Casa Nalani

Casa Nalani is sculpted rather than built — all soft white curves, rounded plaster niches and a floating staircase that spirals up through the middle of the house. The effect is calm and slightly surreal, a Umalas villa that looks like a piece of pottery you could live inside.

The ground-floor bedroom opens straight onto the pool, its glass doors sliding away so the water sits at the foot of the bed. At dusk, with the courtyard lanterns lit and the carved timber entrance door glowing, the whole villa softens. A dark stone feature wall gives the bathrooms weight against all that white.

Two bedrooms sleep four in a quiet residential lane, minutes from Umalas’ cafés, padel clubs and beach clubs, with Canggu and Seminyak each an easy drive.