Bali’s Desa Potato Head is a sustainable village and resort designed to inspire creativity, balance and progress.
Desa Potato Head is a creative village in Bali, Indonesia where music, art, design, food, and wellness play together by the ocean. The property, set on the sand and surf of Petitenget Beach, Seminyak, is made-up of Potato Head Beach Club and Potato Head Studios – a 168-room hotel designed by David Gianotten and the OMA team. The property features a farm-to-table restaurant and several bars.
More than a place to visit or stay, the Desa (village) is intended to inspire creativity, balance and progress.
“Good times, do good”
Sustainability, wellness, and community connection are among the key pillars at Potato Head. Music, art and cultural programs promote and support Indonesia’s creative scene, and the resort offers educational workshops on sustainability and houses a Sustainism Lab that gives new life to waste. Potato Head also helps the local community access nourishing, naturally produced food through Sweet Potato Project, a farming initiative.
“We believe every one of our steps should lead to something positive, so our ethos is simple: good times, do good,” says a statement.
At Potato Head, sustainability is serious business. The hotel is constructed from recycled materials, including plastic bottles for the woven ceilings. A natural ventilation system is based on draft and, at one point, the whole building was turned three degrees to reduce the energy load. Green roofs reduce the temperature of the building by retaining water.
Everything we throw away comes back to us
As little as possible goes to waste. Candles are made from used cooking oil and glass candle holders from used wine bottles, furniture is made from recycled plastic. Upon arrival, guests are offered a zero-waste kit, to reduce the use of single-use plastics and to start the conversation about design and waste as a vehicle for change. Plastic water bottles are confiscated at check in. An in-house team sorts and separates waste and supplies vendors with plastic reusable tubs to collect goods and avoid single use plastics. The hotel is carbon neutral and just three percent of the waste it generates ends up in landfills.
On the resort grounds is an art installation created from more than 5,000 flip flops salvaged from Bali beaches. The piece was created in collaboration with award-winning German art activist Liina Klauss to demonstrate the reality of marine pollution and transmit the message that “Everything we throw away comes back to us—via the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we grow.”
Supporting local culture and economies
Beyond that, Desa Potato Head supports local economies, producers, and artists. Almost every part of the hotel is handmade by local artisans, and food and beverage is locally sourced from small farms and a sustainable seafood supplier.
The Spa at Desa Potato Head
The Spa at Desa Potato Head is a place where modern design meets traditional healing practices. Guests are invited to relax in cocoon-like rooms and enjoy a heightened sensory experience. All spa products are created in Bali by Sensatia Botanicals using methods that honor the life force of each active ingredient. Wellness offerings include group meditations and yoga.
Stand out spa menu items include the Traditional Mandi Lulur, an ancient beauty ritual originating in the royal palaces of Central Java – “A purifying bath for princesses, the scrub would soften, sweeten and lighten” the skin. This treatment uses a delicate mix of rice powder, white turmeric, ginger, cumin and crushed dried jasmine flowers, and includes an Indonesian massage.
Another is the Skin-Renewing Saltscrub, a salt scrub designed to help shed old skin cells to reveal new, healthier skin. The salt scrub is infused with essential oils of nutmeg, bergamot, and lime to nourish as it exfoliates.
Sanctuary & Sistrum
Desa Potato Head also recently launched new wellness offerings. Sanctuary is “an immersive wellness experience connecting the community with their flow state by increasing relaxation and concentration while awakening a higher level of consciousness.”
In partnership with the founders of Pyramids of Chi in Ubud and located in Potato Head Studios, Sanctuary offers alternative forms of meditation including vibroacoustic light therapy, sound healing, breathwork, and ice bath therapy.
Sistrum is an immersive Light, Sound, and Vibration experience “for awakening human potential.”
“The technology augments the sound healing experience by delivering sound as physical vibration Inside the body through custom made waterbeds with built-in vibrational speakers and synchronized light frequency stimulation to stimulate brainwave states and closed-eye visionary experiences.”
We’re talking about sustainability this month at Spa Executive and Book4Time. Check out this Masterclass episode with host extraordinaire Sal Capizzi and Mehul Sharma, Founder and CEO of Signum Hotels. They discuss everything you need to know about sustainability in the hotel industry, including the wellness spaces within properties and resorts and the future of resourcefulness within the hospitality industry. It’s not to be missed! Watch it here!