Alila Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
We love Alila Hotels, and so Alila Ubud has been on our "must stay" hit list for some time. You might say after five spa treatments in five days we were biased ... but we certainly were not disappointed!
The resort is located in the Indonesian mountain town of Ubud which provides a very different landscape and experience compared to the traditional beach holiday Bali is arguably more famous for.
The guide books seem to suggest the town is approximately one hour from Bali's International Airport, Ngurah Rai, though the truth is this very much depends on the time of day and the traffic (and a bit of luck). There are few multi-lane freeways in this part of the country, and there are a lot of vehicles (of all kinds), people and even animals on the roads, so plan to be flexible and conservative when scheduling your arrival and departure times.
Once in Ubud, the resort is then a further 15 minutes from the town centre.
Now to be upfront, Alila Ubud is, at least to our understanding, one of the Group's older properties having been built in the mid '90s. Accordingly the rooms are not quite of the modern design and standard of some of the other Alila locations (specifically Alila Vilas Uluwatu and Alila Jabal Akhdar).
Having said that, our Pool Villa was spacious, private and the outdoor facilities a complete indulgence. These villas are around 120sqm in size, with a large private pool (much more than a simple plunge pool) and an entirely separate outdoor open-air bath set in the middle of an impressive fish filled lotus pool.
Dining is of the highest standard as always. While perhaps not quite as refined as at Alila Villas Uluwatu, the cuisine was always very flavoursome and the weekly feast of local delicacies is truly a gourmand's delight.
Then of course, there is the Spa Alila!
Bali is of course well renowned for its massages and spa experiences, but Alila takes things to another level with a friendly, highly trained and attentive Team coupled with their own amazing product range.
We absolutely adore the Spa Alila products, D's particular favourite, is the Mandarin and Grapefruit Body Butter which we always stock up on when visiting an Alila Resort. There is also the heavenly Aloe & Cumber Body Scrub which is gentle on the skin while still remaining effective.
On this occasion, our treatments included Reflexology and Pedicure, performed outdoors allowing us to soak up the green Ubud atmosphere, a Shirodhara Massage which includes a a stream of specially blended, warmed medicated oils poured softly onto your "third eye", and a Therapeutic Massage with full Body Scrub, also performed outdoors with the sounds of the breeze guiding the way to total relaxation.
