It’s 11am on a steamy summer’s day in Bali and I’m in the middle of a swimming pool, desperately trying to work out how to do the correct feet and arm movements to Psy’s 2012 hit song, Gangnam Style. There’s much giggling from fellow participants, while on the sidelines, someone is probably using their phone to upload footage of the spectacle to their socials. It’s just another morning of free water aerobics at the Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort, where my husband and I are spending seven relaxing (and mostly humid but not humiliating) nights as part of a Luxury Escapes package.
I avoided visiting Bali like the plague until 2016 when a friend convinced me a resort in Nusa Dua would have the amenities of a high-end cruise ship without the motion sickness. Having visited temples, rice paddies, cool cafes, top restaurants, clifftop beach clubs and much more in that first trip, and a subsequent week in Seminyak in 2017, I thought I was done with Bali. But I was wrong.
Last year I was lured back by my first all-inclusive Luxury Escapes holiday, staying at the Grand Hyatt Bali in Nusa Dua. I had ostensibly been browsing the Luxury Escapes app for hotels in Singapore, a place I love exploring. Yet when presented with a range of five-star Bali hotels that included all meals, assorted VIP bonuses, and a shorter flying time, the temptation was too great.
It was time to stop favouriting deals and book one. What ensued was a therapeutic week of eating, swimming, relaxing, .