With sumptuous views and a close connection with local villagers, the Samaya Ubud offers luxury with a little soul in Bali’s cultural heart
Wayan Suambara, general manager of the Samaya Ubud, is discussing how difficult it would be to turn down a marriage proposal at his resort’s signature 100 Candle Dinner. “We have a 100% success rate,” laughs the man who might just be the friendliest GM in Southeast Asia.
Indeed, at the resort’s Swept Away restaurant, with its pastoral setting next to the whistling waters of the Ayung river, it takes a staff member approximately 90 minutes and an impeccable sense of balance to clamber over numerous wet rocks and lay 100 individual candles for what is truly a dinner to remember.
Such exquisite attention to detail comes as no surprise, however, after a few days in the company of Suambara and his team members, 70% of whom are from the local village. Throughout my stay it is common to see smiling villagers strolling around the Samaya’s grounds, often to fill up water bottles from the resort’s natural spring water source, and Suambara stresses how, as a local man himself, he considers it vital for the hotel to have a good relationship with those in the surrounding area.
And what an area it is. Nestled about a 15-minute drive from the centre of Ubud, the Samaya’s Hill View Villas and the aptly named Scene Restaurant boast sensational views of distant, towering jungle and neatly stacked rice terraces. Serenity reigns in this part of the world, and the Samaya’s landscaping also tends toward the natural look, lending an enjoyably wild quality to the silvery barked frangipani trees and the ubiquitous puring plants, with their crinkled leaves a vivid flurry of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, that line the numerous walkways.
Even with all this natural wonder, it would remain a perfectly sane decision, however, to remain ensconced in one’s villa for the entire trip. Each boasts a particularly large private pool and spacious cabana crafted from merbau wood, with the whole garden framed by white orchids known as anggrek bandung. Inside, terrazzo bathrooms house outsized jacuzzis, and goose down pillows provide the basis for a preposterously restful night’s sleep. After all, out here among the rice fields, the only sound is a harmony of perfect silence.
Wayan Suambara, general manager of the Samaya Ubud, is discussing how difficult it would be to turn down a marriage proposal at his resort’s signature 100 Candle Dinner. “We have a 100% success rate,” laughs the man who might just be the friendliest GM in Southeast Asia.
Indeed, at the resort’s Swept Away restaurant, with its pastoral setting next to the whistling waters of the Ayung river, it takes a staff member approximately 90 minutes and an impeccable sense of balance to clamber over numerous wet rocks and lay 100 individual candles for what is truly a dinner to remember.
Such exquisite attention to detail comes as no surprise, however, after a few days in the company of Suambara and his team members, 70% of whom are from the local village. Throughout my stay it is common to see smiling villagers strolling around the Samaya’s grounds, often to fill up water bottles from the resort’s natural spring water source, and Suambara stresses how, as a local man himself, he considers it vital for the hotel to have a good relationship with those in the surrounding area.
And what an area it is. Nestled about a 15-minute drive from the centre of Ubud, the Samaya’s Hill View Villas and the aptly named Scene Restaurant boast sensational views of distant, towering jungle and neatly stacked rice terraces. Serenity reigns in this part of the world, and the Samaya’s landscaping also tends toward the natural look, lending an enjoyably wild quality to the silvery barked frangipani trees and the ubiquitous puring plants, with their crinkled leaves a vivid flurry of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, that line the numerous walkways.
Even with all this natural wonder, it would remain a perfectly sane decision, however, to remain ensconced in one’s villa for the entire trip. Each boasts a particularly large private pool and spacious cabana crafted from merbau wood, with the whole garden framed by white orchids known as anggrek bandung. Inside, terrazzo bathrooms house outsized jacuzzis, and goose down pillows provide the basis for a preposterously restful night’s sleep. After all, out here among the rice fields, the only sound is a harmony of perfect silence.
Sensory Samaya
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