There’s no denying that Ubud is a special place. And while Ritz-Carlton certainly knows urban luxury hotels, it’s astonishing how well tailored their Reserve properties are to their settings. Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is built to resemble a traditional Balinese village, complete with temple and rice paddies — and adding the small matter of 60 phenomenally luxurious villas and suites. They’re exquisitely crafted, full of personality, and they lack for nothing when it comes to luxury.

Trust the Aman resorts to show you a different side of Bali. Amankila’s location, on a cliff overlooking the Lombok Strait on Bali’s east coast, is one of the island’s most isolated resorts — and though the opening of the Denpasar-Klungkung road means that Amankila is a bit more accessible, it still feels as remote as ever. Perhaps it’s because the private beach at the bottom of the cliff is the only sandy stretch for miles — Amankila doesn’t have to share this location with anyone.

The word “escape” in Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape isn’t just a poetic flourish; this resort, in the jungle to the north of Ubud, in Bali’s lush interior, is a bit wilder and a bit more down-to-earth than the typical Banyan Tree resort. That’s not to say un-luxurious; its 16 villas are so private they don’t need doors, or even walls, as they open onto nothing but unspoiled forest and distant mountains and fields. There’s a spa as well as an intimate restaurant and an infinity pool.

Spread out on a grassy expanse that slopes downward to the sea is a collection of villas with private pools, tropical gardens, and water views. The aesthetic is modern Balinese — high vaulted ceilings, dark wood floors, teak furniture, batik fabrics — and each has a lavishly appointed bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers and a soaking tub. The three- and four-bedroom villas are incredibly roomy, and a single hilltop villa offers supreme sunset views.

COMO Shambhala Estate makes a compelling case that — provided a spectacular setting in the Balinese rainforest just outside of Ubud, a spare-no-luxury approach to the accommodations, and a certain earnestness of purpose — healthful living and extravagant indulgence can happily share a home. Meditating in nature has never felt better. The massages with traditional oils are some of the most sublime in the world.

If your Danish design sense is tingling as you scan the photos of Chapung Sebali, you’re not mistaken. For this boutique hotel, though it’s located on the outskirts of Ubud, in inland Bali, is in fact operated by Guldsmeden, the group responsible for a few of our favorite hotels in Copenhagen. And it’s fair to say the combination of Balinese villas and Scandinavian modernism is a winning one. It’s not just a particularly stylish Balinese villa hotel, but a luxurious one as well.

In terms of sheer luxury of the leave-it-all-behind variety, it is hard to imagine anyplace more relaxing than an Aman resort. This is a chain that is consistently at the head of the class, whose secluded resorts marry top-notch spas with unparalleled service and exquisite natural surroundings. Here it's all in the details, the execution, the way the resort seems to spring organically from the land.

No relation, apparently, to any other Viceroy, in Los Angeles or anywhere else — the Viceroy Bali is a one-off, a family-owned hotel, a rarity at the high end of the resort market. The style is pure contemporary-luxe Bali, clean lines and sleek surfaces with traditional furnishings and technological touches like 42” LCD televisions and DVD players. Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that each one comes with a private pool, some with infinity edges looking out into space above the valley.

What’s better than a Balinese boutique hotel? A Balinese boutique hotel with a Japanese twist, that’s what. We’ll take your infinity pool and raise you a handcrafted Japanese-inspired soaking tub in every room; we’ll take your peaceful jungle setting and up the ante with minimalist design, yoga on the rooftop, and an impossibly picturesque, almost-too-cute-to-eat breakfast. That’s the idea at Bisma Eight, a 38-suite hotel right in the center of Ubud (Bali’s artisan capital).

An hour’s drive from the airport, half an hour up the southwest coast from Seminyak, and just a mile inland from Kedungu Beach, Nirjhara is surrounded by forest, and a stream, complete with a picturesque waterfall, winds across its acreage. Nirjhara’s villas and suites pay stylistic tribute to traditional Balinese architecture, but their interiors are contemporary, highly polished, and full of high-end comforts, from Nespresso machines to lavish spa-like bathrooms.

The BK Village’s architecture is based on the design of the joglo, the teak houses traditional to the island of Java — though it is, in fact, on Bali, a short drive from the international airport via the resort’s complimentary shuttle. Unlike some of the highest-end resorts, The BK Village is not located on the beachfront, but in the nearby residential neighborhood of Umalas. Not that you’re likely to care once you’re floating on your back in your very own clover-shaped swimming pool.

Lost Lindenberg finds itself on the west coast of Bali, and a bit farther out than most of the competition, in the quiet seaside village of Pekutatan, with the jungle at its back and a long black lava-sand beach right out front — the surfing is fine enough, and the island’s longest break happens to be located at Medewi Beach, just ten minutes up the road. Lost Lindenberg’s vibe is playful, just like its urban sisters, though the atmosphere is, for obvious reasons, rather more laid-back.

The Bali resort idiom may seem a bit crowded, but it’s hard to argue with its central tenets: the ethos and soul of the mythic East blended with the architectural elegance of modern Asia. Such is the case with Soori Bali, a panoramic beachy gem on the island’s west-central coast, offering another option to guests who prefer crisp contemporary design to traditional island kitsch. They've set up shop in an environmentally delicate spot, a stretch of untainted beach.

A mile or so outside of the town of Ubud, in Bali’s inner highlands, is a hotel that’s as close as you’re going to get to the Platonic idea of the modern villa resort. The Purist’s 16 villas and suites are exemplary for the care with which they’ve been assembled — at up to two bedrooms apiece, they’re practically residential in the quality of their finishes and furnishings. The quality of personalized service is why you come, of course, and it’s equally extraordinary.

Most Balinese boutique hotels offer, in addition to a bit of relaxation, a wellness program of some sort: a spa, a pool, maybe a bit of yoga. REVĪVŌ, however, goes all the way. This brand-new boutique resort, in the hills on the fringes of Nusa Dua, features fitness offerings and spa treatments to rival the best on the island, as well as a single-minded focus on restoration — the name means “I’ll live again,” and a stay here is practically guaranteed to revive you, whether through relaxation, mo

On the south side of Bali, at least, the days of exploration are pretty much over. The best you can hope for is a private little slice of paradise — if it’s not going to be wild, it may as well be as lush as possible. Lush is something the Belmond (née Orient Express) hotels and resorts do well, of course, and on that score the Belmond Jimbaran Puri Bali is just what you’d expect: though just a few minutes’ drive from the airport, it’s remarkable for the completeness of the escape it provides.

If you don’t need the beach, there’s one contender that rises above the rest. Ubud, in the island’s densely forested interior, is no longer a secret, but it deserves every bit of its fame. And a hotel like Samsara Ubud need not reinvent the wheel in order to inspire; a thoughtfully designed, confidently executed luxury villa resort in an environment like this can’t fail to become a success. The 17 villas, designed by local architect Popo Danes, are universally large and luxurious.

The interior highland enclave of Ubud is home to some of Bali’s most extraordinary resorts, but none quite like Capella Ubud, whose tented villas bring guests as close to nature as they can get without sleeping outside. It’s not quite camping, as they feature all the comforts of a permanent structure, including indoor and outdoor bathrooms and private pools — and the hotel’s design, by Bill Bensley, is anything but utilitarian.

Bvlgari Resort Bali is essentially a cross between a traditional Balinese village and a modern luxury resort. Villas cascade down the terraced hillside, topped by thatched roofs, their interiors decorated in a style that’s at once traditional-Indonesian and modern-Milanese. The same Antonio Citterio is responsible for the bulk of the design, and his clean lines practically define contemporary elegance. And for dramatic edge-of-the-world landscape you could do a lot worse than southern Bali.

The traditional bale-style villas are tucked away into the foliage, and separated by weathered stone walls, ensuring a discreet low profile and untouchable privacy. Each one comes with all the luxury flourishes you expect in Bali: courtyard gardens, deep soaking tubs and indoor/outdoor showers, and a private plunge pool in every villa. An infinity pool facing the bay is present as a matter of course, as is a spa with an exhaustive menu of traditional treatments.

The architecture, rather uncharacteristically, is decidedly modern, almost spectacular, in the literal sense of the word — a suspended walkway leads to a lotus pond, below which you’ll find the lobby and the public spaces, cascading down the hillside, as both the open-air restaurant and the obligatory infinity-edge pool dangle precariously over the terraced slopes, looking downward onto Ayung river. The construction may be cutting-edge, but the materials are traditional.