Four Seasons Ubud Bali at Sayan

Ubud - Bali

Indonesia’s 13,000 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean extend from the tip of Malaysia to Australia. Inhabited by different ethnic and religious groups, it is nevertheless the largest Moslem country in the world. Bali, called the island of the gods, in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, is one of the smallest islands but one of the most frequented by tourists as well. Its magnificent landscapes are characterized in the interior by terraced rice fields, volcanoes and mountains, the highest of which is Mount Agung whose summit rises to an altitude of 3,100 meters. On the coast, superb beaches are ideal sites for surfing and deep sea diving.

Hindu for the most part, the inhabitants of Bali have preserved their solidly entrenched animist traditions. Nature plays a major role in their daily lives and in their culture. Each house has its own temple, and numerous ceremonies accompanied by colorful processions are part of Balinese daily life.

Ubud, the cultural and artistic center of the island extends its numerous galleries into the middle of the rice fields. Just a simple city in the 1930s, it owes its reputation to Walter Spies, a Fauvist painter who settled here in the palace of Prince Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukaati. Many European artists followed his lead, and Spies turned Ubud into a unique site for creative activity. Schools arose in which new currents were taught combined with European and Balinese culture.

Equally famous for its dances, visitors can attend a variety of performances every night, the most popular of which is the Legong, a ballet performed by young female dancers in gold embroidered costumes. Considered the quintessence of femininity, it is essentially based on very complex hand and eye movements requiring a perfect sense of coordination.

A luxurious oasis in the China Sea

A few kilometers from Ubud, in the heart of the jungle on the banks of the Ayung River, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan is totally invisible from the road. Suspended in the middle of rice fields, flamboyant heliconias and twisting banyan trees, two superimposed circular terraces give the main building the feeling of a futuristic space vessel.

Access to the 18 elegant suites is via a footbridge overlooking the void. Situated on a mezzanine, facing a large bay window, the suites all have a panoramic view of the Ayung River and the rice paddies. Authentic and traditional, the décor is sober and totally Asian with teak wood, local stones and hand woven fabrics. Spread throughout the park, more intimate but further away from the restaurant and the spa, there are 42 villas with spacious rooms, a large terrace, a private swimming pool and water fountains and lotuses in a lush garden. Here as well, the decorator favors traditional craftwork from Bali and Java except for the bathrooms with blue and green mosaic tiles, black granite furniture and sinks with Italian water taps.

As guests swim in the pool, the rippling sound of the adjacent water is a pleasure to listen to as it in the three spa villas which communicate with each other by exterior baths, and in the restaurant whose roof is covered with blades of grass known as alang-alang and which is an ideal spot to relax for an hour over lunch. It’s in the hotel’s other restaurant however, perched above a lush canyon that guests can discover innovative Asian cuisine which they can even prepare themselves during classes given by the Chef himself.

It was in Ubud that the heroine of the novel, “Eat, Pray Love”, Elizabeth Gilbert, interpreted by Julia Roberts in the film adaptation, discovered her true self after a painful divorce plunged her life into disarray.