Desa Potato Head
More than just a beach club, a few days here and you could feel like you’ve been inducted into something special. Let’s not call it a cult but it’s very difficult to go back to everyday life once you’ve drunk the jamu and slipped the beads made from repurposed plastic onto your wrist – a meeting of Indonesia culture and luxurious sustainability. Always something of an outlier, what was first incarnated in Jakarta, named as a reaction to more austere restaurants of the time, it soon spawned a Bali outpost in 2010. Now a global name, scooping a place in the illustrious World’s 50 Best Hotels list, creative energy still powers Desa Potato Head.
The vision of founder Ronald Akili and feted Indonesian architect Andre Matin, known for his love of tropical modernism, the original amphitheatre facade built from repurposed window shutters is still part of this “cultural village,” but around it has grown a 225-room hotel, renowned restaurants, spa and wellness programmes; an ethos of eschewing any thoughts of greenwashing, and putting circular living into practice. Standing totem-like in the central courtyard, Pointman – River Warrior, a collaborative sculpture between Potato Head and New York artist Futura2000, makes a statement. It was made using over 14000 waste plastic bags gathered around the beaches of Bali.
Need to Knows
- Potato Head Studios: Sunrise Studio (36sqm); Bamboo Studio (36sqm); Desa Studio (36sqm); Oceanfront Studio (72sqm); Skyview Sanctuary (75sqm).
- Potato Head Suites: Garden Suite (86sqm); Island Suite (82sqm); Pool Suite (140sqm); Family Suite (140sqm); Rooftop Suite – One Bedroom (268sqm); Katamama Suite (320sqm).
- Check-in / Check-out Times: Check in is at 3pm and check out is 12pm.
- Room Features and Amenities: Across studios and suites you’ll find zero waste kits; an in-room bar complete with cocktail mixing tools, house-infused spirits from Akademi and cocktail books; refillable essentials like all-natural sunscreen, after-sun care, hand sanitiser and insect repellent; robes and slipper; vintage books; and more.
What’s There
The bar and restaurant options taking you from morning to noon to night at Desa Potato Head are well known, as is the beach club which for many is the anchor of their stay. You can shape your time here around your nocturnal habits or lack of them. Klymax Discotheque is purpose-built and it’s all about the music; the sound system, lighting, and dance floor all optimised for the eclectic church of dance and electronic music, from techno to a hint of the Balearics.
If you’re a reformed character, early mornings and a solid wellness routine now more your compass bearing then your destination will be the spa for a little indulgence, the gym to keep you accountable, and the jamu bar for those who swear by this traditional Indonesian tonic. Sunrise guided meditation could give way to a cycle of yoga, sound baths, breathwork and Balinese astrology readings. Restorative for some and a revelation for others, it’s very much at your own pace.
If retail therapy is on your mind Desa Potato Head doesn’t betray its sustainable credentials for an easy buck. At the Circle store clothing that’s produced using recycled materials, botanical dyes, and sustainable techniques are available. You’ll also find the Wasted range, a collaboration of furniture and homewares with British artist Max Lamb that again channels closed-loop design.
What’s Around
At the John Hardy Boutique & Gallery (0.5km) you can do more than just view the hand-crafted jewellery with masterclasses and workshop tours. A little further afield the Uluwatu Temple (29km) with its stunning clifftop ocean views is a sight, while you can also witness Bali’s sacred and traditional Kecak Dance. A trip to Talasi Estate Tabanan (32.5km) gives an insight into this social enterprise, centred around the production of premium natural products at their place of origin – a movement empowering communities.
Children
Families are welcome at Desa Potato Head with family suite options, a playground area and Sweet Potato Kids, a sustainability-focused kids’ club and which is hands-on teaching kids about upcycling and creating art with recycled materials.
Breakfast
Available between 7-11am many head to the beach club for a Potato Head take on a classic breakfast. Think, eggs Benedict, Bloody Mary’s and the like. It’s perhaps the more outwardly indulgent offering, while for some the plant-based focus of Tanaman (found in the Potato Head Suites) doesn’t fit into a dietary imagining of what happens in Bali stays in Bali, the nourishing, flavour forward menu is habit forming. Pressed juices and smoothies are packed with a haul of your five (or is it seven) a day. Coffee is on repeat. And you’ve hit the breakfast-with-a-hug jackpot in the Chef’s Choice Endless Congee, and particularly the Paradise Nasi Goreng. Expect seasonal vegetables, house ferments and heritage rice.
Eating and Drinking
The food and drink roster at Potato Head navigates the waters of a discerning international clientele, their zero-waste mission and providing a sense of Indonesian and Balinese culinary heritage. For drinks there’s the ever-present Potato Head Beach Club, Sunset Park, and the cocktail focused Akademi. The in-room facilities are some of the best you’ll find whether you mix your own, reach for the batched Indo Negroni or you take the option of using the in-room bartender service. Ijen is a bold and unpreachy, zero-waste seafood restaurant that’s high volume and somewhat communal with its long-shared tables. Dome is a fun and fresh wine bar style offering that has a good line in natural wine and a somm that loves to talk all things in that ballpark. At Kaum there’s an refined taste of Bali, through the lens of Chef Wayan Kresna Yasa, a culinary force in Indonesia with experience in some of the most groundbreaking restaurants in the world.
Notes
You can’t come all this way and not do the sustainability tour. You’re taken back of house and shown how waste here is processed. It’s the story of how landfill was reduced from double figures to decimal points. It’s a little smelly in places, but is hopeful and enlightening – like most things at Desa Potato Head.