Seminyak looks like Australia on spring break. Surf-crazy Australians have this as their summer base, and Bali’s quaint little uptown has adapted and moulded itself to that. So, Seminyak falls bang in the middle of Kuta and Nusa Dua, along the coastline. To the Indian readers, Kuta, is like Baga or Calangute in Goa - filthy, loud, and filled with cheap party scenes. Nusa Dua is like South Goa - full of fancy beach-facing resorts, ideal for family, quiet and minding its own business. Seminyak is for the young. It’s not dirt cheap, neither is it unbearably expensive. It’s comfortable enough that you can live with the price pinch. Though if you do your research, you’d find Seminyak is lined with boutique hotels and villas. Yes, villas, and at very affordable prices. For the week we stayed in Bali, we made L Seminyak Hotel, our base. It was a boutique hotel with a personalised experience like no other.

WELCOME TO BREAKFAST TOWN

While there are many cities known for its fine dine places, Seminyak boasts of a unique quality – a host of fantastic breakfast joints. Most of these popular joints shut by evening, but then, that’s the way they are. Rich, scrumptious breakfasts, from healthy juices to soft off-the-bone meat to salads to pancakes, there’s a place for all here. Over our stay there, we explored the following joints - Sisterfields Café, MoFo Kitchen, The Fat Turtle, Sea Circus, La Lucciola and The Halal Boys. 

WELCOME TO QUIRK STREET!

The most charming part about Seminyak are its streets. You’ll see quirk and fancy dished out in numbers, plastered all around its nooks and crannies. There’s graffiti, the most wonderful hotel fronts, the most unusual restaurants, décor that looks down from the balcony, skulls used as installations, curio shops made of curios. There’s culture breathing at every street, sometimes manifested with art, while at some places, a stark design demands a second look. Then there are the quiet by-lanes with organic restaurants, mini flea markets, and in the middle of the chaos – a mall. And unlike ordinary malls, this one pays homage to the fantastic Seminyak, dolling up every corner with artistic expressions of the city.  

Seminyak is a town waiting to be lived in. It’s waiting to be tasted. It’s waiting to be adorned. And we’re glad that we chose to call this home.