A foreigner can open a hotel in Bali, and it takes five steps before the first guest. First, set up a PT PMA company, then choose the hotel format and its KBLI code.
Third, put the land in the company’s name. Fourth, go through the permits in the OSS system in order. Fifth, pay taxes and file reports every quarter.
The company threshold is an investment above Rp 10 billion, about $551k. For a hotel that sum includes the land and the buildings.
Data as of 5 November 2026; JISDOR rate as of 4 November 2026, 18,140 rupiah per dollar. The law sets no overall deadline: each permit has its own, and construction and queues come on top.
Step 1. PT PMA for a hotel: threshold and capital
Foreign capital enters Indonesia only through a company under local law, called a PT PMA. A hotel cannot be registered to you as an individual.
There are two thresholds. Paid-up capital of at least Rp 2.5 billion, about $138k. And total investment above Rp 10 billion for each activity code at one location.
For accommodation, meaning hotels and villas, that Rp 10 billion includes land and buildings (Permeninves 5/2025, art. 26). A different act, Perpres 10/2021, counts the threshold without land and buildings. Which one applies is a question for a lawyer before you register.
For at least 12 months, paid-up capital cannot simply be withdrawn from the account. It can go on assets, construction and running costs.
Step 2. Hotel format and KBLI code: from star hotels to Pondok Wisata
The KBLI code says what kind of business it is. Since 15 June 2026 OSS runs on KBLI 2025, and the accommodation codes are new: 55101–55105 for five- to one-star hotels, 55106 for no stars, 55203 villa, 55204 apart-hotel, 55201 homestay, 55202 hostel. The old codes 55110 and 55193, which you will still see in earlier articles and in the laws, belong to KBLI 2020.
Next, what is open to a foreigner. In Perpres 10/2021 (as amended by 49/2021), Annex II, the villa, guesthouse, Hotel Melati, the one-star hotel and Pondok Wisata are set aside for cooperatives and small business. Under the tourism standard, a villa is run by its owner, and in a Pondok Wisata the owner lives on site (Permenpar 6/2025).
Hotels of two to five stars, apart-hotels and hostels are not named in the restricted lists. The law says whatever is not on the lists is open to any investor (art. 3, para. 2). By our reading, that makes these formats open to foreign investors too.
One caveat: Perpres lists the one-star hotel under code 55110, which in KBLI 2020 covered all star hotels. From the text, it is not clear whether the whole code is restricted.
In practice, villas are set up through PT PMA, but the text of the law doesn’t show how that squares with Annex II. The law gives no clear “yes” for a villa through PT PMA. Check the code you need in OSS and ask a lawyer before registering the company.
A further caveat: Perpres is written in KBLI 2020 codes, and we have not found an official table showing how its restrictions map onto the 2025 codes. A new Perpres on the list of businesses is being prepared; we have not found an adopted text.
Step 3. Land for a hotel in Bali
Hak Milik, freehold, is not available to a foreigner or a PT PMA: only Indonesian citizens can hold it. A deal that passes it to a foreigner directly or through a nominee is void.
Three routes remain. HGB (right to build) and Hak Pakai (right of use) can be held by an Indonesian legal entity, so, by our reading, a PT PMA can hold both.
On state land both rights run for 30 years, then an extension of 20 and a renewal of 30 (PP 18/2021). On Hak Milik land the term is up to 30 years, then a new deed.
The third route is a lease from the owner, by contract. The law sets no term; everything depends on the text of the contract. How that works is covered in the article on leasehold in Bali.
Before any deal, check the plot against the RDTR zoning plan at gistaru.atrbpn.go.id: not every area of Bali is in the digital version.
Step 4. Hotel permits in Bali through OSS
All permits go through the single system oss.go.id. Since 5 October 2025 it has run on the new rules, PP 28/2025.
The order is fixed, and each permit depends on the one before it.
KKPR confirms that the plot suits your project under the zoning plan. If the district’s digital plan is already in OSS, confirmation comes automatically. If not, the law gives up to 5 working days to check documents and up to 20 working days for assessment.
Environmental consent depends on scale. If the building is under 5,000 m² and the footprint under a hectare, the SPPL self-declaration is enough; it comes with the NIB (the business ID number in OSS).
From 5,000 m² of building or a hectare of built-up land, you need a UKL-UPL: by law, one day to check the documents and up to 5 working days for review. From 10,000 m² or 5 hectares, it’s an AMDAL, which goes through several rounds of revisions.
The table in the regulation says “and/or” between the two measures; which one decides is a question for your lawyer.
PBG, the building permit, is needed before construction starts. Design review takes up to 28 working days if there are several rounds of corrections.
SLF, the certificate that the building is fit for use, is needed before opening. Up to 3 working days after the application; valid for 5 years for a non-residential building.
Finally, Sertifikat Standar and SLS. Sertifikat Standar confirms the hotel meets the standard; SLS is the sanitary certificate.
Under the tourism ministry standard (Permenpar 6/2025), a hotel with a building up to 6,000 m² falls in the “medium-low” risk tier: a self-assessment is enough. Above 6,000 m², and any apart-hotel, is “medium-high”: you need a certificate from an accredited body, and the check takes up to 14 working days.
The law has no single deadline for “opening a hotel”. It only sets deadlines for each permit.
Step 5. Taxes and reports
The company pays corporate income tax at 22%, the rate Indonesia’s tax office has applied since 2022. A guest in Bangli regency, where Kintamani is, pays a 10% hotel tax, PBJT, which the hotel remits to the region. All property taxes are covered in a separate article.
A PT PMA also files an LKPM report through OSS once it has an NIB. Large business, which PMA counts as, files it every quarter: by 15 April, 15 July, 15 October and 15 January. Before opening it is a preparation-stage report, after opening an operations report.
How much time and money before the first guest
The legal minimum: from $551k invested, of which at least $138k is paid-up capital. There is no ceiling. How far above that you go depends on the hotel’s class and the build estimate.
The cost of construction per square metre is not written in the law, and we found no reliable official benchmark for commercial hotels in Bali. We do not use ranges from blogs and agencies: they are published by people who sell construction. Only the estimate for a specific project gives a real number.
The permit deadlines in working days are listed above, but they are maximums per permit. They leave out construction, queues at the agencies and returns for rework. We found no legal deadline for registering a PT PMA.
Open a hotel yourself or buy a share
If you build your own hotel, it is all on you: the company, the land, permits, construction, taxes, reports and, after opening, running the place. In return, the hotel, its decisions and its income are all yours.
Buying a share in a project that a company builds and runs is a different route. The threshold is lower, but you are not the one running it, and everything depends on the company and the contract. How these deals work is covered in the article on collective real estate investment.
Nord Nest is a GRC hotel in Kintamani: 8 villas, a restaurant, a spa and a thermal complex. A 10% share costs $190,000.
The model gives 18.7% a year and a 5.3-year payback at 80% villa occupancy and a $185 average rate, assumptions as of August 2026.
Handover is planned for the end of February 2027. The land is held under a lease right of 25 + 1 years, and GRC runs the hotel.
Terms for investors are on the business page, the project itself on the Nord Nest page.
In short: questions and answers
Can a foreigner open a hotel in Bali? Yes, through a PT PMA company. The threshold: investment above Rp 10 billion (about $551k) including land and buildings, paid-up capital of at least Rp 2.5 billion.
Can a foreigner own the land under a hotel? Not as freehold (Hak Milik). A PT PMA can hold HGB or Hak Pakai, or lease the land from the owner by contract.
Which KBLI code does a hotel need? Since 15 June 2026 OSS runs on KBLI 2025: 55101–55105 for star hotels, 55106 for no stars, 55203 villa, 55204 apart-hotel. Check the code you need in OSS.
Can a villa or a Pondok Wisata be opened through a PT PMA? Perpres 10/2021 sets these formats aside for cooperatives and small business. How that squares with practice is a question for a lawyer before the company is registered.
How long does it take to open a hotel? The law has no single deadline. It sets deadlines for each permit in working days, and construction and agency queues come on top.
How much does it cost to build a hotel in Bali? There is no figure in the law; the project’s budget sets it. The legal minimum for the company: from $551k invested.