Bali

Editorial

The Bali that exists before the day begins. Private, architectural, unhurried.

Bali is not one place. It is a collection of atmospheres — Ubud in the jungle with its rice terraces and temples, Seminyak with its beach clubs and fashion, Jimbaran with its bay and its quiet, Uluwatu with its cliffs and its surf. Each has its own logic. The luxury traveller's Bali is usually the last of these: private, unhurried, architecturally serious.

The Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay is built as a village — private compounds cascading toward the bay, each with its own pool, its own pavilion, its own logic. The architecture is traditional Balinese, built with the patience to do it properly. Thatched roofs. Carved stone. Open pavilions that dissolve the boundary between inside and outside.

The dry season runs from May to September. That is when the light is best, the humidity is manageable, and the island moves at its most considered pace. The wet season has its own beauty — the jungle is greener, the rice terraces more vivid — but the experience is different, and the outdoor dining is limited.