Bulgari Resort Bali

How do you follow up a hotel like the Bvlgari in Milan, where the architecture, the design, and the stunning, secluded city-center ex-monastery location conspire to produce one of Europe’s finest modern hotels. Rather than hope to work the same magic twice, they’ve set out for the other side of the world — namely Bali, where the second Bvlgari resort stands on a bluff overlooking the island’s rough south coast.

It’s essentially a cross between a traditional Balinese village and a modern luxury resort. Villas cascade down the terraced hillside, topped by thatched roofs, their interiors decorated in a style that’s at once traditional-Indonesian and modern-Milanese. The same Antonio Citterio is responsible for the bulk of the design, and his clean lines practically define contemporary elegance. And for dramatic edge-of-the-world landscape you could do a lot worse than southern Bali.

Of course the visuals are only half the package. As you’d expect from a hotel group that is, after all, a partnership between the high-end jeweler and the Ritz-Carlton concern, classic luxury values are very much in evidence. Even the most basic of villas is lavish to the extreme, and the signature Bvlgari villa is breathtaking in its decadence. From the spa to the cliffside infinity pool to the helicopter shuttle, it’s a hotel that’s not at all shy about flexing its luxe muscles.