Canggu is an up and coming part of Bali with a relaxed Bohemian vibe, great cafes, yoga studios, lots of surfers and some exceptional restaurants. This mix has created the perfect storm for tourism, which is probably why many Balinese and expats have started to refer to Canggu as Ubud by the Beach. Tucked away by Batu Bolong Beach is the luxury Boutique Hotel of Tugu Bali.

Wantilan and lobby area of Tugu Bali

Cultural evening and dining at Tugu Canggu

Setting and Ambience

You enter Tugu Hotel Bali on a walkway on a path made of darkly polished wood. Carp swim lazily in the water on either side of the path. As you enter the hotel you feel the ambience that you find at all of the Tugu Hotels in Indonesia. To the left of the entrance is an ancient Chinese temple, which was transported from Jakarta, while on the right is a Balinese dining room decorated with antiques dating from the Dutch colonial era where royal banquets are held.

The main reception area is a huge room built of darkly polished wood and a towering thatched roof. It is shaped like a Wantilan, a traditional Balinese town hall. A five-meter high wooden Garuda carved from a single piece of wood dominates the room.

A raised stage sits in front of the Garuda where traditional Balinese dances and gamelan is played every Thursday evening. The reception leads onto a swimming pool that opens up onto the villas. Yet you won’t see any of this until you have completed the check-in to your room and you don’t fully understand how large the grounds are until you are given the hotel tour. More on that later!

Dedari Room bed

The Rooms

Tugu Hotel Bali has three different room types. There are the 9 Rejang Suites (7 with ocean view), 9 Dedari Suites and three luxury suites, which each have a unique character and historical influences (Puri Le Mayeur, Walter Spies Pavilion and the Kampong Suite). The Dedari and Rejang suites are all located on two-floor buildings facing the ocean.

During my stay at Tugu Hotel Bali I stayed in one of the Dedari Suites, which are all located on the ground floor. To enter the Dedari Suite you pass through a brightly painted Balinese door and enter your private gated garden with a fishpond. The main rooms are spacious with a living room area and large four-poster bed. The room is painted in calm pastel colors.

The lovely setting bathroom of Dedari Suite

Each of the Dedari Suites has a private pool out the back of the villa with a small garden and seating area. A small Balinese door built into the wall opens up onto a garden with a large lotus pond. The highlight of the villa is the sunken bath that looks out over the fishpond in the front garden.

The 9 Rejang Suites have a different character to the Dedari Suites. The rooms are each located on the second floor of the villas with large open balconies looking out towards the ocean. The Rejang Suites can be reached by climbing a curving wooden staircase made of teak. The suites are all built of teak giving the rooms a timeless ambience.

One of the spa rooms in Tugu Hotel Bali

The Facilities

The grounds of Tugu Hotel Bali wind and twist back on themselves. There are hidden areas that are waiting to be explored, but to discover them it helps to have a guide (luckily you get a guided tour when you check in, but you can also get a guided tour if you’re just interested in the resort). I’ll start with one of my favorite rooms at the front of the hotel.

At the front of the hotel is the elegant Bale Puputan Room. This is the colonial dining room that I talked about earlier. The room has memorabilia from Balinese Royal Families that dates back to the 19th Century and the Puputan War. Tugu Hotel Bali allows members of the public to host themed dinners in the room. Guests have the chance to dress up in traditional Balinese costumes for a banquet of Balinese delicacies.

Once you have passed through the reception area the grounds of the hotel open up onto a beautiful swimming pool where you can spend relaxing afternoons relaxing and reading a book. The villas are dotted around behind the pool with paths that twist and turn through sculpted gardens and over wooden bridges that rise over fishponds.

Like in many Balinese temples, water is a big feature in the design of the grounds of Tugu Hotel. Running alongside many of the paths are small streams where fish swim. The highlight of the grounds is the Puri Le Mayeur suite, which sits in the middle of the lotus ponds surrounded by gardens at the back of the resort.

In addition to the relaxing gardens and swimming pool, Tugu Hotel Bali has a spa where guests can take long relaxing treatments. There is also a second beachside garden at the front of the hotel with deckchairs and seating area where guests can enjoy Batu Bolong Beach.

Breakfast by the beach at Tugu Hotel Bali

The Food

Tugu Hotel bali has an onsite restaurant as well as a second Japanese restaurant, which is being opened off-site. Breakfast is included in the room rate as a guest of Tugu Hotel Bali. You can have the breakfast served anywhere on the resort. On the first day I chose to have breakfast served in the beachside garden overlooking the ocean (it was the perfect way to start the day).

There is an ‘A La Carte’ menu that offers a mixture of Indonesian and Western breakfast dishes. The food is delicious and the nice thing is that the restaurant is also open to the public, so if you are visiting Canggu you can also order food with a beachside view.

Tugu Hotel Bali also serves traditional afternoon snacks to guests at the hotel. The food is served at the back of the main reception area overlooking the swimming pool. You can order a mixture of traditional sweet and savory snacks with complimentary tea or coffee.

Private pool of Dedari suite

Final Thoughts

If you want to make your stay in Bali memorable I would recommend Tugu Hotel Bali. The hotel is truly unique and due to the decoration is unlike any other hotel I have experienced in Bali. The hotel has a friendly atmosphere, the rooms are tastefully decorated and the location is convenient located, as it is, right next to Batu Bolong Beach.

FYI
Discover Your Indonesia was invited to Tugu Hotel Bali for this review, however my opinion is, as always, my own.