The BEST Luxury Hotels in Sanur Bali (I've Visited Them All!)

Introduction

Visiting Sanur and wondering where to stay? Sanur is the quiet side of Bali: low-rise, flat, and full of people cycling to breakfast in linen. There are no nightclubs to speak of, and after 9pm the entertainment is your hotel bar and the sound of the sea. I love it here, but it does mean your hotel matters more than it would in Seminyak, because you'll be spending a lot of time in it.

Five properties in Sanur sell themselves as luxury. I've stayed at all five and this is only my personal opinion! If you're in a hurry, here's the short version: book the Andaz for a trip that matters, the Hyatt Regency for families and value, and Maya if you care more about architecture and dinner than swimming.

Hyatt Regency Bali

This hotel has one of the loveliest grounds of any resort in Bali. The gardens are their main point. Made Wijaya laid them out in 1973 and they've been growing ever since, so the buildings and pools sit inside genuine jungle-thick greenery.

The rooms are the weak spot. They're tidy but quite plain, with generic chain toiletries and an odd layout that puts the toilet right by the front door. My tip: book a ground-floor Premium room, which gets you the biggest footprint and a terrace onto the gardens.

What really makes the Hyatt Regency work is the staff. Mine knew my name by the third morning and I felt like family, and the rate is roughly half what the Andaz charges next door. Breakfast is fine rather than special, but lunch at the beachfront Pizzeria is genuinely good, and Camp Hyatt is a proper supervised kids club for ages 4 to 12.

Who it's for: families, repeat visitors, and anyone who love lush gadens. 8/10

Read our detailed 8/10 review for Hyatt Regency here.

Andaz Bali

If I could only recommend one hotel in Sanur, this is it. This hotel has everything: beachfront, beautiful Balinese rooms, great dining, and very personalised service given its small room count.

And then there's the a-la-carte breakfast, which I think is the best in Bali. Everything is cooked to order, you can order as many rounds as you like, and I had the crepe fromage every single morning of my stay. If breakfast is a meal you plan holidays around, you can stop reading and book now! The free minibar sounds generous but is honestly a bit sparse (two fridges, not much in either).

A few small things keep it from being perfect: the shower is tight, the toilet sits in a narrow cupboard that opens onto the bedroom, and the room amenities are quite heavily scented, so ask housekeeping to swap them if you're sensitive. My favourite spot is the shaded pool behind reception, which most guests walk straight past, so it's often nearly empty.

Who it's for: honeymoons, anniversaries, and anyone who plans a holiday around breakfast. 9/10

Read our detailed 9/10 review for Andaz Bali here.

Maya Sanur Resort & Spa

Maya is the only hotel in Sanur with real architecture, and that's the reason to book it. Denton Corker Marshall designed it, with five kul-kul bell towers out front and a dramatic charcoal ceiling over reception, and the entry-level rooms are a generous 57 square metres with the double vanity. Kuu, the izakaya restaurant, is so good that locals book it, which almost never happens with resorts restaurants.

Just know what you're getting with the famous 158-metre lagoon pool. In photos it looks endless. In person it's a chain of narrow, shaded, chilly segments between the room wings, with a public walkway running along one side, so the "lagoon access" suites have less privacy than you'd hope. The pools are all 1.2 metres deep, the beachfront pool is small for a 103-room hotel, and the beach itself is the narrowest of the five. The fit-out also hasn't been refreshed since opening (there's still a Bluetooth speaker dock of a certain age in the room), and I'd skip the Nest Suite, which adds four square metres and a much bigger bill.

One more thing: this isn't the one for small children. The kids club is a single room on the fourth floor, and the pool rules are strict about floats and inflatables.

Who it's for: couples who care about buildings and food more than swimming. 7/10

The One I'd Skip: InterContinental Bali Sanur

I really wanted to like this one, because the staff here are very kind. Sadly, they're looking after a building that isn't being looked after. I was moved through three rooms in one afternoon because of damp, the paint doesn't hide it for long, and at the main pool I spotted underwater lights with their wiring sitting in the water.

There are genuine bright spots: breakfast at Layang Layang is good, and the 50-metre infinity pool is one of the better swim in Sanur. But the beach out front is sea grass and moored boats rather than the white sand in the brochure, and the hotel sits out at Semawang, so dinner outside the resort means a car. For the same money the Andaz is five minutes from Sanur's restaurants.

Who it's for: honestly, I'd only consider it if you need a 90-square-metre suite and get a very good rate. 6/10

Budget Option: Prama Sanur

Prama is a decent four-star resort wearing a five-star badge, and the price is the giveaway (it charges a third to a quarter of what the good hotels here charge). The state built it in 1974, the last big structural work was in 1990, and only 50 of the 428 rooms have been renovated. Those are the Club rooms, and if you stay here, that category is the only one I'd book. The standard Superior rooms come with bamboo furniture, tired bathrooms, and the musty smell that fifty-year-old concrete gets. Breakfast means 428 rooms sharing one buffet, so go early!

For a budget family trip, Prama works. It has the a great beach, a free kids club, and a splash zone with slides that will buy you a whole afternoon (children under 6 need a parent in with them). Just be aware that dinner outside the hotel is a 30-minute walk, and the staff, who are lovely, can only apologise for the building so many times.

Who it's for: budget families in a Club room. Everyone else should look further up this list. 5/10

So Which One Should You Book?

Travelling with children? The Hyatt Regency, easily. Honeymoon or a big birthday? The Andaz, and order the crepe fromage every morning like I did. A couple who cares more about the building and dinner than the swimming? Maya. And the InterContinental I'd leave alone until someone fixes the building, however lovely the people in it are.