Hotel Serai blends naturally into Bali landscape

By Kunang Helmi Picard

DENPASAR (JP): Getting away from the crowds in the Paradise of Bali is everyone's dream, but sometimes folks from home seem to share a vacation with you. What are Mr. and Mrs. Smith doing here? And Bali was meant to be the perfect hideaway on the other side of the globe, or at least an island's length away! Wasn't Candi Dasa supposed to be really secluded, far from Kuta, Legian and all those tourists?

Luckily for those who feel harassed, Buitan beach on Amuk Bay, east of Candi Dasa, along the coastal road to Amiapura, remains calm, providing a welcome contrast. At the rate the island is developing, the site may risk turning into a spot favored by others. However, the unspoilt habitat is still the perfect setting for escaping daily hassles. Added to that is the Balina Serai Hotel. Nestled in a secluded niche between the beach and the beginnings of the hills behind, the hotel seems to merge into the former coconut grove and surroundings.

Not surprisingly, it has become a popular retreat for residents and tourists alike due to the spacious gardens dotted with palms and pale rose-beige thatched two-story buildings. Built for relaxation and intimacy with only 56 rooms and two luxury suites, the three-star rating is that of understated charm coupled with excellent service. Up the hill is big brother hotel, five-star Aman-Kila, where those who long for an occasional glamorous sunset cocktail, or even celebrity watching, are able to do so without feeling guilty about overstepping the accommodation budget.

This is yet another clever concept of the General Hotel Management company directed by noted hotel magnate Adrian Zecha. The five, four and three-star hotels of the chain will remain neighbors within a perimeter of about 20 km along the coast as a four-star Chedi is planned on the same beach near the Serai.

On the practical side, Balina Serai is proving to be a convenient base to explore the lesser known Eastern regions of Bali. However, for those who are not always active when it comes to actually leaving the premises of this hotel, sport facilities on the premises and in the adjacent maritime environment vary. Besides swimming in the pleasant 20-square-meter pool situated in the former coconut grove, wind-surfing, water skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving and deep-sea fishing are also possible. Indeed the "back to nature" concept of the hotel encourages such thoughts.

Function

The Balina Serai hotel, designed by Singapore-based architectural firm Kerry Hill already known on the island for the exclusive Aman Nusa, might be considered by some to be bland, yet others see it as an "exercise in form-meets-function". The architect's main aim was clearly to provide a guest with a feeling of living in the midst of nature without being too exposed to the elements and other guests. One even detects an ecological approach to the hotel's design as there is no trace of any high-tech in its construction and building materials. The deceptively simple geometric buildings centered around the square pool fulfill their roles without appearing too functional, thus contributing to the creation of a pleasant environment. However, getting from one building to the other when it rains in this often windy area may sometimes prove to be a problem. The architects did not conceive any covered passages, which exposes guests to the elements.

Nevertheless the hotel complex manages to be casual, yet refreshingly simple with an "open to nature and ocean" feel about it, creating an elegant and calming hybrid Balinese-Californian style. Certainly there are none of the pervading pseudo-ethnic decorative Balinese touches here. Too many gilt details and carvings tend to swamp the structural lines of the "nouvelle architecture" on the island because the traditional notions of balance between nature and dwellings discussed by Jean Couteau recently in his article on Balinese architecture are ignored.

The Balina Serai would be ideal for a group of friends on holiday as communication is made easy, but the latticed partitions between balconies on the top floor do not quite guarantee enough visual privacy. Balconies on the ground floor have plastered walls which remedy this conceptual flaw. Communal rooms with soaring ceilings in the traditional wantilan or pavilion style are built open to balmy ocean breezes. Here, as in the rooms themselves, furniture and decoration are pared down to a minimum without appearing sparse. Visibly the accent is placed on natural indigenous materials, otherwise termed ecological, an idea which is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide. Coconut wood, rattan, reeds and a specific grass from the area play a major role. The entrances to the rooms are graced by rectangular ponds, contributing to the impression that the buildings float on water. Buildings inside and out are painted in a pale, yet still warm rose-beige, soothing to the eye and blending well into the gardens. These are kept green and simple without a profusion of flowers by landscape designer Jay Lannigan.

Lighting

Not surprisingly, the furnishings are accentuated by touches of turquoise, reflecting the ocean lapping at the beach nearby. Lighting throughout the communal areas is discrete, providing a mild, yet clear source of light for all functions. Entering the private rooms, a sense of luminosity without the attendant glare is immediately noticeable. Built-in cupboards and other fixtures reduce clutter. A cleverly installed built-in bench, made of a cement mixture and colored the same warm beige-pink as the smoothly polished cement floors, continues the sand color schemes of the unpolished beige marble used in the bathrooms. Although details throughout are kept to the minimum, one still notices that the quality of the materials and finishings was a major concern.

In the reception area, the front offices and the restaurant, Tenganan basketwork filled with a variety of exceptional shells are visible, together with ancient dulang (wooden basins) filled with perfumed cempaka (Michelia champaca) flowers or ancient ceramic pots with ikebana flower arrangements, forming striking counterpoints to the minimalist simplicity of the interiors. The restaurant is a traditional Balinese pavilion permitting undisturbed views of the surroundings, the ocean and Nusa Penida island in the distance while dining. Individually painted plates in blue and yellow Mediterranean-style motives contribute to enhancing the interior design together with the stylish rattan furniture. Happily the prices on the menu are also very easy- going and the delicious bistro cuisine invented by Singaporean chef Zeinal Abidin Hassan offers excellent value for one's money.

Service by the young Balinese staff members is generally efficient and they are willing to please the clients. So, what could else could one hope for? Complete privacy with an island entirely to oneself is not feasible here, but with prices ranging from a deluxe room at US$105 and a suite at US$175 the client cannot complain too seriously about not getting enough value for his money. The only danger is that one may take a shine to being pampered and may not even bother to visit the interesting sights in the regency of Karangasem. Some guests have been known to enjoy cocooning themselves in the Serai. But then flexibility and freedom are prime assets of real leisure and should be possible in an appropriate architectural structure.