On My List Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan – Bali High

Usually, a business lunch with our Four Seasons Hotel peeps involves champagne and a scrumptious lunch; it’s been awhile since this lunch with one of my VV Favorite Four Seasons GM’s, Randy Shimabuku, but I’m obsessed with the arrival at Four Seasons Resort, Bali, where he is now the General Manager. He has hosted me in the Maldives, filled my daily schedule with activities from dawn to dusk and a dinner date with an activity director or he & his lovely wife every night. Although my days of resort activities were exhausting, I became an expert on the resort, smart guy, Randy! Stand by for personal photos!

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

Many travelers balk at beach travel that includes a flight over eight hours. My first vast flight time beach holiday was to The Brando and to the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. Both are worth the journey; Hawaii is not Tahiti! Mexico is not Tahiti!

In Bora Bora, a beautiful beach with an endless horizon, nothing but palm trees or a massive Mountain. Imagine gazing at Mount Otemanu from a bubbling jacuzzi at the Four Seasons Bora Bora, a vista is a thousand times more beautiful than a beach amid humanity. The long flights are truly worth the destination. Bora Bora is in the middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. And then there are the brilliantly black skies dripping with stars, the Souther Cross comes to mind!

Four Seasons Spa Bora Bora

Maldives invitation seemed so far…longer flight time, initially I was skeptical. Nothing prepared me for the beauty of the Maldives – I stayed two weeks and could have stayed longer. So many activities, endless beauty.

Bali is closer than the Maldives, will you now consider it?! Combine a tropical island getaway with ancient rainforests, enchanting temples and rice fields  With three unique river rafting experiences, there’s something for everyone to do on Bali’s longest river.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan offers the world’s first arrival by River Raft. I’ve been offered a resort landing with a kite surfer, luckily the wind was up and when the GM took me to the cliff side restaurant where I would have jumped – I said I could never have jumped from there! A river raft arrival, how cool is this? Just say Yes, or Suksema.

For a unique check-in experience, arrive at the Resort by river raft – exclusively available to guests transferring from sister property, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay. Duration: 2.5-3 hours.

Famed for its dramatic treetop arrival via a suspension bridge, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan  offers guests a 180-degree change of perspective, with Bali’s first hotel arrival by river raft.

Submerged in a river valley close to the artistic center of Ubud, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan has launched the innovative rafting check-in as an option for guests transferring from its sister Resort, the beach front Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay on Bali’s south-west coast.

Avoid the usual 90-minute road transfer, travelers combining a stay at both Resorts can instead be taken by private car (60 minutes’ drive) to the departure point for a two-hour rafting adventure down Bali’s longest river, the Ayung.

While you enjoy a leisurely guided adventure through Class III rapids with views of lush jungle, rice terraces and majestic gorges, your luggage continues by car and precedes your arrival at Four Seasons Resort Sayan.

After discovering secluded sites – including a natural holy spring and an historic dam belonging to Bali’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed subak irrigation system – rafters land directly at the Resort’s Riverside Restaurant.

Waiting staff ensure a seamless check-in and within minutes guests are relaxing in their room, delivering a hotel arrival unlike any other.

This new arrival by river offers the opposite view with a slow reveal from under the canopy of trees, making it perfect for repeat guests who have experienced the bridge arrival before.

My mantra – the arrival sets the stage for the Journey, certainly applies to this magical adventure! It does not feel like a check-in experience, but rather a transition to another world, welcomed by the friendliest people on Earth, what could be better?!

Located amid two acres of rice fields and groves of fruit trees, vegetable, and herb gardens, 42 private pool villas and 18 suites enable guests to retreat from the world and embrace the valley’s healing energy. Float above treetops on a dramatic suspension bridge and cross into a different world. With locally inspired experiences and rice bowl-shaped architecture set against the lush Ayung River Valley, the Resort takes you closer to the heart and soul of Bali.

Unpacking List: It’s not the things you take with you that define your journey; it’s the experiences you have and the memories you bring home.

More on Plopping…After A is B. Barefoot Luxury.

Besides the day-to-day stress, the unpredictable profound pandemic has created its own subset of stress. Is it safe to go, is it better to stay home still? Tahiti has very strict protocols in place.

A short list of Perfect Places to Plop. Some places you can feel, they cast their spell on you immediately, The Brando is certain to cast its spell the moment you arrive. Tetiaroa is treasured among Tahitians who know it as a sacred place. So sacred, that at one time the coconut-dotted white sand beaches and crystalline lagoon of this uninhabited atoll was an exclusive getaway for Tahitian royalty.

Tetiaroa

Tahiti – The Brando. When filming Mutiny on the Bounty here in 1962, Marlon Brando called the island of Tetiaroa “beautiful beyond capacity to describe,” so it’s only fitting that his namesake resort leaves visitors inadequately equipped to explain its appeal.  An epic island retreat, not just for former Presidents, a refresher to remind you of its infinite charms! Mere mortals can now safely gather at The Brando Island with the strict French Polynesian Govt. COVID 19 testing mandates in place. Travelers can feel secure escaping to this island paradise, as the Tahitian government has strict pre-arrival Covid-19 rules.

Tetiaroa Island - The Brando
Private Tetiaroa Island , The Brando
Pool The Brando Island

From the air, Tetiaroa Island is nary a speck of tall swaying coconut and vivid green palm fronds surrounded by the palest of brilliantly clear turquoise seas visible from your private plane that transports you from Papeete  to the private island. Your first glimpse is of startling gem blue seas contrasted by white sandy beaches punctuated with miles and miles of jade green palms – a beautiful necklace of sea surrounding the pristine white beaches. 

The Brando Island

Photos provide glammy perspective, however the absolute beauty of the warm indigo seas, the stillness, occasionally interrupted by native birdsong, the natural beauty of the island must be experienced. A rare combination of nature and a man’s love for an island he called home for many years. The Brando experience is unlike any other – imagine balmy breezes, warm gentle seas teeming with flamboyant tropical fish and curious turtles, black night skies filled with thousands of stars, the Southern Sky is also a star at The Brando. The resort was designed to reflect Polynesian lifestyles and culture.

Needs are met before you even think of asking. The staff is extremely efficient and beyond friendly – they are fun, and they seem to be genuinely pleased to assist in any matter. The Villas – in total, 35 stand-alone unobtrusive villas, secreted on white sandy beaches with glorious water views, and nudged into a private thatch of shrubs, fragrant tropical flowers, and swaying coconut palms. The 22 villas along West Turtle Beach and 13 along South Mermaid Bay have been carefully designed to reflect the Polynesian lifestyle and traditions. If you enjoy seclusion, even while knowing there are villas nearby, this should become your tropical paradise. Each day, I saw more guests at dinner, however I felt like it was my own private pristine island as I rarely encountered other guests during the day. 

Out of this world Spa – So gorgeous, relaxing, and stunning architecture. A brief bike ride beneath the towering coconut fronds and you arrive at the secluded pond, the actual location where the Tahitian Royal family once withdrew to rest and indulge in relaxation routines. A natural haven, the spa villas are hidden amid the dense jungle; dragonflies and enormous Lilly pads adorn the scene from your perch above the pond.

Spa Hut The Brando Island
Path to The Spa, The Brando Island

The Brando is a fully inclusive Sanctuary: meals and beverages, a spa treatment each day and an excursion. The Brando is pure paradise. You won’t want to depart!

Paradise The Brando Island

Bora Bora is a tiny South Pacific Island escape northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. From the sky, it appears as a shimmering green gem plopped into a sapphire expanse of ocean. Surrounded by tiny islets bordered with bright white sand, like a string of pearls floating in a turquoise lagoon ringed by a protective coral reef.

It is no less stunning once you land, the famed posh Four Seasons Resort – is our favorite, highlighted by thatched-roof bungalows hovering over the water, many with private pools. Bora Bora is a divers or snorkelers paradise; the healthy unspoiled reefs are rich with sea life. The dormant volcano rises in two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the highest point is 727-feet and offers the most majestic views and great woodland hikes.

Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora

There is a dreamy private island paradise that feels safe in this ever-changing global oyster; a pearl of a property. Many of our clients have escaped to this island paradise. Set on a motu (islet) on the northeast side of the lagoon, the Four Seasons Resort enjoys uninterrupted views of the dramatic peaks of Bora Bora, which are particularly captivating at sunset. Enchantment begins on the wooden power boat, speeding across the gorgeous aqua seas to the Four Seasons Bora Bora. The cool breeze and surf splashing as you breathe in the fresh air and absorb the astonishing tropical views.

The beach front Villa estates are secluded, have their own pools, and literally feel like private mansions on the pale azure Bora Bora seas. Each over water bungalow has sections of glass floors, you see fish, stingrays, and other marine life, nature at its best, swimming underneath your room! I found myself sitting on the floor, peering for underwater creatures. Furnished with large, plush, king-size beds, a full living room, a spacious outdoor deck, some with plunge pools and every amenity you’d expect to find in a 5-star hotel room.

The bungalows have been recently refurbished, inspired by a traditional Polynesian village, a collaboration between local architect Pierre-Jean Picart and San Francisco design firm BAMO. Additionally, six plunge pools were added to existing overwater bungalow suites, bringing the total number of overwater accommodations with pools to 27, and the total overwater room count to 108.

Four Seasons Resort Bora Bor

This is also a perfect combo visit arrive first to The Brando – exhale, recover your balance and for a more active lifestyle mosey to PPT and jet over to Bora Bora. Both are hedonistic perfection!