Image your self getting into Desa Potato Head, Bali’s “cultural village” in Seminyak — the place design, tradition, group, wellness, and sustainability converge right into a single vacation spot with a cheeky mantra, “Good Instances, Do Good”. As soon as a seaside membership, it has since blossomed right into a inventive house with two lodges, seven eating venues, a regenerative “farmacy”, libraries, artwork installations, and even a co-working hub.
Sustainability just isn’t a aspect undertaking right here; it’s the essential gist. Supplies are reimagined into useful designs — plastic bottles was ceiling panels, wooden shutters reshaped into furnishings, terrazzo flooring speckled with waste concrete. Even meals scraps are repurposed: ginger pulp turns into ginger beer, citrus peel is crafted into cocktail syrups, and cleaning soap trays are molded from repurposed styrofoam. Upon checking in, I used to be given a stainless water bottle to hold all through my keep the place you may refill your bottle at any given time.
The culinary strategy is equally bold. Led by Chef Felix Schoener, Desa Potato Head goals for 25% of all dishes to be constituted of upcycled elements within the coming years. Kaum, the flagship Indonesian restaurant, highlights regional recipes sourced straight from native communities, providing a culinary journey throughout the archipelago. Ijen, the primary zero-waste seafood restaurant in Indonesia, serves freshly grilled catch whereas minimising environmental influence.
What offers Desa Potato Head its distinctive power, nevertheless, is its cultural programming. One night, I discovered myself again at Dome, the place a tarot card studying unfolded between shared natural small plates and pure wines. One other spotlight of my keep was the Gentle Sound Vibration session inside Sanctuary, the place sound frequencies pulsed by the physique, making a meditative state that lingered lengthy after the session ended. It was a tantric expertise that put my physique right into a state that I’ve by no means felt earlier than. These experiences remodel the property from a resort into one thing extra like a inventive campus, the place friends can drift between artwork, music, workshops, and surprising encounters.
Lodging displays the identical ethos. I stayed in an Oceanfront Studio, the place floor-to-ceiling home windows framed Bali’s sweeping sunsets and interiors had been crafted from reclaimed supplies with out sacrificing consolation. A zero-waste package awaited within the room — refillable glass bottles, bamboo straws, recycled coasters—small particulars that underscored the resort’s environmental dedication with out feeling heavy-handed. The design is minimal, trendy, and rooted in pure textures, the type of house that feels without delay considerate and indulgent.
In Seminyak, part of Bali recognized for its seaside golf equipment and nightlife, Desa Potato Head stands out as one thing extra thought of. It delivers the enjoyable and power Bali is known for, whereas exhibiting that hospitality might be regenerative, inventive, and socially engaged. After nights of tarot studying, mornings of sound remedy, and sunsets from an Oceanview Studio, it’s arduous to not really feel that that is the way forward for journey. And whenever you go away, you carry one thing invisible however enduring and the reminder that good occasions can certainly do good.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA Malaysia October 2025 situation.
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