A whole village to relax in – could you ask for more? The raw beauty of Desa Seni – aka The Village Resort – combined with its healthy approach to relaxation is about truly experiencing Balinese culture.
Desa Seni – which translates to ‘art village’ – is the dream of two friends, Tom Tolucci and Howard Klein. After 10 years in Indonesia, Tom and Howard fell in love with the culture, the people and traditional Balinese architecture. So when the opportunity arose to take on a whole village of “antique homes”, they snapped it up.
Inside these traditional 1-2 bedroom huts they have updated bathrooms and kitchens and included mod cons, such as TVs and wireless internet, but have left the interiors otherwise quite traditional
There is a strong focus on the environment at Desa Seni, with recycled materials used in the huts and landscaping. But by far the most sustainable and unique aspect of this village resort is that the locals are invited to be part of the village.
Rather than simply hiring locals as staff, the resort’s wellness programs, including yoga, are also open to the villagers. Tom and Howard also have a focus on education – partnering with the nearby orphanage and teaching locals new farming techniques and yoga.
Guests can watch village life go on around them, with rice farmers going about their daily tasks in the surrounding fields.
"We really believe that wellness today is not just a matter of eating and exercising right, but it’s also expanding the brain. It’s expanding the mind, to other peoples, to other cultures and different ways of life," Tom says (see Tablet10).
Desa Seni offers everything you’d expect from a Balinese resort, from a salt water lap pool and spa to the organic restaurant – with food grown on the resort’s own farm – but with a true, un-staged cultural experience.
Desa Seni
desaseni.com