This is a long overdue post from our March holidays and birthday gift to ourselves we stayed at the Four Seasons Sayan in Ubud – which as been on my bucket list for the last… 16 years? I have the first edition of the 1000 places to see before you die that I remember purchasing at Borders Wheelock place (still so sad it closed down) in between working about six jobs to get through university.
Who knew I’d one day stay in the best Ayung river view suites at the Four Seasons Sayan Resort in Ubud, Bali? As a client of mine, they offered me a special rate at their entry level rooms and the kind wonderful hosts upgraded us to the top suite with our own villa pool.
And then they threw in a chakra massage in-room. What a treat! And then there was aerial yoga sessions in the rice fields. So much fun.
So much lush greenery, the walk to breakfast and leaving the resort daily. You can choose for a buggy pick up or take a walk. :)
They also run complimentary bicycling tours during the week around the rice padi fields and the village, here’s our lovely guide Saree taking us around and she knows pretty much everyone in the village! It didn’t fit into our schedule as we had to attend a wedding, but they work around your schedule and we paid something like 25USD/person for a private arranged tour.
Musicians in the super high ceiling lobby. You have to watch this drone video to get an idea of the gorgeous lush resort.
I wanted to venture out for local Nasi campur breakfast, but instead was advised to have breakfast in-house in case my stomach couldn’t tolerate local street food. I would have loved to try either way, but a compromise I made for princess husband.
Other mornings I ordered bubur ayam (chicken congee) poolside. We’d often hear people screaming as they white water rafted down the Ayung river and we waved to all of them from our pool.
Other highlights include sundowner drinks at Sundara that I helped launch a couple of years back and having a site inspection of their premier villas at Four Seasons Jimabaran Bay. Stunning views and a walk to the beach.
Training an instagram husband, but not very successful and not a great photo of me anyway!
As for where we ate, we really enjoyed Locavore and Hujan Locale. I wrote a piece on eating out in Ubud for the SCMP and was on the hunt for Batik, not entirely successful but was great to walk around the Ubud market.
There are plenty of gorgeous hotels in Bali, but here’s a list to help you better plan for your trip by checking out this 7 Best Value Hotels to Relax in Bali shared by HotelsCombined.
