Mr & Mrs Smith

Stunning hotel situated overlooking the beautiful river valley and surrounded by rice paddies. Wonderfully helpful staff and the best hotel breakfast we've ever had. Plus the free massage courtesy of Mr & Mrs Smith was a lovely touch. Alila Ubud was by far the nicest and most cultural place we visited on our trip to Bali. Highly recommended.

Few hotels have taken our breath away such as Alila Ubud did. As we were shown around, our Valley Suite 'View' hardly did justice to the jungle-clad deep ravine to which our personal balcony overlooked. It was hard enough just leaving the room, but when we did, even more such delights awaited. The pool at Alila Ubud is justifiably known as one of the top 50 in the world due to its plunging edges, appearing to simply drop off into the vastness below. It was here that the hotel management held their weekly Friday night welcome cocktail party for guests. I admit, if this had been after a 17hr flight we'd have traipsed back to our rooms, but as it wasn't, we enjoyed a cool cocktail as we sipped in the fantastic atmosphere. Top tips at this hotel would be to certainly opt for a valley suite. Having a family of monkeys on your balcony first thing in the morning might not be to everybody's taste, but if you have had one or too many pool side cocktails the night before, then you can always slip into the vast outdoor but monkey-resistant bath. Another tip would be lunch or dinner in Ubud. Although throngs of tourists and bustling taxis take up much of the streets, there are quiet backwater cafes offering tasty fare for a fraction of the hotel restaurant prices. We'd recommend the amusingly named 'Oops' which although looks a little sketchy from the roadside, has a beautiful secluded garden from where we supped a cold Bintang and ate chicken satay - a local affair for much of an afternoon.

Both Casa Luna and Indus restaurants in Ubud are fantastic. Ask the hotel to reserve a table at Indus on the verandah overlooking the river, but do take insect repellent. The Elephant Safari Park tour offered by the Leisure Concierge is a must – a definite highlight of our trip.

Can't fault this place absolutely lovely.

If you plan on exploring then we found a taxi driver who used to be a tour guide and was absolutely fantastic at showing us the "real" bali from all day trips to smaller visits. Lovely guy, who knows and cares about Bali and could not fault either price or service. We had so many trips in the end that he brought his family to see us off at the airport.

Nana - English and German speaking
+6281 239 493 70
+6281 999 964 196

aderonita@yahoo.com

If you do contact him, say hello from Si & Vix, honeymoon, Bali Nov 2010

Brilliant!!!!!

Alila was great, we're impressed you managed to get us a free (and expensive) Balinese massage. Here are some recommendations that you may want to look into: Cafe Lotus is a great restaurant in Ubud with a huge temple and pond with water lilies at the back. Get to see a local dance too while enjoying dinner and a draught Tiger beer. The Living Room is a quality bar in Seminyak that gets lively later in the evening.

Alila Ubud is in such tranquil surroundings, that the urge to leave the grounds whilst we recovered from our jet-lag was minimal. We can however thoroughly recommend taking the hotel's bikes out into the paddy fields. Maps attached to the handlebars detail two routes. The longer one takes you slowly uphill through rice fields, villages and past a local temple, before depositing you on the main road for a free-wheel ride back to the hotel. The town of Ubud is a short cab/shuttle-bus ride away and, although not the centre of culture that it is sometimes referred to, well worth a visit for a day's strolling around the galleries and cafés. If you do feel the need to expend some energy, then rafting on the Ayung River (though by no means 'whitewater' as it is billed) does give you the opportunity to see the stunning carvings that local craftsmen have made on the canyon walls.