Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa - A Resort dotted with Culture

We booked a week at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa at the beginning of our month long holiday in Bali this summer from mid July to mid August. This resort is located in the South of Bali on the beachfront promenade of Nusa Dua. It is half an hour drive from Ngurah Rai International Airport. This is the first property that was built in the area 35 years ago and still continues to dominate the scene as an authentic Balinese resort. The architecture of the resort is similar to that of a Balinese Palace and the interiors of the resort are filled with intricate details of the Balinese Culture. My first memory of the resort as we entered the hotel grounds was the sight of the traditional Balinese gate beyond which laid a tranquil space where I would be resting, relaxing and reconnecting with my family over the next 7 days. The highlight of my stay at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa was the cultural tour that was organized by the resort. Bali is filled with culture, a uniqueness that permeates through every aspect of its people, their lifestyle and religion. This tour gave us an opportunity to experience the resort from a cultural perspective. It gave us an up-close look into the wonders and deeply-rooted cultures of the Balinese people their lifestyle and history. Our tour began with a visit to the temple on site. Majority of the Balinese people follow Hinduism. Most of the temples in Bali are devoted to the shrines of three main Hindu gods also known as Trimurti (a three – dimensional figure) Brahma being the creator, Vishnu being the preserver and Shiva being the destroyer. Balinese Hindus make offerings to god everyday as a way of expressing gratitude. These offerings are handcrafted everyday from palm leaves in the shape of a tray filled with flowers, rice, incense stick and then sprinkled with holy water. These offerings are known as Canang Sari and placed at the entrance of temples, houses and shops. The main feature of this hotel is the Cendi Bantar, the traditional gate split in two symmetrical mirroring structures, creating a passage in the center as you enter the hotel. A Balinese gong is placed at the entrance of the hotel and is rung for the new guests arriving at the hotel as a way of welcoming them to the hotel and announcing of their arrival to the other members of the staff. Episodes from Hindu epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana are intrically woven into the interiors of the resort. The pillars of the resort show a 360 degree view of how an individual inherits his status as a result of his or her past life and is influenced by the principles of Karma depicting the cycle of a Balinese life. The Bale Kul Kul which is a drum pavilion sits at the heart of the hotel grounds. Every village in Bali will have its own drum tower or Bale Kul Kul as a means of communication and to summon or a hold a religious gathering. There are themed night dinners held in this pavilion with traditional dances like Kecak & Legong performed on different nights. Bali has many ceremonies and one of the ceremonies called the Melasti ceremony and the Nyepi day is depicted beautifully on the handrails made out of Bronze in the resort. Melasti ceremony is performed a day before the day of silence (Nyepi) where the whole island comes to a standstill. On this day the locals refrain from any non-prayer activity. This is the day dedicated to cleanse ones soul and the shrines of the temples with water. The Balinese people walk to the beach and lakes in their prayer outfits with Gamelan orchestra to perform their rituals on this day. We found out that one of the most important ceremonies of Galungan and Kunningan were falling in the same week so we took this opportunity to experience the festivities and get involved with the locals. We dressed up in traditional Balinese clothes and visited the temple to participate in the rituals on this auspicious day. This festival is similar to Diwali celebrated by the Hindus in India that signifies the victory of Dharma over Adharma (good over evil). This tour was a great introduction to the Balinese culture and what lay ahead of us in the next 3 weeks that we were going to spend in Bali. No wonder Bali is known as the island of the gods with its rich and diverse culture that’s quite peculiar from the rest of Indonesia and the surrounding archipelago. Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa was an absolute hit with my whole family as everyone was kept entertained and busy with various organized activities at the resort. Some of the complimentary activities organized by the resort for the in-house guests included coconut leaf weaving, fruit carving, spa class, aqua aerobics etc. Me and my mother learnt how to make traditional facial masks of Lulur and Boreh at the spa class one day and participated in coconut leaf weaving on the other. My son was absolutely thrilled with the activities at the Geckos Kids club. They had a schedule of fun and cultural activities for the little ones too like fishing in the lagoon, origami, Balinese dress up sessions and dance class and some of the days they also organized visits to the temple on site. While my father and my husband spent their time unwinding and enjoying the tropical Balinese weather outdoors by the pool. We stayed in a Premier Room that was furnished with wooden flooring and a balcony overlooking the hotel lawn. There are squirrels everywhere in the resort and we often found them hanging out with us on the balcony. The room was spacious and comfortable to fit an extra bed for my son. The other facilities at the hotel boasts a luxurious spa with different treatment rooms and adjacent to that is the sports center that includes a tennis court, aerobics room, players room with board games for rainy days. This is where you can also rent a bicycle to ride along the Nusa Dua promenade and explore the nearby area. There is also a shopping arcade, a clinic, a bank and a mosque on site. The hotel also caters for Halal food if notified well in advance. We had a fantastic stay at the Nusa Dua Hotel Beach & Spa and can highly recommend it for families with children or anyone looking to experience an authentic Balinese resort. Our family photo on the Galungan day where we are dressed as Balinese people was taken by the photographer based on site. I hope you do enjoy the photos of our stay at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa. I know I will be reminiscing looking at these pictures years down the line as a memory of my cultural trip to Bali.