Bali Beach Club Opens Doors After Major Redevelopment

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One of Bali’s most famous and much-loved beach clubs has reopened its doors after a major redevelopment that not only dazzles guests but is going above and beyond with its eco-credentials.

Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak is one of the island’s most popular venues. The Indonesian-owned club also has venues in Hong Kong and Singapore and is often the highlight of a trip to Bali for visitors, whether they indulge in the accommodation offering or nip by for a day visit.

Potato Head Beach Club in Bali has been operating since 2010, and in 2020 was set to reveal a major new redevelopment. The pandemic put a stop to the management’s grand plans for a launch but on 28th June this year, the venue was able to finally reveal all its hard work.

Potato Head Beach Club expanded its offering under the brand of Desa Potato Head, desa means village in Bahasa Indonesia. The redevelopment includes upgrades to their stunning suite hotel offering, formally known as Katamama, offering penthouse-style apartments, rooftop suites, family suites, and island suites complete with king-size beds and walk-in wardrobes.

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The development included more than just accommodation. Potato Head management developed new restaurants, a bespoke co-working space that will no doubt become the height of popularity when Bali launches the much anticipated digital nomad visa. The facility list continues with an exhibition space for art and culture, as well as music hubs and an expansion of the main beach club facilities too.

True to Potato Head’s ethos all redevelopment has incorporated regenerative and sustainable values throughout and is a beckon of hope for the hospitality sector proving that creating environmentally friendly, large-scale tourism operations can have a positive impact on the wider world.

Although the 2-years of pandemic-induced losses were hard for Potato Head and many other beach clubs who share a piece of the shoreline from Kuta through to Canggu, the organization’s founder, Roland Akili, remained positive and saw the pandemic as an opportunity to do better.

Speaking to Tatler Asia, Akili said that during the pandemic ‘We wanted to focus on doing everything we could to help Bali and the Balinese people to get back on their feet’. He went on to explain how the company’s charitable foundation, The Sweet Potato Project, helped to provide training for their staff in growing vegetables, staple crops and permaculture.

This enabled the brand to keep many of its long-standing staff in employment, keep them fed and housed as well as help others in Bali who needed support.

When asked about the future of tourism in Bali Akili gave an impassioned response. He explained that ‘People have become more aware of not going back to mass tourism, but a better, more conscious way of tourism. We owe it to the destination we’re in, we owe it to our team, and we owe it to the local communities. If you’re interested in a destination, don’t just preserve it; make it better for future generations.”

As Bali welcomes back tourists during the first viable peak season for over two years Potato Head Beach Club has a full lineup of events for hotel guests and day visitors.

Festivals in Bali have also returned this June and July. Over the weekend of the 2-3rd July, Sanur is welcoming the return of the Sanur Village Festival and Unique Bali Festival, both of which celebrate Balinese culture and yoga.

Bali’s beach clubs have hit headlines this week as the owners of the island’s newest venue, Holywings, got into hot water regarding a drinks promotion that was considered religious blasphemy at their Jakarta-based bars.

Although six staff have been arrested and all 12-out of the Holywings Jakarta venues closed down, plans for the July launch of Holywings Bali Beach Club are full steam ahead according to influencers and the club’s famous investors.