We review the best jungle villas and resorts in Bali. These include Sungai Jungle Villas Bali, Alila Ubud, Amandari, Capella Ubud, COMO Shambhala Estate, Four Seasons Resort Bali At Sayan, Mandapa A Ritz-Carlton Reserve, The Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah, The Purist Villas, and Viceroy Bali.
The interior of Bali, away from the beaches on the coast, has some of the most stunning hotels in the world. Dotted between the verdant rice fields and palm trees, these jungle hotels and villas spread up majestic hillsides. The luxurious properties are built between and upon these hills, which means that some offer breathtaking views, while others are cosseted in the lush jungle foliage. Many offer private pools and the best offer exclusivity that you won’t find on the coast.
1. Sungai Jungle Villas Bali
Sungai Jungle Villas Bali is an ultra-luxurious hideaway cocooned in the Balinese jungle. It offers all the privacy of a private villa with all the convenience and impeccable service of a five-star resort.
Located riverside in a traditional village in southwestern Bali, nearby the hotspot of beachside Canggu, enjoy exquisite cuisine, flawless service, and deep pampering. This holiday heaven comprises two luxury 3-bedroom villas surrounded by rice paddies, palms, and jungle views. With many awards accrued over the years, including The World’s Top 5 Luxury Villas, the villas cater for 2-12 special guests. Couples enjoy exclusivity in either villa, and family groups can take over both villas for the ultimate glam experience.
Get away from it all amid the peace and tranquillity of local country life. With beaches, bustling towns, and many other attractions just a short drive away, not to mention a dedicated chauffeur-driven car to ferry you around, this is one travel destination that really does seem to have it all.
Furnished and decorated in Balinese/French Colonial style, the accommodation is beautiful with an emphasis on high-end finishes, which include four-poster beds and infinity pools. Ensuite bathrooms feature tropical open-air showers and luxury Swiss Chopard and bespoke natural toiletries. Bathrobes, spa gowns, slippers, and salon-quality hair dryers are all provided, as are GHD hair straighteners upon request.
The sleeping and living quarters’ style is bright, white, and minimal with a luxurious twist, allowing the beauty of the outdoor environment to take center stage. Roofs are thatched in the traditional Balinese style, while floors are stone. Sofas are upholstered in natural khaki. Guests enjoy 24-hour butler service, complimentary laundry service, and a chauffeur-driven car.
After optional private fast-track airport service, you will be delivered to the Sungai Guest Services Manager, who will welcome you with a glass of chilled wine or local beer and snack prior to whisking you to the villas where guests are greeted with a signature mocktail and home-made cheese biscuits. Extravagant continental breakfasts are included in the tariff, as is unlimited chilled bottled water and laundry/pressing. With bar staff offering an exciting range of holiday cocktails and wines and tempting creations such as Balinese lamb stew and tempura fish with Thai herb salad on the menu, it’s easy to see why guests at Sungai Jungle Villas Bali opt to eat in most of the time.
Both villas have their own beautiful horizon pools, edged by lush foliage. Spa treatments are available either poolside or in an air-conditioned treatment room. Massages, skin treatments, and traditional Balinese healing rituals are all on offer, as are yoga and Pilates classes, all within the comfort of your own villa.
With a whole host of provisions on offer for children, from cots for babies to a five-page children’s menu, books, and toys, the youngest family members are also most definitely catered for at Sungai Jungle Villas Bali.
The villas are renowned for their intuitive and attentive staff who look after your every need, from previously mentioned airport transfers and preparing and cooking meals to taking care of the little ones and organizing excursions. By the end of your time at Sungai Jungle Villas Bali, you should feel that you are staying among friends in a luxurious home away from home!
2. Capella Ubud
Nestled in the heart of lush green forests, Capella Ubud tented camp sits in harmony with the surrounding nature. Inspired by the early European settlers from the 1800s, architect Bill Bensley designed Capella Ubud, Bali, as a tribute to their spirit of adventure.
Capella Ubud, Bali, is set within a dramatic terraced landscape, with prominent rice paddies surrounding the entrance, leading through a densely forested valley that drops down to the sacred Wos River.
No tree was cut during construction, so this refined jungle camp remains a hidden sanctuary underneath a canopy of leaves. Within the camp are twenty-two one-bedroom tents and one two-bedroom lodge, all with private saltwater pools. The camp is adorned with handpicked valuable antique art objects, books, paintings, drawings, and furniture, some of which are from the owner’s treasured private collection.
Food & Beverage selections include Mads Lange, the camp’s dining room, Api Jiwa, an intimate and highly interactive Asian barbecue, and The Mortar and Pestle pool bar. The Camp Fire is not merely the place to meet the local storyteller over pulled hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows but, weather permitting, an equally great venue for casual dining.
The tented gymnasium is for guests who wish to work out in style and yoga and Pilates by design, whilst an invigorating weekly schedule, with a diverse range of low and high impact camp activities, further compliment your exercise regime.
Adventure wellness, pampering spa treatments designed around the moon phases, spiritual and sound healing, as well as in-retreat rituals, are on offer at Auriga Wellness.
The Officers Tent, exclusive to Capella Ubud guests, Bali is the camp’s living room where morning coffee, afternoon tea, and the daily evening cocktail and canapé ritual are served. The unobtrusive and highly personalized services of a dedicated Capella Culturist further complement your stay.
3. Four Seasons Resort Bali At Sayan
This is the second Four Seasons hotel on the island of Bali and has a much more spiritual vibe than the beach fronted Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay. Four Seasons Resort Bali At Sayan, hidden in the mists of the jungle, is terribly romantic. Fewer families are attracted to this resort due to its lack of a beach.
Voted #1 hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2018, Four Seasons Resort Sayan encapsulates Bali at its philosophical and soulful best. The hotel is only a ten-minute drive from the stylish boutiques, artist ateliers, and atmospheric eateries of boho-chic Ubud, making Four Seasons Sayan an inspiring base to explore Bali’s cultural heart or to retreat into nature’s meditative embrace.
The Four Seasons Sayan is a tranquil retreat tucked away amongst the lush jungle greenery on the banks of the Ayung River, which flows through a river valley in the heart of Ubud. Guests arrive via a dramatic bridge at tree level, beneath which the Ayung River valley spreads its tropical arms.
From the gravity-defying rooftop lotus pond that seems to float, suspended above the canopy, the hotel cascades down the hill to the two-tiered swimming pool and through an enchanting forest that cocoons just 60 suites and villas with stunning rice paddy and jungle views.
Rooms are built from local timber and thatched Alang-Alang roofs and vary from suites for two tucked in the jungle to the two-bedroom river view villas or the Royal Villa, with incredible views of the tumbling Ayung River and lush green surrounds.
The traditional and tranquil spa is perfect for a relaxing massage after exploring Ubud. Particularly special are the signature treatments designed to balance the body’s chakras.
Wherever you are in the world, Four Seasons hotels are consistently one of the best hotels or resorts in the area. They don’t have a Four Seasons loyalty program, so you will never be able to book a free stay by racking up and redeeming points or by collecting points on your credit card and spending them at a Four Seasons hotel. It can’t be done. But you can get discounts at Four Seasons hotels and benefit from special rewards at Four Seasons hotels for no extra cost by booking your next stay via our luxury travel concierge.
4. Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
For thousands of years, the mandapas, Sanskrit for temples, of Ubud have offered devotees a sacred space to rest their mind, body, and soul. Guests today will find a similar escape at Mandapa, a Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Bali, a secluded paradise where lush jungle grows over rolling hills, the Ayung River gurgles, and verdant rice paddies create a unique sense of place.
A traditional Balinese gong marks your arrival at this five-star hotel, followed by a refreshing local drink full of goodness and infused with indigenous herbs. Your personal butler, who will remain at your service throughout your stay, will escort you to your villa or suite, one of only 60 available at this intimate property.
Luxury accommodations feature a private outdoor space with views of the river or surrounding scenery, including the lime green rice paddies surrounding Mandapa. Four restaurants serve health-conscious cuisine sourced from the organic garden; arrange a romantic dinner overlooking the river or rice terrace. The spa offers a variety of programs focused on physical and spiritual well-being.
5. Amandari
Amandari (which means “peaceful spirits”) is located in the jungle of central Bali. Designed as a Balinese village, Amandari has river-stone walkways and high paras-stone walls. The open-air lobby was designed after a village meeting place.
The pathway that runs through Amandari and down the valley to the river below is sacred land. For hundreds of years, Balinese have taken the path down to a pool of holy water. Just above this spring-fed pool sit three modest shrines and an ancient tiger carved into the rock.
Balinese-style stone gateways front Amandari’s 30 walled, thatched-roof suites, each with a private garden courtyard and some with private pools. Each is a charming oasis of handwoven batiks, sliding-glass doors opening on three sides, and an outdoor, sunken marble bathtub. The duplex rooms boast romantic four-poster beds. From here, take in the resplendent, far-reaching views of the rice terraces and lush countryside.
The Restaurant is open to the breezes and is crafted largely of teak wood. It overlooks Amandari’s swimming pool and the gorge. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and specializes in Western and local Indonesian dishes. The Bar, with its terrace seating, features a wide selection of drinks.
Facilities include the Library, with a broad selection of books, newspapers, CDs, and games, a fitness center fitted with a fully equipped cardiovascular gym, and a signature 32m green-tiled swimming pool, lying close to the lip of the gorge. There’s also a gallery and Amandari’s Spa, surrounded by water and featuring two open-air massage bales, a beauty room, a sauna, and a steam room.
6. The Purist Villas & Spa
The Purist Villas & Spa is a beautiful, luxury boutique resort surrounded by rice fields and jungle.
The Purist Villas & Spa features a beautiful pool surrounded by sun loungers and beds, while Purist Spa can be found on an elevated floor, just a few steps above the emerald swimming pool. The spa offers a selection of signature massages featuring South East Asia’s most trusted techniques, provided by highly trained professionals. The Purist Villas yoga sessions are available in all disciplines and designed to release anxiety and calm the mind with happiness, peace, and tranquility.
In terms of dining, Café Balisimo presents a range of seasonal menus based on nutritious, minimally processed ingredients and the best available fresh products. It also serves complimentary afternoon teas every day, and outside of mealtimes, guests can enjoy healthy Balinese and other Asian tapas and sip cocktails at the main pool outdoor lounge.
7. Viceroy Bali
The multi-award-winning 5 Star Viceroy Bali is one of the best luxury hotels in the jungles of Bali. It is just 5 minutes drive to Ubud’s thriving culture and arts center, yet the location feels like another world.
Wandering into the hotel’s open lobby with its marble floor and high-vaulted bamboo and grass-thatched roof immediately washes away any stresses. A water feature trickles nearby, down a grand staircase, and the resort opens up into a compact, cool sanctuary clinging to the side of the strikingly verdant Valley of the Kings.
With only 25 pool villas, Viceroy Bali offers absolute privacy for those seeking elegant travel. A soft, artfully manicured garden rolls gently off to the side of the main infinity-edged pool overlooking the jungle valley opposite.
Nearby, a path leads down to CasCades restaurant, the resort’s beating heart with its 10-meter cone-shaped grass thatched roof. The perfect setting for a romantic or special occasion, the restaurant offers world-class dining using only the freshest and highest quality international and local produce.
Each of the spacious 25 villas is exquisitely furnished and exceedingly private. Moreover, each villa has its own heated pool, outdoor cabana, and unrivaled views of the surrounding valley and dense jungle. Adding to the serenity, the constant calm, cool sound of the rolling river rises from the valley ravine as guests sit on their private terraces and relax.
8. COMO Shambhala Estate
COMO Shambhala Estate is a true ‘Retreat for Change’ with resident experts including a yoga teacher, a Pilates teacher, an Ayurveda consultant, and Oriental medicine expert.
Picture serenity in the jungle, and it’s likely you’ll imagine COMO Shambhala Estate. Set deep within the lush Balinese forest overlooking the Ayung River, this “retreat for change” offers a life perspective as tranquil as the waters below.
Five multi-suite residences are themed after nature’s elements, with a variety of private villas for a sense of oneness with the pristine setting. Each features butler service and an infinity swimming pool. Enjoy healthful and energizing COMO Shambhala cuisine and the aid of professional nutritionists; de-stress in the springs and the holistic spa; and renew with renowned healers, yoga masters, and life coaches.
9. Alila Ubud
Alila Ubud is a tranquil and secluded hillside retreat that sits high up on the edge of the rich green Ayung River valley in Bali’s jungle covered foothills.
The hotel has been laid out as a Balinese hillside village complete with its own community center and pedestrian lanes. The resort’s rooms and villas stand above a ravine on stilts like treehouses and are set into the banks of the river valley.
Here, smooth plaster walls and concrete meet thatched roofs; terrazzo tiles meet gravel or crushed rock; wood meets glass, making for one of the most uniquely designed boutique hotels Ubud has seen. The property features a world-class restaurant and a holistic and intuitive spa facility.
10. Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana
Hidden among the lush undulating hills of Bali’s culture-rich highlands, Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana sits among thriving rice fields that are edged by jungle and just outside the artists’ village of Ubud. This artistic luxury resort in Ubud was formerly The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah and is an intimate retreat with twenty individual villas set amongst more than 12 acres of emerald green rice paddies.
The two-villa sanctuary Duadari, a Residence by Hadiprana, was originally designed as a spacious family holiday home, resulting in a low number of rooms spread over the two-hectare grounds. The location and design lend themselves to distancing from the crowds. The interiors blend harmoniously into the landscapes, and each villa has its own butler to help with everything from unpacking to poolside pampering. Those seeking serenity and rejuvenation will find both in abundance at The Spa, nestled at one edge of the seemingly endless paddy fields.
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