The Other Side of Seminyak

While Seminyak is fast achieving international notoriety as one of the most desirable destinations of the world, its immediate neighbors Petitenget and Batubelig are less well known. Yet where Seminyak ends and Petitenget begins is a subject of dispute among ex pats and tourists alike.

In fact the villas, restaurants, spas, boutiques, and bars that have turned this section of south Bali into one of the most desirable destinations in the world tend to be a little vague in their boundary definitions. One of Seminyak’s most iconic residents, beachfront restaurant / club KuDeTa is actually located in Petitenget. One might say that for the jet setters, second-home owners and high season hoi polloi, Seminyak is more like a stretch of beach and a hedonistic state of mind. If that is the case, then Petitenget is where you will find many of its higher functions.

The thread that links Seminyak, Petitenget, and Batubelig is undoubtedly the beach – a vast swathe of golden sand that stretches virtually unbroken from Ngurah Rai international airport in the south to the village of Pererenan, 10 kilometers further north. It was this beach that drew the attention of an enterprising developer in 1974. The Kayu Aya (which became The Oberoi in 1078) was designed by architect Peter Muller and was surely one of Bali’s first boutique hotels. While further south, surf seekers and shoestring hippies were turning Kuta into a hodge podge of budget hedonism, Petitenget was most notable for hosting one of Bali’s most sacred temples, Pura Petitenget. Built in the sixteenth century, it is one of the island’s six cardinal temples, all of which connect via invisible lines of energy to the so-called mother temple, Besakih, situated on the slopes of the volcano Gunung Agung in north-east Bali. The Kayu Aya was Petitenget’s first hotel and it would spark – if slowly – the development in the area into one of south-east Asia’s premier resorts. A road soon followed, connecting the Oberoi hotel (which funded the project) with the neighboring village of Batubelig; it is this loop that has become one of the hottest real estate propositions on the island.

Petitenget already has its share of notable residents – the five star Legian hotel, The Samaya, a recently revamped deluxe villa resort, and of course the Oberoi. Then there are the bars and restaurants – the aforementioned KuDeTa and Mediterranean eatery La Lucciola. All of these share the distinction of sitting slap bang in front of the beach, with uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean.

Now, a new developer is set to up the ante, having snapped up one of the last substantial beach front lots in the area. Take a walk from Batubelig beach towards KuDeTa and you will come upon a white corrugated fence with the simple legend W repeated across is face.

The enormous cranes – a rare sight on an island when building higher than 15 meters is prohibited – bisect the skyline and piles of excavated earth stand like bulwarks at the edge of the beach. With a steady growing portfolio of properties around the world, the W hotel group represents one of the most successful examples of brand migration – a fashion magazine heading into hospitality. It is not the first in Bali of course – that accolade goes into legendary jewelers Bvlgari, whose cliff front resort brought a whole new level of cache to the Bukit, the raised peninsula at the southern tip of Bali. W, a part of hospitality behemoth Starwood, could well achieve the same thing in Petitenget, as if the area wasn’t hip enough already. They’re not doing things by half either – the W Retreat and Spa Bali (which incidentally claims to be located in Seminyak) will feature no less than 232 guest rooms and villas.

Head inland, however, and there’s no shortage of impressive developments to swoon over. Sentosa Resort and Spa has established a stellar reputation with its spacious villas and designer club facility, while Living Room and Hu’u are hotspots for both eating and late night mingling. In spite of the diminishing amount of available land, development continues space, though its character may be changing.

The now fully operational Kokonut Suites at the border between Petitenget and Batubelig represents one of the possible future faces of the real estate development in the area. Located at the Batubelig end of the Oberoi road and managed by Avilla Development and Management, it is essentially a condominium hotel concept featuring 33 units of one and two bedrooms on a 5,000 square-meter plot with facilities including a pool complete with lounge, spa, on site restaurant and gym.

“Kokonut Suites is an entry-level development really,” says Andy Gray, who marketed the project. Prices to investors ranged from US$50,000 – 120,000 with excellent value for the area. According to Gray, owners have unlimited access to their apartments while guests are looking at nightly rates of between US$95 for one bedroom and $160++ for the two bedrooms unit.

Gray thinks that the apartment model will be more and more evident as land becomes ever scarcer. “I don’t think we are going to see 20 story apartments in the immediate future, but the boundaries are being pushed. In Oberoi (read: Petitenget), it makes sense to build apartments – real estate prices are two and a half times higher than in Batubelig.” Head west towards the coast on Batubelig road, a straight stretch bounded by Balinese village units interspersed with rice fields and you’ll come upon two new villa developments, each within easy distance to the ocean. The Akasha is a freehold development of 12 three-bedroom villas marketed by Tropical Homes that brings together the skills of two of the most respected designers in Bali – architect Popo Danes and stone architect Richard North Lewis.

Less than 100 meters from Batubelig beach, these Seminyak villas are contemporary elaborations on the classic Balinese compound design. The environment has been thought about too – they use either reclaimed or plantation wood throughout, as well as benefiting from an advanced water recycling system. Villa prices start at US$650,000 with construction well underway.

Just a few meters from The Akasha on the opposite side of the road are ultra-luxurious Batubelig Residences, freehold Seminyak luxury villas currently under construction, representing perhaps one of the last chances for investors to buy new build beach front in this extremely popular area. The villas each occupy a substantial plot of around 1,000 square-meter and boast four bedrooms, 15 meter lap pool & Jacuzzi, separate kitchen/living/dining pavilion and landscaped gardens. The million dollar plus residences are extremely spacious and designed by the Internationally renowned Fredo Taffin – the man behind KuDeTa – the residences once again echo the Balinese compound style, but with clean cut contemporary styling using premium materials including marble, sirap wood roof shingles, and timber beams.

The development has had a successful launch with three of five residences already sold out. Prices start at US$995,000 during the construction phase.

Clearly, the Seminyak state of mind is steadily creeping northward – Petitenget has already been co-opted to an extent and the arrival of the W Hotel will no doubt prove momentous, not least in pushing real estate prices still higher. Still, both Petitenget and to a greater extent Batubelig retain a markedly more relaxed atmosphere to Seminyak-central with its jostle of bars, boutiques, and restaurants. Though precisely where one begins and the other ends will have to remain a matter of conjecture.

Written by J Langenheim
Featured on HOT Property Vol 10 – 2008