Style Meets Serenity at The Slow in Canggu

Best for

A boutique stay; the fashion set

The Hotel

You’re practically forced to chill out at The Slow. And if you’ve come to Canggu – a haven for surfers and yogis chasing the perfect acai bowl and the perfect wave – chances are that’s just what you’re after. Within the wood-panelled, three-storey “tropical brutalist” cube there’s just 12 rooms and no TVs – only constant chilled tunes that could accompany a surfing doco and walls and halls lined with art. And why would you want the digital distraction, when instead you could float in your private pool (if you’re staying in one of the four ground-floor suites) or spend a few hours working your way through the share-friendly menu in the breezy restaurant downstairs?

The Location

Set on one of Canggu’s main roads (about an hour-long taxi ride from the airport), a few hundred metres from the Batu Balong/Old Man’s surf break.

The Rooms

Though they’re small in number, they’re huge in size. But the cavernous spaces aren’t crammed with generic hipster nonsense – every piece of furniture and art is a considered statement by owners George Gorrow (who also co-founded Australian fashion brand Ksubi) and his wife Cisco. The bed is low and linen-strewn; the lounge and bedside tables jut out from the walls instead of standing on supportive legs. Artworks are unique to each room – a series of pink Polaroids in one, an abstract sculpture in another. Only the lower four rooms have a private plunge pool. Upstairs, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors allow you to manipulate the hotel’s outer hardwood panels, which – alongside the AC, polished concrete floors and cinderblock-lined walls – helps funnel in the sea breeze to keep things cool.

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Food and drink

The Slow’s restaurant is as much of an attraction as the hotel. The service is attentive, the lighting ethereal and the crowd consistently beautiful. By day, digital nomads seek refuge and good coffee beneath its abundance of macramé plant hangers. At night sun-tired surfers sip on strong, sweet cocktails at the bar as families with expansive palates share fancy fish fingers and chicken sate sticks with sticky pineapple relish. Shannon Moran’s menu leans heavily towards contemporary Australian dishes featuring Indonesian ingredients, such as meaty chunks of octopus served with edamame and coriander or kohlrabi salad decorated with Asian pear. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For business travellers

A stay here is all about disconnecting – leave the laptop at home. If you must check in on business, do so with the entrepreneurs who bring their tech to the restaurant and work fuelled by avocado-coated nut and seed toast.

For wellness travellers

There’s no gym or spa on site; staff at the lobby direct guests to Spring Spa, 200 metres up the road, for massages. This being Bali, you’re also never far from a yoga shambala.

The fab factor

Goodies in the mini-bar are tucked into sustainable packaging, from milk chocolates in glass jars to vanilla and coffee body scrub in a cardboard case.