Cattle grazing on a pasture land, yawning away time while sheep idling along. Bougainvillea demarcated estates with huts and small houses where kids are playing hide & seek, mothers washing clothes, grannies cooking on wood-fire in an open pit and men plucking fruits from the garden. This may be an ideal world for the urban settler looking for a bucolic life, but an everyday thing for people living on this small fragment of hilly village in Uluwatu. And we haven’t even reached the resort yet, these are on the steep by-lane that leads to Gravity Bed & Breakfast. What a prelude!
Bali is a nature lover’s paradise. It only gets better if you book a nature resort, so that the experience accentuates. Gravity Bed & Breakfast is an eco-lodge that just blends in with nature. Though it’s called Gravity Bed & Breakfast, it’s not a B&B for sure, because B&B is just for a sleepover, and Gravity is much more than a sleepover. For starters, it’s a nice big resort with plenty of green space.
Though getting to the resort prepared us for what is coming up, but we wouldn’t have imagined a Santorini style utopia on our arrival. White walls with thatched roof is all you see apart from the green fields and infinity pool as you enter. A large community style dining table welcomes you as you enter the resort looking for reception. The reception is a small hut kind of place where the staff is sitting with a table fan, since there is no air-con in the resort. It’s an eco-lodge, the staff re-iterated.
What came next was something I still haven’t forgotten yet. A Mojito in a large goblet. The most yum virgin mojito. That too on a sunny day, when the temperature is still not ideal for a walk on the steep by-lane we just covered. After the formalities, the staff helped pick our bags, since there were many big steps we came down on, and had to again take few steps to reach our suite/hut/bungalow/villa. Don’t know what to call it. On a secluded strip, a wooden door led us to the hut. A large garden with plants and thick grass seemed an ideal place to relax. That too isolated, because there were large fences demarcating this unit with the rest of the resort. What else one could ask for, having a small world to self! The hut, again white with thatched roof, was a two storey structure. It was roomy and breezy. But there wasn’t anything remotely modern here. No A/C, microwave, iron or refrigerator. Just a large fan plugged to a socket that seemed to exist only in vintage movies.
The wooden flooring, bare minimum bamboo furniture and a view that stretches over the rain-forest, cliffs, hills and ultimately finishes at the ocean. This is not a luxury resort. But this experience is every bit premium. One side of the hut is open, no walls or windows. Just nature that steeps in. The entire spread of land beneath you. As if it’s your private land.
The washroom is made up of natural materials. The shower is a bamboo stick through water flows out. Again no vents, just open space on top that lets light in. The back of the hut is a small garden with wrought iron dining table. A wonderful area that is most dense with greenery, creepers & plants. The best possible area to sit out in the evening, listen to music and chat with friends.
Out in the resort, the common area is one big place where they’ve added an infinity pool, lounge bar, dining area and lounge area. They are at different levels, with dining at the top. The swimming pool is spectacular since it gives a view of the rain-forest below ending at the sea. The resort has hiking areas, as they’ve got more huts in the cliff going down. It’s like walking down an endless swathe of garden where trees make canopies of serenity.
The dining option is very limited, with just a few items on the menu. The food is decent though, not as feisty as the street food or Gorengs you’d have at Warungs elsewhere. We tried to walk across the village to the main road hoping there would be small eateries but had to return empty stomach.
Though this is an ideal resort to live, it’s not the best option to stay if you don’t have a vehicle. Even Uber doesn’t reach here, nor would be interested to pick you. You should hire a bike or car beforehand if you need to go out, which you must as Uluwatu has got one of the best surfing beaches. The resort is quite far from the airport, at least keep 1.5hrs aside keeping traffic in view.
