5 vegan friendly luxury hotels in Indonesia
Indonesia is a vast and diverse collection of islands with multiple luxury travel options that come in all shapes and sizes. Bali is the most popular destination with more than 5 million tourists heading there every year, we think that due to their proximity to each other, combining a trip to Bali with spending time on neighbouring Lombok and the Gili Islands is the perfect opportunity to experience a trio of very different islands.
These 5 vegan friendly luxury hotels in Indonesia were all ‘tried and tested’ on a recent trip and include a couple of brand new luxury resorts that are sure to become firm favourites with luxury travel lovers. Each of them catered for us wonderfully as vegan guests, serving up a selection of plant based Indonesian cuisine alongside vegan food from other regions during our stays.
Having opened during Summer 2018, Six Senses Uluwatu is a stunning resort with an even more stunning location on the Southern tip of Bali, boasting enviable and breathtaking ocean vistas. The selection of stylish and chic suites and villas at Six Senses Uluwatu include ‘The Retreat’ which offers guests a unique ‘resort within a resort’ concept, complete with 4 bedrooms, 3 pools and your very own discreet and private entrance.
The hardest thing about checking in at Six Senses Uluwatu will be leaving, the dining options include ‘Crudo’ and ‘Rocka Edge Chef’s Table’ both with incredible Indian ocean views, whilst a visit to the Six Senses Spa, swimming in the cliffside infinity pool and catching a movie at ‘Cinema Paradiso’ open air movie theatre will all ensure you have a memorable and fun filled stay.
There are clearly labeled vegan items on the menus including delicious and delicate mushroom parcels which were beautifully presented and tasted divine; we also enjoyed a vegan version of their ‘Menu Nusantara’ which began with Chef Wayan preparing a selection of fresh sambals at our tableside and ended with us enjoying a veritable Indonesian vegan feast.
The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah, Bali
You can be confident that you are checking into somewhere extra special when you choose a member of prestigious luxury hotel consortium The Leading Hotels of the World on your next vacation, and this is certainly the case at The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah in Ubud.
Set within 12 acres of beautiful gardens which are surrounded by verdant rice paddies and with an extensive on site organic vegetable garden, this luxurious property exudes nature and tranquility; the sense of space is extraordinary and the urge to breath it all in and relax more than you’ve ever relaxed before is ever present.
The menus at The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah feature a number of vegetarian options which the team are more than happy to adapt for their vegan guests. We were treated to a Indonesian vegan cooking masterclass with Executive Chef Dean and dined from lunch, dinner and room service menus during our stay. The lightly breaded tempeh with our breakfast was outstanding as were the tofu and tempeh satay skewers that we ordered again as they were so good!
Pondok Santi is without doubt the premier luxury resort option on the island of Gili Trawangan, offering guests ultimate privacy and space due to the conscious design with only a handful of bungalows, despite the estate stretching over 8 hectares.
The ocean front private pool villas have stunning views across 100m of beautifully manicured palm planted lawns, with the azure ocean and Lombok on the distance, there is no other option on Gili Trawangan if space, privacy and tranquility are important to you.
We loved the fresh and flavoursome vegan food that we enjoyed during our stay at Pondok Santi including a creamy, smashed avaocado on toast complete with a skewer of tempeh for breakfast. Chef created a vegan ‘off menu’ fusion dish for dinner that was thoroughly enjoyable, perfectly cooked vegan pesto pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and grilled vegetables, tofu and tempeh skewers.
7 Secrets Resort & Wellness Retreat, Lombok
This super stylish and uber luxury resort would not look out of place in Ibiza or on Miami Beach. Located in the pristine and untouched horseshoe shaped bay of Pantai Nipah, 7 Secrets Resorts is sure to impress even the most discerning of luxury travel lovers.
Floor to ceiling, sliding glass doors open onto your private deck which is chome to a high tech hydro therapy pool for two, the picture perfect pool and ocean views complete the laid back and chilled vibe; attention to detail, opulent design and state of the art fixtures, fittings and furniture combine to create a true one of a kind luxury option in Lombok.
The vegan food at 7 Secrets Resort was outstanding and plentiful. We dined from the existing menus which were easily adapted to be vegan and also experienced a selection of dishes that were created by the chef for us during our stay; these included a Middle Eastern themed platter with lentil soup, fried mushrooms, baked tofu terrine and spiced butter beans. The vegan food didn’t just taste good but it looked good too, including possibly the prettist bowl of rice congee we’ve ever seen.
Situated in the Northwest of Lombok within 9700 square metres of carefully tended ocean front gardens is Diamond Beach Villa. This exclusive and private estate is the perfect location for a holiday with your friends and family, Diamond Beach Villa consists of multiple traditional Javanese style ‘joglo’ wooden houses, including 5 bedrooms around a central pool area.
The villa manager, chef and staff team are on hand to ensure your stay is memorable and can arrange excursions, activities and create delicious Indonesian cuisine upon request. With far reaching ocean vistas including the fabled Gili Islands, Diamond Beach Villa is also blessed with uninterrupted views of both sunrise and sunset at certain times of the year.
Our vegan food at Diamond Beach Villa was presented ‘family style’ with every dinner featuring a selection of Indonesian vegan food for us to enjoy. Spicy salads and sambals, creamy soups and curries served with plenty of rice, tofu and tempeh ensured that we were never hungry at Diamond Beach Villa. One of the benefits of renting a private villa that includes you own chef is that menus and dishes can be created especially for you, this was a real highlight and perfect if you are vegan…
Our 5 vegan friendly luxury hotels in Indonesia were all very different to each other yet all managed to create delicious vegan food during out visits, we’ve always loved Indonesia as the cuisine is easily adapted for vegans and always includes one of our all time favourite ingredients, tempeh! We love tempeh…
Paul Eyers is Founder of Vegan Food Quest. Vegan Food Quest have become luxury vegan travel specialists as they continue to find, eat and write about the best vegan food in the world.
If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.
really well written and informative piece, the photos are stunning, good job
thanks for your comment Graham! looking at the photos make me want to go back for sure…
Some of the finest locations & amazing looking food! Would love to visit in the near future
thank you for your comment Paul, looks like you need to put Indonesia on your bucket list! there’s so much vegan food…
The tofu and tempeh satay skewers are definitely vegan staples and taste great with the traditional peanut sauce. Have you tried other dipping sauces for the satay? Say, soy sauce and lime or spiced vinegar? I like them a bit crispy on the outside for that bit of crunch and texture. Delightful!
thanks for your comment Louisa. it’s hard not to choose satay sauce as i love it so much but your suggestions of a simple soy/lime/vinegar dipping sauce sounds good too. will have to try it at home next time i grill tofu or tempeh!
Great article highlighting amazing resorts in Bali, with amazing looking vegan food! How brilliant that the chefs adapted the food to meet the travellers needs.
Some great choices for vegans staying in Bali!
Hi Anja and thanks for your comment! Bali is super vegan friendly, possibly one of the best locations for vegans in this region. Siem Reap is pretty decent too, hopefully you can check it out next year !!!
The food pictured here looks amazingly delicious. I want some!
thanks for the comment Dan, i would head back to Indonesia tomorrow if i was able to eat all of that food again, it was truly delicious…
What a fantastic read! I will definitely be adding these destinations to my list and I hope to try all of this delicious food. :D
thanks for the comment Emily, you will not regret going to Indonesia, it has SO MUCH to offer….
Lovely pictures and write up. Makes me consider visiting this part of the world
thanks for the comment David, you should make it happen, we’ve lived in Southeast Asia for nealry 5 years and explored the region for over 20 years, it’s a wonderful part of the world!
Don’t wait to visit! If you’re still thinking about it, I’ve been to Bali twice and I already want to go back. The food there is my favorite in the world, it can be really spicy too! I know it must be hard sometimes to eat vegan but these meals show that it’s possible and delicious, too!
so true Amy! we love all that tempe and can’t get enough of it :)
This is torture to look at.
One I want to travel again, especially Bali again, and especially staying in places like these..
Two…. I’m now drooling with a rumbling belly.
Hadn’t really thought of it before, but all those times of ordering vegetarian in various countries in S.E. Asia only to be given a plate of seafood, asking waiters, ‘where’s the vegetables on this ‘Vegetable plate’ then?’, where they’d point at a prawn… Well that no longer needs to be a thing, if I follow this here beautiful guide you’ve amassed over the last few years MUSH.
Keep up the good work.
thanks for the kind words SAM BAN they are appreciated. things are changing for sure with vegan and plant based food available all over the world now, i love the fact we don’t have to eat rice and soy sauce for dinner any more in Southeast Asia but can choose from a whole array of amazing food. Hopefully see you in these parts soooon…
Excellent article, as always. Good pictures making my jealous and hungry.
thanks for the comment Doug, much appreciated. don;t be jealous, come and visit!
Well written and informative article which is also pleasing to the eye.Really makes me want to visit Bali and eat the delicious looking food from the photos.
thanks for the comment Paul, we certainly live in the right part of the world when it comes to delicious food!
A very welcome and informative guide with great photos.
cheers Eugene, thanks for the comment….
Too many great looking dishes to pick one out. Amazing. Great write up too,what more can a vegan traveller want.
vegan travel is getting easier and easier Terry, thanks for the comment!
These all look absolutely amazing!
When i return to Bali this will act as my guide of where to go – thank you!
thanks for the comment Kym. Bali is wonderful as is the whole of Indonesia. We’ve been many times and can’t wait to return…
A super guide, I have saved it for future travels and passed it onto friends too. Great pix, they have made my tummy rumble!
thanks for sharing Tori, it is very much appreciated!
also, happy to hear you like the pix, good to receive compliments from such a talented photographer…
Paul
thanks for the comment Tori and thank you for sharing. the pictures make me hungry and want to go back soon!!!
Will visit one day. Beautiful places and food look great too.
thank you Sokhom. the places were indeed beautiful and the food was very good too. would love you to visit one day…
These resorts and food look stunning, your photos and descriptions help the dishes come alive.
thanks for your comment Jackie, you are right that both the resorts and the food were stunning, we can’t wait to go back!
This makes me want to get back to Indonesia and prompt. Thanks for creating this great resource. I am sure doing the fieldwork was tiresome work! ?
It was tough indeed Brighde, but someone has to do it :) Thanks for sharing and your comment!
thanks for sharing! All those beautiful food shots are making me hungry
thank you for your comment Valerie, they make me hungry too!
Excellent reviews of 5 amazing looking resorts/hotels in Indonesia. If I had to pick my favourite, I think it would be the Six Senses in Bali. It looks wonderful. Maybe one day….. I love your photos, especially of the food which all looks amazing. I could almost taste the crunch of that breaded tempeh! Everything looks so colourful and fresh. Thank you, Paul & Caryl, for giving us a taste of Indonesia.
thank you for your comment! we would struggle to choose a favourite but the views from Six Senses Uluwatu were truly out of this world!
Great stuff Paul.
Some good options for our honeymoon but sad that the Gili Islands are classified as ‘avoid for all but essential travel’ right now.
thanks for your comment Will.
sorry to hear that the Gilis are not an option for your honeymoon due to the recent issues. i suppose it gives you a good excuse to return at some stage!?
hope your wedding is amazing in Bali!
Can’t say I’ll ever get to Indonesia but so fun to see all your traveling experiences and vegan food finds along the way.
never say never Nicole and be sure to reach out if you ever head to Southeast Asia, we will still be here and know all of the best vegan spots :)
Lovely photos, Paul! The food and destinations are pure paradise!
thank you for your comment LAuren, the food photos always make me feel hungry!!!
I am really impressed with the fantastic array of vegan choices in Indonesia. Although I am not vegan my teenage daughter is and I love experiencing new foods with her. Not only is it a luxurious and delicious experience but a great way to take new ideas home. I wonder if they offer any cooking classes local to these resorts? Such a beautiful too with so much warm culture.
hi april
many places offer cooking classes and it’s a great way to get to know the local cuisine!
Did you visit the Nihi resort on Sumba Island? Their vegan cuisine is remarkable too.
Thank you for this suggestion Bob. We are aware of Nihi Sumba, a colleague stayed and was suitable impressed. We will try to visit on a future trip to the region…