Rise and shine! A brand new day awaits us, and we’re particularly excited to check out Alila’s spa treatment today!
Before I go on with today’s activities, remember I mentioned about being able to indicate our preferences (music, pillows, level of attention by the butler, etc) prior to check in? To give you an idea, you can click on the Alila Villas Uluwatu – Personal Preference Menu link to take a look. Go ahead and input a fake name/email address – nothing is saved until the form is submitted. I love the fact that I could customize my stay before I even land on Bali.
Today’s breakfast menu (Saturday) is different from yesterday’s, and so we took the opportunity to try out different items!
OK, more sausages and bacon! I promise this is the last you’ll see of them.
Baked Omelette with Bacon, Leek, Onion and Cheese.
Grilled Sour Dough with Smoked Beef, Pickled Shallots and Mozzarella.
Waffle with Banana and Caramel.
Bubur Menguh.
Balinese rice porridge with vegetables.
Omelette with Chili and Cheese.
Smoothies!
Personally, I feel that the service (and the food of course) here at Alila is excellent. To be honest, there isn’t really much that I could fault. And yes, they remembered our preference to serve all our food together. After we’re done with breakfast, a lady (who seems to be the one in-charge) would drop by to make sure the food was okay, and whether we wanted to order any more food!
Every staff here at Alila greets us with a smile, and we’re not just referring to the ones who picked us up at the airport, at the spa, or the waiter or waitress at the restaurants. Down to the guys who deliver our room service and even the gardeners, it seemed like it is their mission to make us feel special.
Prior to making up our room, a call would be made to our villa to check with us what would be a suitable timing, so as not to disturb us. I appreciate the little things, such as bookmarks like the ones below that they would leave by our bedside after tidying up our rooms.
I’m not sure if you noticed – only at night would the tables be covered with table cloth. In the afternoon, we saw the restaurant staff patiently putting on all the table cloth. At first, we were perturbed as to why he was spraying water onto the table cloth, and giving it a gentle rub with his fingers. We realized that he was trying to wet, and then smooth the crease caused by folding! Such things probably wouldn’t matter to me at all (I mean, a crease is just a crease) but it just shows the level of details they pay attention to.
I could probably come up with more examples, but I shall leave it at that for now. We spent some more time roaming around the resort and took more photos. This is a view of the Cire and infinity pool from the Sunset cabana.
Better weather today, with none of the gray skies.
The rough waves below the Sunset Cabana as they crash onto the cliff side.
The Sunset Cabana being prepared for a wedding on one of the evenings. Lovely setting, isn’t it?
Gotta be careful when swimming at the pool as there are no lifeguards!
The “floating cabana” on higher ground that I mentioned previously.
The main lobby when guests could hang around, with more complimentary Alila products! Interestingly, there seem to be no need for any insect repellent during our stay.
So, what do we do when there is an abundance of Alila products in our villa? We bring them home!
Quite a number of guests were arriving on the weekends, perhaps to attend the wedding. We were told that there are people who would visit just to get their spa treatments done here. As advised by the staff at the spa, we have already booked our half-day treatment yesterday, just in case the slots were full.
Spent more time at the pool at our villa before we grabbed a quick lunch.
Nasi Goreng Ayam.
Fried rice with chicken.
Aglio Olio Spaghetti.
Complimentry crackers, dips and bottled water.
Made our way to the spa to start our Journey to You (Half Day – Afternoon) spa treatment. At the spa reception, one side of the wall is lined entirely with spa products.
A welcome drink was served to us as we confirmed the treatments that we are having today. The drink is an unique blend of lemongrass, lemon, ginger and honey which was pretty refreshing. The taste of ginger needs a little getting used to, though.
The treatments are done at the designated spa villas at Alila.
The treatments we chose are a little different from the ones on the menu though – you are free to customize your spa journey. I was getting some minor sun-burn, and was recommended not to do a Warm Stone Massage – I chose the Therapeutic Massage “using fluent strokes of different depths and intensity” instead.
A little area to hang our clothes, and keep our valuables.
The vanity area, stocked with plenty of products like cleanser and toner.
After changing, we got seated at the sofa. Before the massage, they always start with a relaxing feet wash, which was a lovely touch.
What goes into the feet wash? Flower petals, lime, lemongrass and sea salt.
Well, it isn’t called the Half-Day Journey for nothing. Not gonna go into details on how the massage is done, apart from saying that it was simply amazing. Besides a Therapeutic Massage, I would also be getting a Head/Hair Stimulation Massage, followed by a Scrub/Wrap.
Absolute bliss.
The only other time it felt as good was when I was at Alila Cha-Am in 2009, but this is definitely better. After being bombarded by the variety of treatments, we got to take a shower ..
.. before heading into the Steam Room.
My wife and I couldn’t really stand the heat with the sun-burn going on, so we left the Steam Room early. The masseuse was surprised to see us when she brought in two glasses of electrolyte (i.e. isotonic) drinks, meant for hydrating us after the Steam Room treatment.
Briefly showered again before getting dressed and heading out. Prior to starting our massage, we were asked whether we wanted some fruits after our treatments, because it is going to take three hours or so. Little did we expect to see a huge platter of honeydew and watermelon waiting for us when we emerged from the changing area, complete with another glass of chilled lemongrass drink. Surely, this was overkill.
Oh yeah, more products on display in case we wanted to try/buy some.
After we freshened up, we left for dinner at The Warung, which was included in the programme. According to the spa menu, our dinner was supposed to be “romantic but healthy and delicious dinner”. Well, I could see what the “delicious” part was referring to, but “healthy”? *laughs*
As usual, the complimentary starters was given.
Lawar Ayam.
Green Bean Salad with Chicken.
Sate Ayam.
Chicken Breast Sate. (alternatively known as Satay in Singapore)
Babi Kecap.
Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce.
Bebek Goreng Bali.
Balinese Fried Duck. We love this! Absolutely delicious!
Yellow rice.
Tasted somewhat like Briyani Rice we get here in Singapore.
Another view of our sumptuous dinner!
Finished off with a single scoop of coconut ice-cream. A pretty smart way of serving ice-cream, with the little dish resting on a glass filled with ice to keep it from melting.
Interestingly, we never saw the sunset at Sunset Cabana. However, we did see an amazing moon-rise! The bright dot you see below is the moon, and not the sun. I left the camera shutter on for 15 seconds =)
Just when you thought our day was over, we returned to the spa villa for the last treatment – Reflexology Massage. Did another feet wash – wow, I’m getting used to this! The massage wasn’t just meant for the feet, but also covers the ankles and calves, which was fantastic yet again. After being pampered for half a day, we reluctantly returned to our villa for undoubtedly, a good night’s rest.
Alila Villas Uluwatu – Suprisingly Different