[Bali] Alila Villas Uluwatu : Farewell

We woke up to the realization that we’re going to be leaving this little slice of paradise.
Nothing like a good breakfast to make us feel good!

This morning, we ordered a couple of different things, like potato wedges with sour cream, scrambled eggs, sunny-side-up eggs with toast, iced frappuccino and latte.

Another nice touch at Alila – they would provide little stools, not for sitting on, but for placing our bags and little gadgets etc so they wouldn’t take up space on the table. Have I mentioned I love these little details?

A couple of shots of the tranquil area in front of the Cire restaurant. If you were to hang out at the sun-loungers here during the day, the folks from Alila would come along with a picnic basket filled with stuff like towels, sun-screen, sun-tanning oil and bottled water. Perfect service.

After a light breakfast, we headed to the spa again! This time, it was a little less extravagant – a complimentary 90 minutes treatment when we signed up for our 3-night stay.

Feet Wash. Balinese Massage. Warm Herbal Bath.

Lovely experience yet again. How I wish I could do this every single day!

More swimming. More sun-tanning.

Check-out timing was actually supposed to be 12pm. A day before, we had enquired at reception whether we are able to get a complimentary late check-out as our flight is at night. Unfortunately, a late-checkout at 6pm is going to cost us a bomb (they charge half the price of a night’s stay). Luckily, they sort of relented and let us check out at 2pm, which was better than nothing!

After checking out, we left our luggage at the reception area and headed for lunch at The Cire. Once again, they brought us their home-made bread which tasted great with passion fruit and olive oil dips.

King Prawn.
Braised, with Wasabi Vinaigrette.

Hamachi.
Roasted, with Lemon Emulsion.

Passion Fruit Souffle with White Chocolate Ice-cream.

We decided not to do anything in the afternoon, and spent our time idling at Alila until it was time to head for the airport.

Having settled the bill (which was entirely accurate, no mistakes, no phantom mini-bar items), the staff from Alila could have left us alone and not cared about us at all. It was nice when we were approached twice by them – once to offer us wet towels to freshen up, and another time to give us bottled water even though we could have gotten them ourselves from the library or the gym.

The return transfer to the airport went without a hitch – the car was already waiting for us when we headed to the lobby at 6-plus in the evening. Double checked our luggage, took one last look, said our goodbyes and hopped into our car.

Prior to setting foot on Bali, it was a nightmare trying to decide on which resort to stay in. Despite everything I have written and gushed about, Alila Villas Uluwatu is definitely not perfect.

For instance, the view at our pool villa can be better. The relatively new property did have a couple of broken tiles (five, in fact) at the bottom of our pool. Things are definitely pricey around here – a order of Fried Rice with Chicken costs SGD$17 before taxes, when the same thing costs around SGD$5 in Singapore.

Are these critical flaws? Absolutely not. The things that mattered most to me were of 5-stars standard. Alila Villas Uluwatu has definitely met our expectations, and I would be tempted to check out Alila Villas Soori if the opportunity comes along.

Till then, there are Aman Resorts that I’ve yet to try..

Alila Villas Uluwatu – Suprisingly Different