Amandari
Bali, Indonesia
Price Guide
Inspired by a traditional Balinese village, Amandari is framed by jungle and rice terraces. Located on the verdant lip of the Ayung River Gorge, it is a 90-minute drive from Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, tucked away in the culture-rich Ubud highlands.
Presided over by a sacred 7th-century stone tiger, Amandari is a place of peace that invites reflection. Every detail reflects Balinese traditions, from the alang alang-thatched rooftops of the freestanding suites to the emerald curve of the rice paddy-inspired swimming pool – the first infinity pool in Bali.
The grounds are both sacred and essential to local families: children attend dance classes here, and religious processions pass through regularly, leading down the steps that spill below Amandari to the stone tiger.
The Spa
A winding path leads through the gardens to the edge of a lotus pond – the setting for the Amandari Spa. Its wellness offer includes ancestral practices inspired by the local Balinese Hindu culture and takes a holistic approach.
Facilities include two open-air treatment bales surrounded by lotus ponds, a beauty treatment room, sauna and steam room. There is a 28-metre, green-tiled swimming pool, close to the edge of the gorge, which overlooks the valley and rice terraces below. Amandari also features a gym and offers private yoga and meditation sessions in a tranquil forest glade.
The treatment menu features local Balinese ingredients renowned for their soothing properties as well as Aman’s new functional skincare line, Essential Skin, made in Japan with rice bran and indigo extracts.
The spa also boasts its own resident spiritual healer, Bagjo Indrijanto, who helps guests awaken their spiritual soul. Bagjo offers a unique holistic approach, which includes spiritual reading and healing through divine energy and meditation.
Spa Facilities
- Two open-air treatment bales
- Sauna
- Steamroom
- Treatment rooms
- Beauty treatment room
- Gym
- Yoga
- 28-metre swimming pool
Spa Products
- Aman Essential Skin
- Aman Sva supplements
- Aman Fine Fragrance
To Stay
Amandari has 31 standalone thatched-roof suites and a three-bed villa. Suites open onto lush garden courtyards with sunken outdoor baths and panoramic views. The Amandari Suite features a private infinity swimming pool as well as its own its own outdoor dining bale.
The Amandari Villa, less than a minute’s drive from the resort, is surrounded by cascading rice terraces and beautiful views of the Ayung River Valley. It has a glass-walled living room, landscaped deck with marbled floored dining bale and two-tier swimming pool.
To Eat
Exposed to cooling mountain breezes, the open-air main restaurant and adjacent bar enjoy spectacular views and serve up a sophisticated menu of Indonesian, Balinese and Western dishes.
Amandari has its own own organic garden and also sources produce from local farms. There is also an open-sided private dining bale, perched right on the lip of the Ayung River Gorge.
Facilities and Activities
- Tennis court
- Local excursions
- Cycling tours
- Hiking
- Mountain and country trekking
- Balinese dance
- Balinese spiritual counselling
Location
Amandari lies in the village of Kedewatan, 15 minutes’ drive from Ubud, hidden on a hillside overlooking rice terraces and the wilderness of the Ayung Valley.
The resort is about an hour’s drive north of Denpasar’ Ngurah Rai International airport. Ngurah Rai is served by carriers including Singapore Airlines, Garuda and Jetstar.
By Juliet KinsmanBanyan trees, hanging vines and Hindu temples and colourful processions — it’s no secret that Ubud is a very spiritual place. Known for its healing powers and soul-stirring views over terraced rice paddies, along the Sayan Ridge, Ubud is in the leafy centre of this popular holiday island. It’s been home to a bohemian art scene since the 1930s when Ubud’s own royal family invited the intelligentsia to come and stay. Today, these highlands draw digital nomads as well as yoga disciples — but as popular as it gets, here close to the heart of the hub, Amandari is one of Aman’s original properties, a luxury retreat which has found a unique way of preserving, and celebrating, a sense of traditional village life.
Rather than being a five-star bubble that disconnects you from your host country, Amandari makes sure that all your senses know you’re here in the hills of Bali. A seventh-century shrine is preserved at its heart, and like a small hamlet of houses, the suites have sleek teak interiors, alang-alang grass thatching and intricately carved stone walls steeped in centuries of stories and spiritualism.
The Spa
Ubud’s name is derived from the Balinese ‘ubad’ meaning medicine — and time here is a tonic. Amandari’s spa sits by a lotus pond, offering treatments in open-air balés amid the trees. I’d booked a Balinese Melukat purification ceremony, and on arrival, I was taken to a private villa where a village elder carried out a traditional Hindu water blessing. The Balinese believe that water represents a flow of energy which is linked to emotion and intuition and that the benefit is physical, emotional and spiritual.
When translated, ‘melukat’ quite literally means to cleanse or purify, ‘lukat; making ‘to let go’. Combining the soothing and cleansing of a more conventional spa pampering, with a deeper and more meaningful experience, one imagines this two-hour ritual is to be the dream therapy for a honeymooning couple after a long-haul flight. Crouched down in their long sarongs, with a silk scarf tied around the waist, it must be the perfect way to transition mind, body and soul into their new life with a clear head and positive state of mind.
Time spent meditating with the sweet, softly spoken priest who shared with me drops of holy water, scented flowers, incense, and offerings of traditional sweet rice cakes, while chanting mantras will stay with me. Less significant was the rub-down part lying on a massage table, it was the exchange of smiles and sense of connection. Throughout your stay at Amandari, there are thoughtful touches which remind guests of what a special place this Indonesian island is. A small hand-painted ceramic cockerel was one of the gifts at bedtime. Tied to it was a note that gently warned us of the rooster call that might rouse us at dawn. It may seem a small consideration, but this is the sort of detail that sets Aman experiences apart as being considerate and cultured.