, and one is just there.

We had breakfast in bed one morning just so we could open the balcony and enjoy the sea breeze and coffee from bed. Basically, the best way to spend a morning.

The rest of the hotel: food, spa, and pool

During our time there, we did a “couples” massage ha ha, me and Tia. It was really nice. They have you choose the scent of oil you prefer. They did have almond oil which is good because Tia is allergic to coconut!

The massage was great, although it was a 60 minute massage and although we started late due to delays, we finished early, meaning it was really a 45 minute massage. I think they were running behind on appointments.

Breakfast is just about the grandest affair ever! There are HUGE buffets set up with everything you can imagine. But, beyond that, you can order anything you want from the menu. I had the bacon quiche plus some fruit, yogurt, and museli.

The restaurant you have breakfast at, is at the edge of the hotel overlooking the sea.

One night there, we enjoyed the BBQ at the pool. I had the ribs and Tia had fish. It was really tasty, but the portions were too small. We ended up ordered a second main dish for each of us, plus we had sides of salad and potato with it. The ribs were just two small ribs. The price wasn’t high, so maybe it was more of a sunset snack.

There is a temple onsight at the Alila. Although you should probably leave the hotel and explore temples around the island, it’s pretty cool that there is one on the property. When you’re at this hotel you won’t forget you are in Bali. It doesn’t have that “I could be anywhere” vibe.

And yes, I have a black eye in every photo in Bali. I got hit with my own surf board, woops! But, it was worth it to surf all week and get a little bit better.

At the pool, you are treated like a queen. They bring you a big fluffy towel and a caddy that has sunscreen, face moisturizing spray, after sun cream, ice cold towels, and unlimited bottled water.