The most over-the-top hotel in Bali

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The most over-the-top hotel in Bali

“****.” That’s all I can say as I sashay through the 2000sqm lobby of the Apurva Kempinski Bali, half an hour’s drive from the international airport on the Nusa Dua beachfront, Bali’s Billionaires’ Row. Perched on a 55m clifftop with uninterrupted Indian Ocean views, this grand hallway is almost a religious building — something archaeologists centuries from now may reckon to be an ancient portal on par with the Pura Besakih or Mother Temple, on the slopes of Mount Agung volcano, the largest and holiest religious site in Bali. The floor is covered with ****** marble from Mongolia embedded with swirls of white and blue stone that capture and reflect light like precious stones. At the centre of the roof is a pagoda or inverse pyramid inlaid with copper-covered tiered steps — a statement of immense power and wealth. In each corner of this gigantic space are four soaring wooden temples, facsimiles of the meeting areas used by Indonesian royalty in the past, with arched entrances and intricate flowers and plants carved into the wood that would’ve taken months, if not years to complete.

“This lobby represents the architectural styles of Hindu, Islam and Buddhist empires that swept across Indonesia through the centuries and their peaceful coexistence today. It’s a statement of enormous pride the Indonesian people,” says Vincent Guironnet, the general manager, a Frenchman who’s lived in the country for 35 years.

Premium

Subscribers with digital access can view this article.

Already a subscriber?

Login here.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#overthetop #hotel #Bali

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up