Bali Bliss

The Indonesian Island’s Largest Resort Is Also Its Most Secretive—a Halcyon Hideaway Waiting to Be Discovered

- Tamara Davis

It’s 4pm—afternoon tea time at The Lounge inside The Mulia Resort. Cocktails flow freely and sweet morsels are served up on tiered cake stands at the elegant poolside cafe, which enjoys unspoilt views onto the manicured white-sand Nusa Dua Beach. Guests who filled their bellies at lunch lounge in private cabanas, while others take in the rays on sunbeds by the crystal-blue ocean, with Lembongan Island visible in the distance. This is Bali at its most sumptuous, where time is relative and the days stretch languorously ahead.

For devotees long since converted to its low-key pace of life, Bali is an island that beckons you back. Its various hotspots and havens provide no shortage of indulgences depending on personal preference—from the all-day beach clubs of Seminyak to Canggu’s laidback surf scene, to Ubud, where yoga retreats abound and travellers arrive in droves to pursue the path to enlightenment.

But for all-out luxury, Nusa Dua in Bali’s south is the destination du jour. Its famed “Millionaire’s Row”, about 15 minutes drive from town, is dotted with five-star hotel chains, from The Ritz-Carlton to The St. Regis. None, however, are shrouded in as much mystery as The Mulia, Mulia Resort and Villas.