Introduction
Umana Bali is Hilton's LXR property in Bali, spread across a clifftop above Melasti Beach at the southern tip of the island. It was once the Banyan Tree Ungasan, and after a top-to-bottom renovation it reopened under the LXR name at the end of 2023. There are no rooms, only villas, and even the entry-level villa we stayed in was around 400 square metres, bigger than a lot of people's homes. Walking out onto the terrace for the first time, I couldn't quite believe the size of it.
The resort is built around the Balinese idea of Tri Hita Karana, harmony between people, nature and the divine, and you see it everywhere, from the architecture, carvings and statues to the food and the activities. Even the name has meaning: uma is the Balinese word for rice paddy.
We fell for this place quickly, and the villa is one of the best we've stayed in anywhere in Bali. The catch is that the villas vary a lot in view, privacy and noise, even though they're almost identical inside. Which villa you get matters more here than at most resorts, and I'll explain how to choose in the verdict.
Location
Umana is in Uluwatu, on the southern edge of the Bukit Peninsula. The drive from the airport takes 45 minutes to an hour, past Nusa Dua and into countryside that feels almost rural in places.
On the map it looks like you could stroll down to Melasti Beach, but the resort is perched on a steep cliff, dropping around 150 metres from the lobby to the edge. A road winds down to the beach from just outside the entrance. It's about a 15-minute walk down, but coming back up in the Bali heat is hard work. There's also a shuttle from reception, but it only runs once an hour, so plan your meals and beach time around it.
In practice, we barely left the resort. With a villa this size and a pool of our own, there was little reason to.
Arrival and the Lobby
The entrance is a quiet turn off the road, and the driveway curves up to a huge banyan tree, one of several kept from the Banyan Tree days.
Gongs sound as you arrive. The staff tied red-and-white blessing bracelets on our wrists, tucked frangipani behind our ears and brought us a chilled welcome drink with a small tart. Check-in happens on the deep sofas in the middle of the lobby rather than at the desk.
The lobby is open-air, in soft beige and blue that suits a place by the ocean. There are sunken seats, a carved lattice roof, and water running everywhere, so you can always hear it trickling. The sea breeze blows straight through, which keeps it surprisingly comfortable despite there being no air-conditioning.
The seating area facing the ocean is the best place in the resort for sunset. We came back most evenings for a drink and watched the sky change.
Just off the lobby are a tea and coffee lounge, a wine room and a small air-conditioned lounge for Hilton Honors members, which seemed to sit empty most of the time. A large custom chandelier normally hangs over the lobby, but a storm tore it down, and it has been sent to Europe for repair. With luck, it will be back by the time you visit.
From the lobby, a buggy takes you down through the gardens to your villa. The grounds are immaculate, with gardeners at work all day.
The Villa
The villas are almost exact copies of each other. The categories differ mainly in view and location, not layout. We stayed in the entry-level One-Bedroom Villa with Partial Ocean View.
You come in through a carved timber door and along a stone path lined with water and plants, which opens out onto the pool terrace.
Outside
The outdoor space is the heart of the villa, and it's where we spent most of our time.
- A private pool, 1.4 metres deep, with an infinity edge. You can swim right up to the bedroom and step in from inside.
- A private jacuzzi. It's quite shallow and takes a while to heat up, then switches itself off after about two hours as part of the resort's sustainability approach.
- A covered pavilion with a huge, thickly cushioned daybed. It's the best spot in the villa when a tropical shower rolls through.
- A pair of sun loungers, an umbrella and a table for eating outside.
- An outdoor shower, reached along a path from the pool, with a door straight into the bathroom so you don't drip through the villa.
The pool's water feature runs on a timer. By default it switches off from 9 pm to 9 am, so it won't keep you awake, and the staff will change the times if you ask.
Inside
The villa is really three large rooms. The living room has very high ceilings, a vast, deep sofa facing the pool and the view, a full dining table and a desk turned towards the window. There's a portable Sonos speaker, which spent most of our stay by the pool, and the TV is in an awkward spot for watching from the sofa.
Waiting for us was a welcome coconut for each of us, carved with "Welcome to Umana", along with a bowl of tropical fruit. The fruit was topped up every day, and one afternoon a plate of passionfruit tarts appeared as well.
The sockets are universal and take plugs from almost anywhere, with USB-A and USB-C ports throughout and wireless charging by the bed. You won't need an adaptor.
The kitchenette is large but not a real kitchen. There's a sink, a wine fridge, a minibar and a pod coffee machine, but no stove or microwave, and the many cupboards are empty. A few plates and some cutlery would help if you want to bring food back from a local restaurant. Drinking water is free and restocked generously. Minibar prices are fair for snacks and soft drinks (cashews are about A$4, a Coke about A$6), but alcohol is expensive, at around A$9 for a small Bintang.
There's a separate powder room by the entrance, which is handy if you have friends over. Like the main bathroom, it has a Toto washlet.
The bedroom has glass on three sides, and you can step straight into the pool from it. The bed is superb: plush, not too firm and not too soft, and we slept beautifully. There's a second TV that faces the bed, and a lit make-up area outside. Turndown is thorough, and housekeeping came two or three times a day. On our first night, "Welcome to Umana Bali" was spelled out in leaves across the bed.
The bathroom is enormous. The freestanding bathtub is set against a glass wall facing a private garden, so you can look out but no one can see in. There's a double vanity with thick stone counters, a big walk-in rain shower with a hand shower that opens onto the garden, and two Japanese toilets, one here and one in the powder room. The toiletries come in solid stone bottles, and the extras include incense and candles for the bath.
Behind the bathroom is a walk-in wardrobe with far more storage than two people could fill, a luggage bench and the safe. Even very large suitcases fit easily.
What to Know Before You Book
The villa is exceptional, but the entry-level category comes with some caveats:
- "Partial ocean view" can mean very little ocean. Lower down the slope, it's a pleasant mix of sea and greenery. Ours was higher up, and the view was a thin strip of blue beyond the rooftops of the villas below. "Ocean glimpse" would be a more honest name.
- You can't always hear the waves. Near the top of the resort, the ocean is silent. About halfway down the slope, you start to hear it, and it's a big part of the appeal.
- Some villas sit right beside the road down to Melasti. Ours was one of them. Trucks and motorbikes are loud when they pass, and the traditional timber sliding doors don't seal well. It was quiet at night, so it never affected our sleep, but it wasn't the secluded clifftop stay we'd pictured.
- Privacy isn't complete. The villas are terraced down the hill, and paths to other villas pass close by. From some angles, passers-by can see into pools and bedrooms. It feels private almost all the time, but keep your swimwear on.
We didn't see a single mosquito in the villa, probably thanks to the steady sea breeze.
Dining
Commune
Commune, at the central hub next to the main pool, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's an airy space with tall timber ceilings, big chandeliers and ocean views through the windows.
Breakfast was excellent, and one of the best hotel breakfasts we've had in Asia. It's a hybrid: you order as much as you like from an à la carte menu of around 20 dishes, with a lighter buffet alongside. It's my favourite way to do breakfast, with the choice of a buffet and the pleasure of ordering from a menu, and it was one of the things we looked forward to most.
What sets it apart is how much of the menu is Indonesian rather than Western, so there's something new to try each day. The buffet has fresh juices in glass bottles, tropical fruit, a wall of local honeys, pastries and hot dishes, and a nasi jinggo station with half a dozen sambals.
Our favourites from the menu:
- The Umana Breakfast: grilled sourdough with smashed avocado, baby lobster scrambled with truffle, and a spoonful of caviar. It's worth ordering at least once.
- The Bali Egg Benedict, with smoked salmon, sambal matah and a sambal hollandaise that has a real kick.
- Beef shank fried rice, topped with a fried egg.
- The Heritage Balinese Breakfast, a nasi campur plate with sate lilit, boiled egg, spiced chicken and long-bean lawar.
At dinner, Commune serves food from across Southeast Asia, with a section of Indonesian dishes. A tray of sambals and crackers arrives as soon as you sit down. The Vietnamese rice-paper rolls were fresh and light, the beef rendang was rich and slow-cooked, and the grilled fish Jimbaran-style, served with lime and a spicy bean salad, was our favourite. Prices are high for Bali, at around IDR 350,000 to 435,000 for a main, but still lower than most comparable resorts.
If you have a big appetite, the Archipelago Rijsttafel is a family-style feast for two (IDR 1.7 million) of dishes from across the islands. It includes a prawn and starfruit soup, beef rendang, sate lilit, chicken with sambal and grilled fish, followed by banana fritters and purple potato dumplings. Stick to the local food here, as the Indonesian dishes were consistently the best things we ate.
Oliverra
Oliverra is the signature restaurant, a Mediterranean grill in a striking glass-and-stone building on the cliff edge. It's beautifully designed, with glass chandeliers and generously spaced tables, and it has the best setting in the resort. Book a window table for sunset. The upstairs bar is good for a drink beforehand, with two-for-one cocktails at happy hour.
Dinner starts with grissini and crackers alongside a small appetiser. We shared a saffron risotto with prawns and fish, grilled chicken with jus and charred leeks, half a grilled lobster, and sides of asparagus and mash. It was all well cooked, but portions are on the small side and prices are high, and the menu was short when we visited. Commune is better value. You come to Oliverra for the setting, eating to the sound of the waves below the cliff.
Around the Resort
The pool bar sits in an open pavilion by the main pool, with hanging chairs on the lawn, a pool table and table tennis, which older children will love. Happy hour runs from 4 to 7 pm daily, but the two-for-one deal covers only some cocktails, not beer or wine. Gelato carts appear around the grounds during the day.
Uma Beach House
Down on Melasti Beach, Umana's beach club sits right at the foot of the cliff, with the resort visible on the hill above. There are several pools, including a shallow kids' pool and an infinity edge running along the sand, plus loungers, cabanas, a pink bar and house music. Guests get there on the resort shuttle and don't pay the beach entry fee. The setting is glorious.
We spent a lazy afternoon on the loungers with a fresh coconut and a peach iced tea. The menu covers sharing snacks like shrimp tempura and beef tacos, grills up to a T-bone for IDR 650,000, and a few desserts. The service didn't match the setting, though. Tables weren't cleared quickly, and the staff seemed stretched whenever a shuttle load of guests left and another arrived.
The Pools
The main infinity pool at the central hub is the place to go if your villa lacks a real view, as ours did. It sits closer to the cliff edge, framed by tall stone pillars, and you can hear the waves. There's a large shallow children's area roped off with buoys, cushioned loungers with plenty of towels and a few shaded cabanas. There's no lifeguard, so keep an eye on young children.
Because every villa has its own pool, the main pool was almost always quiet. It's at its best at dusk.
There's also a second pool down by the spa, long enough for laps and tucked away from the children. We didn't even know it existed until a few days in.
Spa and Wellness
The Lohma Spa (lohma comes from a Balinese word for medicine) is excellent. The two-hour signature treatment starts with a Balinese boreh, a traditional paste of ginger and other herbs that locals use to ward off colds and fevers. It's smoothed over your body and left to dry while you're wrapped in sheets and given a long head massage, then rinsed off before a traditional Balinese massage. The therapists were skilled and happy to work as firmly as asked. It's one of the best spa treatments we've had in Bali, though prices are well above the day spas outside the resort.
Below the spa are:
- A large gym with an impressive range of free weights and floor-to-ceiling windows, but only a handful of cardio machines for a resort this size
- A yoga pavilion with gentle morning classes that end with sound healing. It isn't soundproofed, so you'll hear the rain and the gardens around you.
- A wellness area with hot and cold plunge pools, a sauna, a steam room and heated stones
Private classes are expensive. Private Pilates costs IDR 850,000, while group classes need at least five people to go ahead.
Experiences
Umana runs several experiences, and these are the ones worth booking:
- The village walk was our highlight. It starts early in the morning with a guide who grew up locally, and covers several kilometres through the lanes of a nearby village, with breakfast at a family home and stops at the market and cemetery. We learnt how Balinese family compounds work, with one central house holding the family temples, where every wedding and ceremony takes place.
- The coffee tasting is a real pleasure, even if you aren't a coffee enthusiast. The host is knowledgeable and passionate, and brews the same beans several ways so you can compare them.
- The wine tasting is a short session of local wines with cheese and fruit. Balinese wine has a mixed reputation, but these were subtle and genuinely good.
- The fire dance down at Melasti is more interactive than the usual performances in Ubud, and it looks over the ocean.
The clifftop chapel is a landmark from the Banyan Tree days, a white wedge of glass and sculpted panels that frames the ocean from inside. There's a lawn and stage beside it for weddings and events, and a ballroom by the lobby. Near the spa, a small art gallery shows local paintings and carved masks.
Monkeys
There are lots of monkeys around the resort, and they'll take any food left outside, sometimes within seconds. We learnt that the hard way. Our butler reminded us about them more than once, and one evening we came across a whole family of them on a temple shrine in the grounds. Doors and storage are lockable for that reason. Keep snacks and fruit indoors, and don't leave anything valuable on your terrace.
Service
The staff were warm, genuine and eager to help. Every villa has a butler on WhatsApp, who replied within minutes to everything from restaurant bookings to heating up the jacuzzi. Buggies arrive within minutes wherever you are, which matters on a site this steep and spread out. Whenever we needed something fixed, someone came out promptly, even late in the evening.
The one weak spot was Uma Beach House, which felt understaffed at busy times.
The Verdict
Overall: 8/10
Umana Bali is one of the most impressive villa resorts in Bali. The villas are huge, beautifully finished and cleverly designed, and every category gets the same private pool, jacuzzi, pavilion and remarkable bathroom. Breakfast is among the best on the island, the spa and experiences are excellent, and the staff are lovely.
What holds it back is that the villas aren't equal. Some higher up the slope, like ours, have little ocean view, hear the beach road more than the waves, and can be overlooked by neighbours. The dining is good but uneven, and the beach club needs more staff.
A few tips if you're booking:
- Ask for a lower villa, away from the beach road. You'll hear the waves, see more of the ocean and avoid traffic noise. If the view matters to you, pay for a proper ocean-view category rather than a partial view.
- Stay at least three nights. You'll want time to enjoy the villa, and the village walk, spa and tastings are all worth fitting in.
- Plan around the shuttle. It runs only once an hour between the resort and Uma Beach House.
- Order local at Commune. The Indonesian dishes are consistently better than the Western ones.
Booking Umana Bali With Perks
As a Hilton for Luxury advisor, I secure exclusive benefits for my clients at Hilton properties worldwide, at no additional cost:
Complimentary daily breakfast for two guests
Room upgrade upon arrival, subject to availability
$100 USD property credit per stay
Early check-in and late checkout priority when available
Welcome amenity and VIP recognition
Double Hilton Honors points: you earn 20x per $ spent
Booking is simple: find Umana Bali on the client portal and book with these perks attached, in a few clicks.
Need help choosing or planning your trip? Ask me