The Alea Hotel Seminyak

Opened in 2014, The Alea Hotel Seminyak is a simple but stylish hotel housed in a four-floor building featuring eye-catching design flourishes, like a corrugated wall at its front. Guests enter to a large and open contemporary lobby with modern Balinese art, wood furnishings, and bold splashes of red, lime green, and turquoise in the sofas and throw pillows. It all makes for a pleasing welcome, for what -- at core -- is a simple hotel. The open-air restaurant is situated in a minimalist modern space with low ceilings, bare white walls, and wood furniture. The hotel's centerpiece features are its two long and narrow swimming pools that are set in a lush outdoor courtyard with trees, potted plants, and grass. The courtyard and pool area get limited sun exposure, which is a benefit to those seeking respite from the Bali heat, but not ideal for guests wishing to sunbathe. The Alea draws lots of Asian travelers as well as couples from Australia and Europe. It's not a great choice for families though, as guest rooms are small. 

This hotel is in the northern part of Seminyak, on a road that's home to villas and other hotels. It's a short walk from restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs, and art galleries, and there are plenty of stores and restaurants just outside of the hotel as well. Shopping along the Petitenget strip is within a five-minute walk. Batu Belig Beach is an eight-minute drive or about a 15-minute walk away, as is the Potato Head Beach Club. The hotel is about a 10-minute drive (or free hotel drop-off shuttle) from Seminyak Square shopping complex. The area with Pura Petitenget temple and surfer-heavy Seminyak Beach is about a five-minute drive or a 20-minute walk from the hotel, while the renowned Ku De Ta restaurant with its sunsets is a 10-minute drive. Double Six Beach is a 20-minute drive from the hotel. Ngurah Rai International Airport is about a 30-minute drive from the Alea Hotel. 

These modern rooms have a simple but somewhat stylish look, with a beige and white palette sometimes accented by splashes of red courtesy of decorative throws and pillows on all-white bedding. Stone tile floors look just a touch rustic, and light wood veneer furniture and white walls keep things bright -- a blessing, because the layout in most rooms is compact. Most rooms have pool views, and some have sliding glass doors that open to the courtyard and swimming pool. All come with air-conditioning, desks, safes, mini-fridges, two free daily bottles of water, hot water kettles for instant coffee and tea, free Wi-Fi, and 32-inch flat-screen TVs with English channels. Bathrooms are fairly sharp, with glass-doored showers with rainfall showerheads. All rooms at the hotel are nonsmoking. While some rooms do open directly to the pools, there's no terrace or furniture that would allow guests in these rooms to relax outside. Additionally, the compact layout of the hotel means that noise does travel along the long and narrow space that houses the pool.

The Alea Hotel Seminyak features two narrow outdoor pools, each about 65 feet long and good for lap swimming. The pools are separated by a small deck with sunbeds and a shower, and there are decks with sunbeds on the end of each pool. Guests should note that there is limited seating around the pool, even in low season, and it doesn't get much sun. There's also a lovely small spa that offers massages and a hydrotherapy tub, among other services.

The hotel serves a breakfast buffet featuring Asian items, a made-to-order egg station, cereal, croissants, breads, fruit, coffee, tea, and juice. It's not included in room rates. The restaurant serves Indonesian, Chinese, and Western cuisine for lunch and dinner, and there's also a cocktail bar. Food gets generally solid marks from previous guests. Outdoor dining and room service are available, and the hotel offers barbecue facilities for guests who want to grill. Other amenities include a meeting room, free drop-off shuttle to Seminyak Square shopping center, and free parking. The staff can help plan excursions like horseback riding, scuba diving, and snorkeling, and can also arrange motorcycle, scooter, and car rentals. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel.