Gdas Bali Health and Wellness Resort

I arrive at Gdas Bali Health and Wellness Resort frazzled from the crazy Ubud traffic — scooters swarming, horns blaring, chaos everywhere. But winding down the little path past banana plants, a temple and frangipani trees, the madness falls away. Crossing the threshold feels like a calm hug from a friend. The soundscape changes instantly: birdsong replaces motorbikes, rice paddies rustle in the breeze, and I take a long exhale.
 
I flop onto a giant green sunlounger by the pool, flip the headrest to face the fields, and am handed the most beautiful pink berry smoothie, topped with coconut cream, chia seeds and two rose petals. I’ve brought a book for my child-free stay, but between the kites floating overhead and the herons sweeping low, the view is too good to look away from.
 
An old friend joins me for lunch. We catch up on Bali life over Gdas’s plant-based menu: she chooses a Thai green curry, I crunch through Vietnamese spring rolls that taste like sunshine, alive with herbs grown just metres away. Afterwards, we nose around the vast wellness area — cryotherapy, IV infusions, red-light therapy, colonics, the lot — though she ditches biohacking in favour of a coffee and a cookie before heading off to meet her daughter’s school bus.
 
I stay put and dip into the adults-only health-club pool, then rotate through the infrared sauna, steam room and cold plunge. Locals use this place as their gym, spa and office, so it hums with life. In the sauna, I find myself in one of those only-in-Ubud conversations: a woman describing her near-death experience and how she now leads people to their spirit guides, another talking about his ayahuasca trip. We joke someone should start a podcast called Ubud Sauna Sessions. Outside, a neat row of canang sari — flower offerings for the gods — adds a touch of daily ritual to the wellness zone.
 
Dinner is next door at Sacred Rice, a beautifully lit garden restaurant where tapas-style plates arrive fast and flavoursome. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, a kecak dance unfolds here, firelight and chanting filling the air. Back at Gdas, the staff greet me warmly — 'Hello, Ibu!' — and I retreat to my room. Each evening the bath is filled with pandan, frangipani and lemon leaves; I stir in the bath salts left in a little wooden pot and sink in. Later, I slide into the softest sheets, sip camomile tea and drift off. The room is wonderfully cool and silent — no scooters, no barking dogs, no roosters — and I sleep the best sleep I’ve had in Bali.
 
The next morning begins with yoga at 7 o'clock in the bamboo shala perched above the paddies. As we stretch and breathe, farmers bend and plant in the fields below. Then breakfast: a fiery little shot of pandan, turmeric and ginger, followed by fresh fruit, a dragon-fruit smoothie bowl, granola and pancakes so soft they demand chocolate sauce and honey.
 
Afterwards, another bath (why not?) before a massage. I choose an oil infused with herbs from the garden — coconut mixed with lemongrass and ginger — and the therapist works it into every knot. I emerge a hundred times lighter.
 
The rest of the day is spent between lounger and hammock: staff bring cooling face mists, sun cream and icy drinks. Butterflies drift past, orchids bloom on trees, scarecrow contraptions clink in the fields, and kites soar high in the blue sky. Lunch is a vibrant moringa soup — inspired by the bedtime story I’d found on my pillow explaining its benefits. Known as the 'miracle tree', moringa is said to help with everything from inflammation to brain function. I follow it with a jackfruit steak and a thick cacao hot chocolate with coconut cream. Virtue and indulgence in equal measure.
 
The afternoon brings a mocktail-making class, muddling herbs from the garden into bright, grown-up concoctions. Later, I sink into the hot tub at sunset, listening to temple bells and gamelan music float across the fields as the sky shifts from apricot to pink to indigo. Stars appear, and I’m too relaxed to go out for dinner, so I order another bowl of moringa soup in my room.
 
On my final morning, I wake rested and quiet inside. After a private Muay Thai boxing session (just me, a pair of gloves and a trainer who keeps me laughing), I head for breakfast: a mango smoothie bowl, a hearty vegan burrito and a perfect almond-milk coffee. Everything here is plant-based, and it tastes all the better for it.
 
Two days at Gdas and I feel transformed: muscles stretched, mind calmed, spirit soothed. From pandan baths to the unofficial Ubud Sauna Sessions, from boxing gloves to mocktails, this hotel takes wellness seriously but never solemnly. Most of all, it gives you something rare in Ubud: peace. I arrived frazzled. I leave lighter, and already plotting a return purely for 'medical reasons': namely, the moringa soup, the pandan baths and another berry smoothie with coconut cream and rose petals. Doctor’s orders.