Alila Villas Uluwatu

The Bukit Peninsula at the southern tip of Bali is a dry limestone plateau of savannah and cliff, nothing like the rice terraces further north. For the resort it opened here in 2009, Alila commissioned WOHA of Singapore to design something that would belong to that landscape rather than import a tropical postcard. The result is a sequence of low, flat roofed pavilions in pale stone quarried on site, roofs of volcanic lava rock, ceilings of woven bamboo and timber salvaged from railway sleepers and telephone poles. It was the first resort in Indonesia to reach EarthCheck's highest building standard, and grey water recycling and a Sustainability Lab working to a zero waste policy are still part of daily life here.

The villas are freestanding, each with a private pool and a daybed pavilion, arranged in terraces so that the higher Uluwatu Pool Villas look straight out over the ocean. The centre of the property is the long cliff edge infinity pool and, beside it, the Sunset Cabana, a timber box cantilevered over a drop of around a hundred metres to the sea.

Spa Alila keeps an open air treatment cabana on the cliff edge for days when nobody wants to leave the property. Uluwatu temple with its evening kecak dance is a short drive along the cliffs, and dinner moves between The Warung for Balinese cooking and Cire for something lighter.