DESIGN

If you were to rank the 50 most beautiful hotel swimming pools in the world, then Alila Ubud would be right up there at the top (Travel & Leisure June 1998). Moving from the pool bar into the cool depths, the water’s surface seems to flow endlessly through the terraced jungle and reach up to the sky.

The resort’s rooms and suite villas stand above a ravine on stilts like tree houses. The world-renowned architectural firm Kerry Hill Architects makes use of traditional Balinese design, but it is transformed into modern geometry. Smooth plaster walls and concrete meet thatched roofs; terrazzo tiles meet gravel or crushed rock; wood meets glass.