
Hotel Moon Gang: YSG Studio’s Surrealist Spin on the Balinese Retreat
Words by Yatzer
Location
Bali, Indonesia
Hotel Moon Gang: YSG Studio’s Surrealist Spin on the Balinese Retreat
Words by Yatzer
Bali, Indonesia
Bali, Indonesia
Location
Luxury resorts in Bali have developed an instantly recognisable visual language that filters tropical vernacular through contemporary minimalism, underpinned by warm neutrals, natural materials and local craftsmanship. It is an appealing formula, but familiarity can easily slip into sameness. Moon Gang, a five-suite boutique hotel that opened in Ubud in June 2026, takes a more idiosyncratic route. Vibrant colour, surreal flourishes and contemporary art jostle with bamboo, terracotta and earthy renders, resulting in a place that combines a strong sense of place with a whimsical, avant-garde sensibility, courtesy of Yasmine Ghoniem of Sydney-based YSG Studio, the Egyptian-Australian designer known for her instinctual approach and adventurous palettes.
Conceived as "a destination for music, wellness and design lovers", the hotel is the brainchild of owner and operator Kirsten Millbank of Firstbase Studio, an Australian multidisciplinary platform uniting wellness and design. A committed advocate of sustainability, Millbank set a brief that entailed transforming a dilapidated holiday home into a boutique hotel using locally sourced, eco-conscious materials. Ghoniem turned that constraint into a creative springboard, collaborating with some of Indonesia's most innovative artists and artisans to have virtually everything custom-made, from wall treatments and joinery to furniture, lighting and glassware. With a vinyl-filled listening lounge and a spa whose signature treatments run well into the night, all set around a pool patio, the result is a whimsical, self-contained world that reimagines the island's familiar tropes with flair and ingenuity.

Sun lounger and side table in recycled plastic, custom design by YSG, handcrafted by BYO Living. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

‘Creativity’ desk custom design by YSG, crafted by Asali Bamboo. Chair custom design by YSG, handcrafted by BYO Living in recycled plastic, upholstered in ‘Atom – 0944’ by Raf Simons for Kvadrat. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Golden Shadow suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva
That world announces itself before guests even reach the gates. There is no reception lobby in the conventional sense; instead, arrivals check in at Mini Moon Gang, a kiosk near Ubud's town centre, then straddle a chauffeured scooter for a three-minute ride up a winding, car-free path through rice fields and tropical jungle. The absence of cars lends the hotel a surprising sense of seclusion despite its proximity to central Ubud.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Wall sculpture by Aral Stud. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Ambang Pool Club. Photography by Tommaso Riva.


Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Ambang Pool Club. Photography by Tommaso Riva.
Rather than demolish the former holiday residence, which YSG found in severe disrepair, the studio chose to work with its existing concrete structure, extending Millbank’s environmental brief to the building itself. Water-damaged walls and floors were repaired, timber shingles were added and decayed boundary slats gave way to breeze blocks that improve ventilation and daylight while recalling printed woodblock patterns. Without wholesale demolition, sightlines were opened and circulation made more fluid by removing columns in the lounge, lowering a central archway to focus views towards the pool and cutting organic portholes into walls to frame pockets of garden.
A cinnamon-toned render made from recycled earth-based material softens the concrete exterior, while tessellated terracotta finger tiles stitch together the outdoor areas and lounge. Against this earthy base, YSG Studio introduced more electric notes: glazed lava-stone tiles in assorted colours, citrus and papaya-green accents and lush vegetation. Japanese references form a secondary thread, from shou sugi ban timber furniture, paper lamps and shoji screens depicting lunar phases to a new rooftop suite inspired by traditional Japanese bamboo huts, its structure stained deep charcoal-indigo and punctured by an oversized skylight.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Counter and stool custom design by YSG, handcrafted from recycled plastic bottle tops by Weedoo Plastics. Moon sconces in fiberglass by Anomolous, custom design by YSG. Photography by Tommaso Riva.
The furnishings are where the hotel’s imagination runs most freely. Collaborating with more than fifteen eco-conscious Indonesian artisans, YSG Studio realised a series of bespoke pieces using natural, reclaimed and recycled materials. Among them are sun loungers woven from upcycled plastic that sprout playful "mohawks" at the pool patio, "cloud" pendants of dyed banana-leaf paper in the suites, and terrazzo-like counters and stools handcrafted from repurposed bottle tops in the listening lounge.
The same attention extends to the hotel’s art collection, which animates both communal areas and suites. Paintings and sculptures were sourced from Indonesian art fairs and local galleries, with commissions including a palm-leaf “dragon” pendant in the lounge (a symbol of luck) and an outdoor totem combining stained glass, bamboo, metal and ceramics. Overseeing much of this cultural connective tissue was creative consultancy Dance Card, which, together with Firstbase Studio, initiated the Balinese collaborations behind everything from the vinyl library of Indonesian and Japanese pop music and custom DJ cabinetry to staff uniforms, signage and the merchandise sold at Cosmos Kiosk, a dedicated curiosity store beside the entry gates.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Wall light handcrafted from local seseh wood and coloured resin by AA Practice. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Nongkrong Lounge. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Nongkrong Lounge. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Velvet Mood suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Chair custom design by YSG, handcrafted by BYO Living in recycled plastic, upholstered in ‘Atom – 0944’ by Raf Simons for Kvadrat. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Midnight Runners suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva
Local references are also folded into the design with newly blessed timber shrines appearing throughout in customised colours, and smaller resin-and-timber versions that double as suite signage. The five suites continue this interplay of sensory richness and play. Velvet Mood and Night Fever unfold over two levels, each with a separate lounge and two private patios; Midnight Runners has a large bath, sitting area and its own record player and vinyl selection. Golden Shadow connects across a terrace to the bamboo-built Sun Dust, together forming a 101-square-metre option for families or small groups. Sculptural lighting, tilework in terracotta and acid yellow, and plant-dyed curtains watercolour-like washes establish distinct atmospheres, while amenities ranging from vintage cassette players to a telescope for moon-gazing invite engagement.

Midnight Runners suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Midnight Runners suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Midnight Runners suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Night Fever suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Coffee table at Night Fever suite custom design by YSG, handcrafted in reclaimed timber by Furnistool Bali. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Night Fever suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva

Loungr chair in reclaimed timber, custom design by YSG, handcrafted by Furnistool Bali. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Sun Dust suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Sun Dust suite. Photography by Tommaso Riva.
That spirit carries into wellness, which Moon Gang reframes as something less solemn and more elastic. Its Wellness Lab spa combines botanical treatments developed with Indonesian skincare brand Fields of Yarrow with massages, facials, sauna sessions, meditation, breathwork and biophilic yoga. Guests can also watch films under the stars, try silent-disco movement rituals, or simply spend the day beside the pool. Most beguiling is the soundscape itself, a site-specific innovation by Indonesian dance-electro duo Bottlesmoker, which translates the bioelectrical frequencies of plants into a gentle backing beat that drifts through the lounge.
In a destination like Bali, where luxury hospitality often equates restraint with sophistication, Moon Gang makes a persuasive case for something more eccentric. Its success lies in remixing Bali's familiar ingredients—craft, landscape, natural materials and ritual—through Ghoniem's chromatic instincts and Millbank's broader cultural brief. The result is a highly authored universe, one that treats local making as a living creative resource and leaves room for colour, music, curiosity and a little cosmic mischief.

Wellness Lab spa. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Wellness Lab spa. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Wellness Lab spa. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

‘Wailing Shadow’ totem by Arend Alfiyanto Alhasan. Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

Photography by Tommaso Riva.

























