If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (IDR11,250,000.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Set within Ubud’s lushly green jungle, Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, owes inspiration for its roots to the layout of the valley’s local villages. In each of the hotel’s balés – an Indonesian take on open-air pavilions – walls have been replaced with linen curtains that hang from lofty vaulted ceilings, and pretty much alfresco copper bath tubs gaze out over the Seven Peaks, offering a soak with a show as sunset silhouettes them. But distinct design is not all Buahan boasts, so if you tire of secluded swims in your private pool then don some sturdy shoes and follow rocky roads up to the main hotel for traditional Balinese dishes by local chef Eka, or be literally carted off to the yoga pavilion for sunrise salutations and snoozy spa mornings.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A daily glass of homemade kombucha; GoldSmiths also get a guaranteed late check-out until 3pm
Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £671.19 (IDR13,612,500), including tax at 21 per cent.
More details
Rates include breakfast, a locally-made sarong, daily activities, and transfers from the hotel to Ubud.
Also
Unfortunately the hotel’s vast layout and rocky entryways make it unsuitable for those with mobility issues.
Please note
span id="docs-internal-guid-0c95005e-7fff-85db-f810-e30d5e0312ce">The restaurant and bar will undergo refurbishment from 27 March to 8 April 2024 and from 22 April to 15 May 2024; during these periods, meals and drinks will be served in the Bamboo Pavilion and the main pool will also be closed. From mid-May to mid-June 2024, the outdoor lift will be closed for maintenance and every effort will be made to reduce any disruption.
At the hotel
Spa, yoga pavilion, on-site farm, laundry service. In rooms: free-to-use mobile with WiFi, tea- and coffee-making kit, and organic amenities.
Our favourite rooms
It would be hard to draw the short straw here; but if you’re a sucker for scenic mornings, Bale 12 (one of the Buahan Valley Pool balés) has sweeping views of Bali’s Seven Peaks. Otherwise, all the rooms are a similar size and match one another’s natural interiors and open-plan design.
Poolside
Each room has its own private pool, but there’s also a larger outdoor pool in the main building that's open from 7am till 6pm.
Spa
The Toja Spa, fittingly translating to ‘water’, is set in an open-air bamboo pavilion, serenaded by sounds of the Ayung River’s waterfalls. Each of the four treatment rooms overlooks the mountains and rice paddies below, and masseurs combine traditional Balinese healing methods with the hotel’s organic oils for soothing massages and bespoke body scrubs.
Packing tips
Leave all your usual mod-cons at home, you won’t need them here.
Children
Little Smiths will have to stay home for this one, Buahan is strictly for over-18s.
Sustainability efforts
Sustainability is taken very seriously at Buahan. Before it even opened its doors, an environmental impact study was conducted to ensure building work wouldn’t cause any harm to the surrounding forest or local communities. Now the hotel is open, all energy and waste is minimised, ingredients are grown onsite or sourced from local farmers (who are also trained in sustainable farming practices), a conservation programme to protect the region’s fireflies is up and running with local biology experts, staff are hired locally, and guests are encouraged to visit nearby villages to learn about local culture and get involved with communities.
Grab a table by the grill to watch the chef at work.
Dress Code
Breezy sarongs to help beat Bali’s heat.
Hotel restaurant
The Open Kitchen embraces the same breezy, wall-free concept as the rest of Buahan. Helmed by chef Eka Sunarya – who you’ll spy slicing, dicing and cooking up a storm from your table – has whipped up a zero-waste menu in collaboration with the holistic-restaurateurs at Agency X, who focus on traditional dishes cooked with local and sustainably sourced ingredients.
Hotel bar
Mixologists at the Botanist Bar shake up cocktails with freshly-picked herbs, and serve homemade kombuchas, Balinese beers and local ciders.
Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape is hidden in northern Ubud’s untouched Buahan Valley, near the Ayung River.
Planes
Bali’s main – and only – airport is in Denpasar, just over an hour's drive from the hotel. Most international hubs will fly direct, otherwise layovers are usually in Singapore or Doha.
Automobiles
The hotel’s chauffeurs will happily cart you around, but if you’d rather have the independence, there are plenty of rental booths at the airport.
Worth getting out of bed for
You may be in the middle of the jungle, but this swathe of greenery is your playground at Buahan. Adventurers can hike up Mount Batur on an early-morning guided expedition or over the Ayung River and by the Buahan Waterfall to Penikit Village, and cycle from Bayung Gede Village down the valleys with a stop at one of the local farms. Vintage-car drives through nearby villages, traditional cooking classes in Paon, and tours of the on-site firefly conservation hut are gentler choices. Yogis need not travel far, Buahan hosts moon, aerial-silk and melody-flow yoga classes in their open-air pavilion. You’re also welcome to attend local ceremonies and rituals, the village of Nagi hosts a particularly famous ‘Fire War’ ceremony if you’re staying over New Year’s Eve.
Local restaurants
The hotel’s all-day dining means you’re unlikely to stray too far from the Open Kitchen; but if you’d rather head out, Ubud is your best bet (a 30-minute drive away). Folk Pool & Gardens serves traditional Indonesian fare for brunch and dinner by the pool – some nights they transform their garden into an outdoor cinema. As its name promises, Locavore uses the surrounding natural bounty in six-course dinners dreamt up by renowned chefs Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Andriansyah.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from their jungle jaunt in Ubud and unpacked their silk batiks and swishy sarongs, a full account of their Balinese break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape in Bali…
When you’re deep in the Balianese jungle there are few modern woes on your mind, and adults-only retreat from the world Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, ensures things stay that way. Designed to merge seamlessly with their verdant surroundings, each of the basically wall-less (and door-less) suites have light curtains that can be drawn for privacy; your own pool with mountain, jungle or rice-paddy views; hand-carved teak furnishings; and tapestries from local artisans. The hotel’s chauffeurs await adventurers for day trips to local villages, or if you’re seeking quiet self-care, masseurs are on call at the open-air spa and there’s a local priest who hosts traditional healing ceremonies. No worries, indeed.
