Return of Sanur's 'La Dolce Vita'

Sanur is on the upswing again. The seminal destination for travelers in the 70s, when the number of hotels on Bali could be counted on one hand, it became overshadowed by the frenzied development of resorts on the other side of the island and was passed over in favor of more "happening" locations.

Now, with space and peace increasingly at a premium in the developed southern end of Bali, more and more people are choosing Sanur for its relaxed atmosphere and the strong ties it still enjoys with Balinese culture and traditions.

Use of color washes in the rooms, Capri white-and-blue in the beachfront restaurant, mix and match of Asian and European patterned fabrics are all featured throughout the hotel facilities.

Few places exemplify the upswing in Sanur's fortunes more than Hotel La Taverna. After almost forty years in business and some challenging times, not least of which was the aftermath of the Bali bomb, this historic hotel is looking to the future with renewed vigor.

"Last year was a great year for us and we have high hopes for this one too. So far we have not been badly affected by the global economic downturn. People are still booking as far ahead as Christmas," said General Manager Praba Maniam.

Riding the wave of optimism, the hotel is redefining its image while staying faithful to its history and bohemian character.

"La Taverna was one of the first hotels ever built on the island. It has true character and history. Many personalities have stayed here over the years, artists, writers, and musicians. It has a special feel. We keep this in mind when we start on a new project for the hotel," said English set designer Rupert Skinner, who is developing new design concepts for the hotel. To date these have included revisiting some of the rooms and redesigning the hotel's beachfront and pool areas to include its new restaurant Isola.

Built between golden sands of the Indian Ocean and verdant tropical gardens, Hotel La Taverna is a little slice of paradise that was founded in 1973 by brothers Peppino and Aldo Macchetti. The Italian entrepreneurs fell in love with Bali while on holiday here and found a good excuse to come back with the opening of the hotel. It was certainly a labor of love. Building supplies were hard to come by back then and the brothers employed every bit of their Italian ingenuity for bringing in things they needed for the construction of the hotel. Their Chinese junk was used to ferry friends and Italian design products between their base in Hong Kong and Bali.

"Once we had to jettison a load of Venetian mosaic tiles into Benoa harbor because of the import restrictions in place at the time. But we did manage to persuade friends, family and even clients of our Hong Kong restaurants to carry special heat-refracting bricks in their hand luggage when they came to visit us. We needed these bricks to build our pizza oven. The first pizza oven in Bali!" says Peppino with considerable pride.

Then, shortly after it opened, the hotel suffered a devastating fire and had to be rebuilt from scratch.

"It was tough," he says, "because we had to start all over again, but we managed. My younger brother Aldo relocated to Bali to supervise the works in progress and in July of 1973 we opened again. It was certainly different then. We had one generator that was powerful enough to provide light for the hotel and get a couple of air conditioning units going but that was it. It was a beautiful time. We had many well-known names and faces staying with us. Francis Ford Coppola during the filming of Apocalypse Now, Mick and Bianca Jagger on one of their very first trips to the Island. And of course, many of the people who have since settled in Bali, bringing their talent with them, have some tie to La Taverna. Take those monkeys for example," he gestured towards a couple of impressively large orangutans sketched in charcoal on white canvas with multiple arms, drinking, smoking cigars, and eating bananas. "They were painted by the Dutch artist Ian Van Wieringen in exchange for his bill, and now they watch over our restaurant."

Linda Garland, Bamboo Queen, interior designer extraordinaire and environmental activist literally set up shop on the beach just in front of La Taverna, selling clothes and swimwear of her own design back in the early 70s. And in his diaries the Australian artist Donald Friend speaks of the Chinese junk with red sails moored in front of La Taverna that belonged to the brothers, and of the riotous merrymaking coming from the environs of the hotel.

La Taverna's colorful history is also the basis for the new direction it is taking. Its old world charm is being interwoven with fresh and playful design concepts, drawing on Italian and European artistic traditions. The use of color washes in the rooms, Capri white-and-blue in the beachfront restaurant, and the mix and match of Asian and European patterned fabrics. As a sign of the happy union between past and present that characterizes La Taverna, Peppino has drafted his daughter Anouk to oversee the business. A tough act to follow, but one well worth the effort.

La Taverna offers rooms housed in traditional thatched bungalows, each with an outside space or veranda. Guests can also relax on the beach directly in front of the hotel, by the swimming pool, or in one of the gazebos set in the hotel's gardens. The spa, which offers a full range of beauty treatments and massages using natural oils and products, is a haven for those in need of some pampering. And if you need someone to look after your little ones while you enjoy any one of these activities, the friendly staff and management will be happy to arrange it for you.

Other hotel facilities include tour information and guides, chauffeur service, Wi-Fi Internet and Cable TV on request, international phone and fax service, same day laundry and dry cleaning, and safety deposit boxes. The La Taverna accepts all major credit cards. •

• La Taverna Bali
Jalan Danau Tamblingan 29, Sanur
(0361) 288-497; www.latavernahotel.com