Katie Truman heads south and discovers super luxe The Edge has undergone a fabulous new property expansion – adding some swanky facilities now open to outside guests.
For those not in the loop, aptly-named The Edge is a lavishly luxurious boutique villa estate, super-secluded 162-metres-high on cliff tops along Uluwatu’s wild coastline in the Bukit peninsula.
Debuted 2009 by the Mesa Hotels and Resorts stable as one of Indonesia’s leading five-star villa properties – in fact, one of Bali’s new breed of ‘Super Villas’ – accolades include “Conde Nast Johansen’s Reader’s Choice Award 2017” and a select few – including celebs, VIPs and high-flyers from across the Asian region – savouring a sublime taste of the high life, on what appears like the edge of the world.
Expect round-the-clock services of professional Magnum-trained butlers, one assigned to each villa for the entire stay (and the same butler on return visits), doubling as a personal assistant-cum-concierge and on hand for anything from unpacking suitcases to pouring the Champagne.
And expect high-calibre food and beverage: the recently expanded stellar wine collection now amounts to 2,000 Old and New World labels, validated with Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2017 and customized gourmet dining based on individual preferences – from group seafood barbecues to proposal-worthy dinners à deux – served by the butler anywhere on the estate.
Blissful days start with extravagant breakfasts (inclusive of rates), that could feed a small army and if you request a young coconut drink, a staff member will shin-up a nearby coconut tree and cut one down. The team of estate chefs and kitchen operations are overseen by Balinese Executive Chef Nyoman Suasa, armed with a prolific pedigree as Sous Chef at The Beverley Wilshire Hotel, Los Angeles and instrumental in the launch of Wolfgang Pucks’ acclaimed restaurant, CUT, while F&B Manager, Nyoman Suwinda Yasa, AKA Best Sommelier Bali, worked prior stints at Ku De Ta, Luna2 and Metis.
The original Edge comprises four palatial-sized villas, sprawled across 1.5 hectares of estate, each built modern Indonesian style, like a home yet sumptuous, tastefully decorated with island objets and hand-picked art works, and secluded in high walled gardens for the ultimate private villa experience.
Guests are totally indulged with such treats as natural stone swimming pools and outdoor bale, expansive indoor-outdoor living and dining areas, state-of-the-art, fully integrated audio-visual systems (including Mini-Mac and Apple TV) and all, on or near the cliff edge, providing gob smacking Indian Ocean views, even from master suites.
Nearest to the cliff-edge, one-bedroom The Villa, boasts an absolute cliff front deck totally private for intimate weddings, plus there’s a couple of gorgeous two-bedroom villas. However, The View is hands-down the showstopper: a five-bedroom villa on two levels and a whopping 3,500-square-metres; originally designed as the owners’ private holiday residence, and so-named, as elevated high on a private cliff-top section at the heart of the estate it provides off- the-charts panoramas – especially from the monster-sized cliff-edge deck and two pools book-ended with bales.
Most important however, The View is totally diva-worthy, with its cavernous wine cellar and cigar room, home movie theatre, children’s playroom, nanny’s (or if you must, bodyguard’s) quarters, expansive service kitchen-bar and upper and lower floor living rooms.
In-house facilities exclusive to villa guests extend to a mini-gym, Cliff Bar with adjoining pool and sundeck and award-winning spa, designed ultra-contemporary as one open-plan, sensuous shaped chamber, with mini steam pods and surreal “liquid floor” – permanent ankle-deep water, bringing the ocean within.
This year, The Edge reaches even dizzier heights in hospitality with its jaw-dropping property expansion on an elevated cliff-top plain to the west of the original property, with a new wing of four villas and facilities scheduled to open, latest early 2018 – joining a burgeoning band of elite new offerings for the Uluwatu neighbourhood.
Mirroring the original section’s design and concept, with a combined eight villas spread over three hectares, guests are lavished with extra villa options and space, besides some seriously “out-there” facilities, adding even more benefits while holed-up here.
Available by the end of 2017, these four new wow factor villas bear individual lay out and highlights, but still provide The Edge’s trademark format, ocean views and luxurious details, highlighting extravagant spaciousness, opulent master suites and bathrooms, butler kitchens, ample-sized stone pools and all the latest technologies.
The One Villa stands out, literally, for its expansive timbered deck positioned at the extreme edge of the estate’s clifftops, perfect for mega-private, intimate wedding ceremonies and celebratory parties; additionally, this one-bedroom bolt-hole has direct access to The Palms, The Edge’s new and exclusive, open-air events deck for receptions and ceremonies accommodating maximum 300 guests – The Palms, located within The Breeze, another one-bedroom Villa, albeit placed further back.
As the name suggests, duplex, two-bedroom villa, The Ocean, catches some stunning ocean views, while The Ridge, set further back on a natural ridge, is the largest and grandest of the four, sized at 500-square-metres with two-floors and three bedrooms. With its private salon, bar and recreation room, extravagantly sized rooftop bale and vast gardens containing extensive pool, lawns and fish pond, The Ridge goes a level higher, literally, for an exceptional private hideaway for families or special occasions.
For those unable to pursue the high life, you can, however, still go “over the edge,” courtesy of two in-house destination venues open for discreet public consumption. Not a beach club per se, game-changing oneeighty° is a celebration of sophisticated beach culture, a cliff-edge club that delivers the beach to what is now, arguably, Uluwatu’s loftiest entertainment venue.
Oneeighty’s° bar-restaurant itself is a super contemporary designed, circular stone building with all-glass frontage providing seated dining options and The DJ Lounge above, a semi-open casual area with DJ booth for elevated 180° panoramas and welcome sea breezes.
By day, oneeighty° guests can indulge in chilled sounds and all-day classic beachside-inspired global fare, either at the Sand Lounge, a sandy bottomed playpen dotted with palm trees and sunbeds, or at adults-only VIP Lounge, nestled on a lower, absolute cliff-front open-air section for jaw-dropping, unobstructed ocean views from shaded banquettes.
Or perhaps play alongside in the series of aquamarine pools cascading down into a glass-bottom Sky Pool, dramatically protruding 6.5-metres over the cliff edge (rest assured, built to Australian safety standards) looking down onto the pounding surf below – surely, Bali’s most Instagram-worthy spot and relegating standard infinity pools to ‘so last year’ status.
Aglow with up-lit palm trees, fire pits and moonlight, by nightfall, oneeighty° is the place for curated cocktails and star-gazing, but for dinner, head to Atas, standing just behind: a high-end, dinner-only restaurant, mirroring the same circular style design as its neighbour.
Above swish kitchens, Atas welcomes as an intimate, interactive dining space showcasing modern Indonesian cuisine that combines archipelago culinary heritage and traditional Balinese recipes with contemporary flair. If this new expansion doesn’t catapult The Edge at the forefront of Bali’s new “Super Villa’s” then nothing will!
