Jimbaran Puri, A Belmond Hotel, Bali

On the south side of Bali, at least, the days of exploration are pretty much over. The best you can hope for is a private little slice of paradise — if it’s not going to be wild, it may as well be as lush as possible. Lush is something the Belmond (née Orient Express) hotels and resorts do well, of course, and on that score the Belmond Jimbaran Puri Bali is just what you’d expect: though just a few minutes’ drive from the airport, it’s remarkable for the completeness of the escape it provides.

The style is classic, even conservative, again no great departure from the Belmond form book. The star here isn’t an architect or a designer but the setting itself, and the villas and suites are geared towards tactile pleasures as much as visual ones. The physical comforts are flawless, the pools (if you’ve booked a pool villa) are too, and the cream of the crop are the beachfront villas — the others, it must be said, have a bit more of a jungle/garden vibe than the whole white-sand thing.

And if you don’t have your own pool, you’ll find the resort’s central one is quite up to the task. As for the other amenities, it’s the usual five-star Balinese stuff — a gorgeous spa, a couple of restaurants serving Indonesian and European fare, and the sort of attentive service that reminds you why you bother with luxury hotels in the first place. Thread count is one thing, but you can replicate that at home — in a hotel like this it’s the staff that makes the stay.

How to get there:
Service to Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) via connecting flights from major American cities is available on a variety of carriers. Transfers to/from the airport, located three miles from the hotel, are available at a cost of $35 per car, one-way.