Located right on a broad stretch of sand on the southwestern side of Bali, Hotel Tugu Bali is as much a cultural experience as it is a resort for romantics. Priceless antiques and art from all over Bali and Java are lovingly placed within the soaring main pavilion, in the intimate dining rooms, in the 22 guest rooms and surrounding the property’s sacred lotus ponds and bridges. Hotel Tugu Bali has aptly been called a boutique museum hotel.

Tugu Bali commemorates the forgotten history and heritage of Bali, while at the same time offering all the exceptional hospitality, personalized services, luxury and romance for which Bali has become renowned.

A member of the respected Relais & Chateaux hotel collection, Tugu Bali offers the finest of authentic Balinese food. There is no trendy fusion here; the dining experience, both in food and surroundings, is true to the multi-cultural Balinese experience the discerning, curious traveler seeks.

Tugu Bali is right on a lovely beach just 30 minutes drive west of Bali’s international airport at Denpasar. It is located in the ancient village of Canggu, nestled among lush rice paddy fields. Adjacent to the hotel’s grounds is one of Bali’s most sacred temples, Batu Balong Temple.

Less than an hour’s drive from Tugu there are a variety of cultural and historical attractions. A bustling fish market, from which Tugu gets some of its fresh fish, is in Jimbaran (the rest is caught by fishermen right off Tugu’s beach). Handcrafted furniture is available in Seminyak and Krobokan, and there is a magnificent ancient temple up the coast, in Tanah Lot. Some of Bali’s most picturesque and serene rice paddy fields are 30 minutes away, and there is gorgeous lake and mountain scenery just 90 minutes away. Ubud, the cultural center of Bali and the home of countless artisans, is less than an hour from Tugu.

Guest rooms are clustered in two’s and three’s. Some are in small villas reminiscent of traditional rice storage sheds. Two of Tugu’s most distinctive suites commemorate two expatriate European artists who settled in Bali in the 1930’s and practiced their art there, enchanted with the beauty of the Balinese landscape and people; these suites are decorated with many personal effects of the artists.

One of the special suites, called Puri Le Mayeur, is surrounded by lotus ponds and has sweeping views of the ocean from its private pool and sundeck. The other, the Walter Spies Pavilion, has an enchanting private garden and old-world stained glass windows and doors from the artist’s original residence in Yogyakarta.

All guest accommodations on the ground floor have private plunge pools, and those on the second floor have oversized screened porches with soaking tubs. The upper floor rooms have wonderful views of the ocean.

Antiques from the owners’ unparalleled collection are sprinkled throughout the guest rooms.

There is a sense of tranquility as one strolls the Tugu property, lush with native tropical plants and surrounded by lotus ponds crossed by charming bridges. The sound of the ocean waves provides background music that adds to the serenity of the place.

While Tugu alone has cultural aspects that will take the curious guest hours to “exhaust,” there are many things to do within a short drive.

Within the “walls” of Tugu, there is the museum-like collection of the owners. The collection has become their lifelong mission; they have dedicated themselves for thirty years to preserving Bali’s art and artifacts.

One of the centerpieces of the collection is a 1706 Chinese/Buddhist temple dismantled piece by piece and brought to Tugu. It was carefully reassembled there and is now a venue for romantic dinners. In the soaring-ceiling main pavilion stand imposing, 12th-century guardian statues. The piece that got the owner started on this life-long mission of cultural preservation is on display in the lobby – a 16th-century water bowl that ancient priests used to anoint villagers suffering from sickness and disease. Each piece of this remarkable collection bespeaks the personal stories Bali’s history, adding a delicious mystery to Tugu’s guests’ experience.

Other notable objects in the collection include a 150 year-old wooden well, an immense marble table from the Dutch colonial period in Bali, a 19th-century meeting room decorated with royal antiques and other works commemorating Bali’s greatest heroes.

Tugu offers a number of classes in Balinese culture. They include a class in Bali’s ancestral dances and gamelan musical instruments. As part of the hotel’s very popular cooking classes, guests are taken to the local fish and vegetable markets, and then join a charming local woman in preparing local “comfort food” in a traditional Javanese kitchen.

The art of palm leaf arrangement is an intrinsic part of the frequent Balinese celebrations and ceremonies. Guests can join staff members as they prepare the colorful, exotic arrangements for placement around the hotel.

Central to a guest’s immersion in the Indonesian cultural experience is the hotel’s spa. The spa combines the ancient beauty secrets of Javanese princesses with all natural rejuvenation and relaxation recipes that been passed down through the generations. A traditional Javanese apothecary (Waroeng Djamoe) carries a seemingly unlimited range of herbal massage oils and beauty lotions, from which the guest chooses for his or her beauty treatment. These include frangipani, tropical magnolia, rose, jasmine and ylang-ylang which, among others, are believed by the Balinese to be the flowers of supreme gods. Several traditional treatments are available at Tugu, in any one of four treatment rooms, an open-air hut, or in the comfort of your room. One of the most romantic and special is the Gemulai Penari Bali, which is a magnificent 8-hour treatment for two; it includes a combination of body treatments (scalp massage, Balinese dancer massage, body scrub), a royal manicure and pedicure, floral facial aromatherapy, a healthy gourmet lunch, and a combination of hot-Jacuzzi and chilled-water baths. A variety of one- and two-hour treatments are also available.

Tugu Bali also represents a convenient home base for visits to several Bali attractions. There are four full-day tours, each focusing on a different aspect of Bali’s past, each in the comfort of a chauffeur-driven limousine. A museum tour stops at two time-forgotten wood-carver communities. A palaces tour includes two stunning palaces from Bali’s royal past. Then there is a full-day archeology tour that visits ancient caves used for meditation, natural baths surrounded by beautifully sculpted female figures, and a climb down hundreds of steps into a river gorge to see 11th-century royal tombs and hermitage. Finally, there is a tour for art and nature lovers that includes an exotic bird bazaar and crafts market, where guests can see or buy hand-made weavings and basketry.

In both dining venues and menus, Tugu Bali offers the true Balinese experience. Each of the hotel’s eight dining venues reflects a different part of Bali’s multi-cultural history. Reflecting its superb culinary standards, Tugu has been awarded membership in the exclusive Relais & Chateaux society.

There is no attempt to modernize the Tugu dining experience or to “Americanize” it. One of the most atmospheric venues is Waroeng Tugu, a rustic hut just like those that originated on Java many centuries ago. Diners sit on hand-hewn benches and enjoy stir-fried young papaya and grilled chicken on bamboo skewers with peanut sauce. Everything is eaten , old-Javanese style, by hand.

One of the most elegant dining rooms at Tugu, Bale Sutra, is actually a Chinese temple dating to 1706. Crisp roasted Peking Duck is a specialty in this lovely room.

Across a bridge from the Chinese temple is a room called Bale Puputan, in which antique cabinets house priceless swords and other ancient artifacts. The dining table is a gigantic, single piece of old marble. Twelve lavishly prepared Indonesian dishes, like stewed beef in coconut milk, are served smorgasbord-style.

For romantics, there is a dining deck at the end of the bridge crossing the lotus pond, or on Tugu’s beach in flickering torch light.


Tugu Bali was featured in the September, 2002 issue of Travel & Leisure, in an article called “The A-List: 70 Travel Consultants Who’ll Make Your Next Vacation the Trip of a Lifetime.”

Tugu was also featured in the October, 2002 issue of National Geographic Traveler, in an article entitled “The Best of Bali.”

Architectural Digest carried a wonderful, photography-filled story about Tugu in its July, 1998 issue. The story is entitled “Hotel Tugu Bali: A new resort traces Indonesia’s past through a collection of rare cultural artifacts. The hotel is part history lesson and part romantic getaway…”