You really can't help but fall in love with this exquisite boutique resort. The moment you are greeted til you bid goodbye, it feels like heaven. Fiercely private, beautiful architecture, incredibly loveable staff, wonderful, wonderful food by such 'down to earth' chef. A true sanctuary for lost souls of the big cities! You've gotta try it!

My husband and I spent the first five nights of our nine night honeymoon at the Bale'(11/7-11/12). The resort is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The décor is definitely contemporary as opposed to Balinese. The website photos are very accurate. The villas are well appointed and stylish. The private pool, outdoor daybed, and outdoor shower made us feel like we were really in our own world. We had our choice of soaps and bath gels as well giving us more comforts of home. The breakfasts were tasty (lemon pancakes supurb). There was no need to leave the villa because our butler made sure that everything we needed was right at our fingertips. Everyone greeted us by name and everytime we returned to the resort after an outing we were greeted by the staff with “Welcome Home”. We really felt like we were at home. We had a honeymoon treat at the Bale' as well – couples message followed by lunch. We had never had spa treatments together before and this was definitely a highlight of our trip. The outdoor spa is so relaxing and inviting. The Bale’ also arranged an Indonesian barbeque for us on the lawn of our villa. Very romantic and the food was superb. In retrospect we probably should have stayed one less night, because I got a bit stir crazy being away from all the hustle and bustle. Nusa Dua gets pretty quiet at night. As a previous poster mentioned, four nights at the Bale' is a blissful getaway. We would definitely return.

I have just stayed 3 nights at the Bale during a 2 week stay in bali during which I also stayed at another two 5 star hotels so i am fortunate to be able to do some comparisons.

The Bale is a wonderful hotel. Its best quality is something very hard to define-as soon as you enter its walled compound you are overcome with a feeling of serenity. The staff are completely professional and the restaurant is top class.

The best bits:

- The staff are very professional, extremely obliging and friendly and very good at their jobs
- The Bale comes to life at night-it is set aglow by hundreds of candles and has a wonderful ambience
- The staff are treated well and seem to love their jobs
- I think there is some sort of system whereby when you leave your room for breakfast or dinner the housekeeping staff are somehow alerted to this. Our room was turned over twice a day but never when we were about. We would come back from dinner and all the blinds would be down, candles lit, music playing air con turned up, fresh towels, fresh cookies, fresh water-very good service
-the room was beautfiul with everything you could want-you get to choose a range of toiletries on arrival, there are cute dressing gowns and slippers, toblerone in the fridge and fresh cookies (you can tell what my priorities are), stereo, tv dvd players (with great choice of dvds)
-the outdoor pool is a great size and the bale day bed very luxurious
-the restaurant ambience and music is spot on, the food is great and not too pricey. The Swiss chef speaks to each dining guest indivudally each night. He will make whatever your want
-the staff really look after you-i got bitten by something before i arrived and every single member of staff was falling over themselves to get to the bottom of it and make me more comofrtable
-the library and spa are top class

down sides-

-check out the pictures of this place to make sure its your taste beforehand. it is ultra uber minimalistic and modern. if this is your taste then you may not find a better example of this sort of design. if its not your taste you may find it a little cold and foreboding. it is not a design which was meant to blend with nature

-dont come here if you want a beach. the beach club is not how it appears on the website photos. you wouldnt want to spend time at the beach but with the hotel amenities that is not a problem as long as you didnt have your heart set on a beach holiday

- this is not a place for views

all in all a fantastic hotel which in temrs of class and professionalism and slickness stands above the rest

ps i stayed at the bale with a female friend not a partner and it was a great place for that-if you are travelling with a friend you will feel athome here whilst everyone else was in couples it didnt feel like a honeymoon resort for those that are not

Having just returned from 6 nights at The Bale I felt I must write and compliment the quality of the hotel.
The Pavilions are fantastic and make you not want to leave their surroundings. The staff are very professional and very friendly and helpful.
The drivers recommended local restaurants in the evening and these were excellent value and good quality.
We also had a couple's spa treatment and again this was very good. There is also a reasonable gym if you want to burn some calories.
Overall I would recommend the Bale if you are looking for a chilled holiday with plenty of privacy. If you want a beach holiday go elsewhere.