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Australian footballer player Josh Cavallo has announced that he will be opening an LGBTQ+ inclusive hotel in Bali in 2025.

As one of the few openly gay footballers in the Australian Football League, Cavallo wants to create a space that is welcoming and homely for all. 

In an Instagram post, Cavallo shared an update with his over one million fans. He wrote, “It’s happening! I’m building a hotel. Cavallo Hideaway. I still can’t believe it’s coming to life.”

He continued, “After years of dreaming, planning, and imagining, the moment is finally here. I can’t wait to take you along on this journey from blueprints to keys. It’s a place I wanted to create for people traveling to feel safe. Presenting Cavallo Hideaway, a community where everyone belongs.”

The hotel is due to open in December 2025 and is being created as part of a collaboration with ALAM Villas Cepaka, a company that created bespoke villas in the heart of Bali’s Cepaka community in Tabanan Regency, neighboring Seseh. 

He shared more details about the new queer-friendly hotel in Bali on the Cavallo Hideaway page. Cavallo explained, “The property is designed as a tranquil and inclusive retreat, blending contemporary stone architecture with Balinese natural charm.”

“The design emphasizes bamboo structures, earthy tones, and open spaces to create a serene and luxurious atmosphere where judgment is absent, and every guest can truly feel free to be themselves.”

The rooms have a soft and earthy feel, with plenty of natural curves, and are open to natural light. Cavallo Hideaway that the kitchen space is a “curved design room surrounded by curved windows and warm tones. This space is designed for cooking, connection, comfort, and relaxation.”

“The large floor-to-ceiling curved windows are designed to create a feel of Bali’s bath, which is outside nature inside the kitchen.”

Cavallo was the first openly gay male who actively played professional football to come out in Australia. Since the landmark affirmation of his sexuality, Cavallo has gone on to be recognized as both GQ Magazine and Attitude Magazine’s Man of the Year.

An ambassador for Nike and Ralph Lauren and still playing for Adelaide United, Cavallo’s career is going from strength to strength. 

It is clear that Cavallo Hideaway is not going to be a queer-only space but rather a hotel and hideaway where members of the queer community can feel safe and at home in Bali.

In Indonesia, the queer community faces a multitude of prejudices and discrimination.

While homosexuality is not criminalized in Indonesia (except in Aceh Province where it is illegal), the LGBTQ+ community has very limited protections by law.

Culturally, acceptance is slow across Indonesia, though Bali is considered to be one of the most liberal provinces in the country in that regard.

The Cavallo Hideaway will be located in Cepaka Village, an area of Bali that is receiving plenty of attention right now.

Located just north of Canggu and neighboring Seseh, Bali’s next emerging destination, many will see the placement of Cavallo Hideaway as a smart move.

Just a 20-minute drive to Pererenan Beach and 40 minutes to the center of Ubud, the hotel is both in the heart of the action and totally removed from the hustle and bustle of the big resorts. 

The Cavallo Hideaway could be one of the last new hotels Bali sees opening in the next few years.

The provincial government is drawing up a new policy that would ban the development of new hotels, beach clubs, resorts, and other commercial tourism properties in Bali’s biggest resort areas, including Canggu, Uluwatu, Seminyak, Legian, and Kuta.

The ban was suggested earlier this year and was due to come into effect in October 2024, though it is believed that policy has been delayed due to the changing of national governments and the incoming provincial governments.