Anantara Ubud Bali Resort

“Ultimate luxury resort service”

One of the best luxury resorts you could find in Bali with an exceptional service level. All the staff go above and beyond with their humble and sincere support all the time. Special thanks to Darmaja who took care of us since the arrival. Will definitely come back again, for a much longer stay.

“Stunning”

Anantara Ubud exceeded my expectations. The setting is absolutely stunning, surrounded by lush jungle with breathtaking valley views that make the entire resort feel peaceful and secluded. The rooms are spacious, beautifully designed, and perfectly positioned to take in the scenery. What impressed… more

Anantara Ubud exceeded my expectations. The setting is absolutely stunning, surrounded by lush jungle with breathtaking valley views that make the entire resort feel peaceful and secluded. The rooms are spacious, beautifully designed, and perfectly positioned to take in the scenery. What impressed me most was the service. Every staff member I encountered was warm, attentive, and genuinely eager to make our stay memorable. The hospitality felt sincere and personalized, which added so much to the overall experience. The breakfast can definitely improve though. They even upgraded us to a villa under GHA platinum membership. It’s a really cosy hotel, and the one room pool villa is beautiful.

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“Beautiful, with exceptional staff, no real 'vibe'.”

Anantara is located in the North of Ubud - central to rice terraces and adventure. It's luxury, but VERY quiet. Rooms are very clean, extremely well appointed, and beautiful. There are connecting rooms. Pools are heated. The views are captivating, but the hotel has very little in the way of vibe. … more

Anantara is located in the North of Ubud - central to rice terraces and adventure. It's luxury, but VERY quiet. Rooms are very clean, extremely well appointed, and beautiful. There are connecting rooms. Pools are heated. The views are captivating, but the hotel has very little in the way of vibe. Morning buffet is strong, but gets somewhat repetitive. Restaurant staff is exceptional. The whole team will hop over the moon if you ask them. Cooking class is fun and they are superb with kids. It's an Anantara so lots of older, Asian guest. Not a hotel for the under 50 crowd. There are activities, but not many to do them. Kids club but not many kids. Hotel is compartmentalized too which increases the feeling of seclusion. Didn't like the spa at all - hated it. Only four treatment rooms and not many facilities. Gym has a good setup and view. This is more Aman style premium than Ritz or Kimpton... did I say it's quiet? Would I stay here again, no. Maybe in a larger group, if you are bringing the fun. The rooms are reasonably priced ( very), but I think everything else is x4. Outside of the complementary airport pickup, booking your driver or anything else from the hotel comes with a huge markup. Staying this far north is ok, it comes with very long drives to town... but you don't need to go into town often and you have to drive to see anything worth seeing anyway. Pick a more lively hotel. When the Kimpton opens, that's where I'll stay. Harry, Johnny, and all of the staff are A++++++; such an amazing team.

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“A solid but average experience, saddened by lost opportunity and soullessness”

These are the observations of a harsh critic, for whatever they are worth to those who choose to read on. Having spent two nights at the hotel, I am firmly of the view that it is all lost at sea. It is yet to find its initial groove, but yet its poor build quality is starting to bubble (literally… more

These are the observations of a harsh critic, for whatever they are worth to those who choose to read on. Having spent two nights at the hotel, I am firmly of the view that it is all lost at sea. It is yet to find its initial groove, but yet its poor build quality is starting to bubble (literally) to the surface. Let’s start with the good. The rooms are very thoughtfully appointed, well provisioned and meticulously serviced. The housekeeping is top notch. If you looked no further, the hotel would pass muster as a luxury experience on this basis. And perhaps the issues that follow would assume lesser significance if one had a pool room, where you brought your own vibe. The key issue is the hotel’s location. It takes almost three hours to drive to the hotel from the airport. It takes at least 45 minutes to drive to Ubud, through a maze of small regional roads. You are substantively stranded at the hotel unless you have a high pain tolerance in the evenings. Despite the hotel’s proximity to the Padma, there is nothing but jungle in its immediate vicinity. This reality puts a lot of pressure on the other aspects of the hotel’s offerings, most notably, dining. Whilst by no means substandard, the dining is not special, despite the prices. There are also limited options, within a rather surprisingly small property. Breakfast is solid, but operates on a hybrid part buffet, part à la carte model, which is productive of inefficiency. The other significant issue is the hotel’s culture or ‘vibe’, of which there is a seismic absence. This is unforgivable when guests have forgone the beach for the more culturally rich highlands of the island. If you are not staying in a room with a pool, you are consigned to one of two small pools; one for children, one for adults, within 30 meters of each other. Whilst you are sometimes initially brought a glass of water and a cool towel, the staff are conspicuously absent. The hotel feels a bit ghostly, a sentiment occasionally interrupted by the league of morons who holiday to create social media content, which is always good for a quick laugh. There is certainly no warmth or sense of community into which guests are brought. The hallways are dark and unadorned. The staff are as characteristically gorgeous as the Balinese generally. Perhaps the fact that they likely reside in a more rural location near the hotel, rather than in more touristed areas, accounts for their unusually high degree of shyness, reservedness and uncertainty. There was one notable exception, who strangely tended to be overly familiar and performative. All of these matters might have been readily fixable, but I’m not quite sure that will happen now. The property, which isn’t actually old, is starting to fall apart already. Render is falling off walls, the pools are leaking like a colander, salts are seeping from the joins, paint is disappearing, decking is creaking and popping etc. This might not bother anyone but the over-spoilt pedant, but may be endemic of the bigger issues. Serendipitously, whilst writing, I just observed another guest in the pool proudly exhibit to his wife some pool tiles that had dislodged during his swim. Oh dear! Sadly, I suspect that the property will become a failed experiment for Anantara, that met its end on an underestimation of the pressures it created for itself by being so far away from the action, the need to entice guests, and the prices that they would need to charge to fund an experience that would make it worthwhile. I won’t be returning, but I wish the hotel well. You may not have a bad stay at the Anantara, but you will certainly miss out on much richer experiences in Bali.

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