Ubud Hanging Gardens

You must try the Ubud Hanging Gardens

by TripAdvisor Member seapalm

The hotel website made me immediately want to visit Ubud Hanging Gardens but I must say one or two bad reviews made me think twice. I am very glad to report that I did go after all, for one night on Oct 3. The management must have taken a lot of the comments (many fair, some a bit pushy) into consideration and I found the overall experience just fantastic - really. I am very curious to know if the management did indeed take action based on the feedback from previous guests.

Well, here are the positives:
1. We booked the villa at the lowest level (most inexpensive one, nearest the river but the experience was still amazing).
2. View was great - facing the river valley forest though a small (very small) part of the forest seem to have dried up and brown patches of earth are visible- can management do some replanting or advise the authorities? View from breakfast restaurant is super - the river valley, the temple across the valley.
3. Service was excellent, excellent, excellent all the way. Staff were extremely courteous, eager to tell us about the hotel and Bali, and very curious about our stories too. They genuinely seemed to want to make our stay a super one and they succeeded beyond compare.
4. Breakfast buffet was very nice. No complaints.
5. Free internet access at the public computer and notebook access (through your own notebook) in the room was a very good plus - the cable to plug into your computer is also provided.
6. Privacy - the plants around each villa have grown compared to some of the pictures I've seen on tripadvisor. So the privacy is quite good though some people can really see into your space if they really wanted to stick their necks to look. However, generally very private.
7. As promised, the hotel allowed an additional hour late check out - this was really great as I wanted an extra hour to enjoy the private pool and left feeling that I must come back.
8. The private infinity pool of this hotel is an experience not to be forgotten, what with the views, the sound of the river gushing nearby, and the well tended banana trees giving just enough privacy and not blocking out everything though. It was definitely heated (other hotels' plunge pools are freezing) but I would have liked to be able to know if it really was 30C as advertised - perhaps a thermometer somewhere?
9. Bamboo deck near the river is lovely but could a proper path be made to go right down to the water?
10. Funicular was very helpful as this meant not needing to walk many flights of stairs down.
11. In room sarongs (not complimentary, to be used when taking pictures at temples or holy sites) were a great plus, so that you don't have to use the generic sarongs given at places like Goa Gajah.
12. Linen and bedsheets very clean although some previous reviews said otherwise. The in-room soap smells great and I am not one to like many scented soaps.
13. The oversize bathtub in the bath area complete with rain shower plus outdoor shower were very enjoyable, as was the patio and private pool deck.

Negatives:
1. The wood floor in the villa was oiled a bit too excessively in the room, probably too preserve it as the attached private pool would mean a lot of wet feet. How do we balance wet feet and oily floor? There must be a way.
2. We were told by the very nice person who checked us in (the personal tour of the hotel was great) that there was complimentary tea at the cafe but somehow I was not clear that it was only up till 5pm - so when I called the reception they told me it was over, I was rather disappointed as I was only staying one night.

All in all, a 'must try' experience. By the way, as we rented a car, it was no trouble getting to and from the city. In fact, we loved the fact the hotel is farther out from the city. That's the whole idea of 'getting away from it all'! However drive slowly at night as the roads are very steep leading to the hotel. Well done Ubud Hanging Gardens.

It doesn't get any better than this!

by Callavetta about Ubud Hanging Gardens

Waiting in the airport lounge in Singapore I started reading Trip Advisor reviews for this place on my iPhone. A bit late for that! But recent reviews spoke of mildew and monkey poop in the pool. I just finished a week in Langkawi where I got my fill of monkeys, and mildew? Gross. So expectations were getting dampened.

The two hour drive from the airport also made me nervous; not only the actual drive (I would NEVER drive here) but the ambience. So arriving at about 8 pm at the "hotel" was really a great pleasure.

This place is BEAUTIFUL. Set in a river valley, the resort climbs all over the place, several hundered meters up and down. 50 something private villas dot the hillsides, connected by beautiful pathways and two funiculars. Everything is very open and lush and first class. My own villa is at the lower end of the price scale and in fact is at the edge of the resort. Not for the mobility limited, I had to go up and down a number of stairs to get here, but one definitely gets a feeling of privacy and seclusion. The villa itself is lovely and large. The huge bed is surrounded by a white billowy mosquite net and has the finest linens. Sliding shutters open to windows all around, looking out over the rain forest, my private pool, my private lanai, my outdoor shower. I can open it up as much as I like, or close it and have complete privacy.

An amazing thing about this place is that every single person I've seen who works here has greeted me as Miss Katherine! How do they all know? It must be a policy here. I love it.

I came back from breakfast, reading for awhile in the beautiful bar/lounge, a mango mimosa and a work conference call and took a dip in my private pool. It is simply heaven.

At $275 US per night, it's not the most expensive place in Ubud, but it's right up there. But it's totally worth it. The Ubud Hanging Gardens is an Orient Express Hotel.

Free wi-fi.

Simply wonderful!

by TripAdvisor Member BalifanMunich

We just left the Ubud Hanging Gardens and have to say: We had a wonderful experience! This is truly a very unique place! Spectacular site, lots of nature, beautiful views, we enjoyed each and every moment. The rooms are well designed (we loved our private pool!), the food is excellent (no wonder, French chef!) and the staff was very professional and polite. We are very grateful for having had such a fantastic time and can truly recommend this hotel. If we will go to Bali again, we will definitely come back to the Hanging Gardens.

Almost perfect

by TripAdvisor Member Chris091

We stayed in a panoramic view deluxe pool villa at Ubud Hanging Gardens for 3 nights in December 2007. The hotel's lush forest surroundings are magnificient and the temple view from the main pools or restaurant/bar decks is spectacular. Our villa provided a high degree of privacy and was perfect to wind down. We woke up each morning to the sounds of tropical birds and once caught monkeys lounging on our terrace! One small irritant is that mid-day showers carried dirt from the villa's thatched roof into the plunge pool which seemed to have been cleaned only once during our stay. Like all Balinese people, the hotel personnel was very friendly and genuinely interested in sharing their culture with us. The hotel is a 25 minute car ride to the village centre but a complimentary shuttle service is available to go sightseeing, shopping or eating in Ubud. However, the last shuttle returns to the hotel at 17:30 so you will have to hire a taxi if you decide to attend a Balinese dance performance at night in the village. Food-wise, we had the buffet breakfast everyday and dinner twice at the hotel's Beduur restaurant. The quality and presentation of the food was first-class although more variety would be welcome. We did not use the spa facilities other than to receive our complimentary 30-minute morning massage which was professionally done and very relaxing. I would recommend the Ubud Hanging Gardens if you are looking for a quiet, natural environment to relax during your holidays in Bali.

Lush and peaceful

by TripAdvisor Member Hula_Hooper

Yes, Ubud Hanging Gardens is further away from Ubud Town, so if you want to be near to town throughout your stay in Ubud, then this is not the place for you. But you'll be missing out. The appeal of UHG is that it is quiet, away from it all (but still with all modern luxuries) and set in and around a lush forest. So why not stay at UHG for a few nights, then move to a hotel nearer to town? This is what my boyfriend and I did, and it turned out to be the perfect arrangement.

The villa we stayed in at UHG was beautiful, the infinity pool was spectacular and we had no complaints at all about the service or the privacy. We went in the rainy season and the pool was cold in the morning, but once you got in, it was fine. We went swimming every morning in fact. We borrowed their bicycles and cycled around the nearby areas - the scenery was just wonderful and the people so friendly. I'd recommend taking a daytrip to Gunung Kawi (may have misspelt it) - it's by far the best tourist destination we went to in Ubud. If I had to pick one thing for them to improve - it's that the dinners we had at the restaurant were good, rather than very good.

Overrated

by TripAdvisor Member jarbebe

We have just returned from a 4D 3N at Ubud Hanging Gardens for our honeymoon in May 2007. We had quite high expectations for UHG after our stay at The Elysian in Seminyak as the price for UHG was much higher. The villa is really beautiful and the infinity pool is really
gorgeous. The villa views are absolutely beautiful. The staff are friendly.

We were however quite disappointed by a few things:
1. The shuttle bus that goes to Ubud centre runs only from 9am - 5pm.
If you want to go to Ubud at any other time, it cost US$15 per way. We felt the shuttle should run after 5pm to allow people to go out for dinner. The distance from Ubud to UHG is 30 minutes and it is really inconvenient.

2. The restaurant food was really not up to our expectations. The price was really high and yet the food didn't really taste very good.
Halfway through dinner, we even had a big cockroach that flew onto our table. We alerted the waitor but he just swiped it off the table to the floor below the restaurant - which happened to be the pool bar area.

3. We were told that the in-villa pool will be heated daily from 9.30 - 6 pm. However, when we tried it on the first day at 12 p.m., it was still cold. We called and was told that we need to wait for 30 minutes for it to be heated. We decided to try the main pool but it was too cold! We then found that the main pool is not heated anymore. We returned to our room and waited. The pool only got to a bearable temperature about an hour later.

4. On our 3rd day, we decided to explore the resort area and walked to the riverside (still within resort compound). Halfway it started raining. We took shelter in a garden hut and my husband decided to run to the nearby resort cafe to borrow an umbrella. I was carrying the camera and didn't want to wet it. We didn't want to wait as we wanted to catch the last shuttle bus. I was surprised when my husband
returned in the rain empty-handed. The cafe guy told him they have no umbrella. He also checked with the hotel spa and they also had no umbrella. What surprised me was that the hotel staff just let a guest
walk back empty-handed in the rain!

We waited about 30 minutes more and the rain didn't look like it was going to stop. My husband decided to try again and ran back to the cafe. This time, he returned with an umbrella - which he had to borrow from a visiting guest from another hotel!!! When we went back to the cafe, no one offered us any hot drinks and just left us at a corner. We returned the umbrella and waited again at the cafe. My husband then went to inform the cafe staff to get one of the hotel staff to send us an umbrella. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, I went out in the rain myself to check if the furnicular (elevator) staff was really that busy. Apparently, no one had signalled anything to him and he had LOADS of umbrella in the furnicular! I was really upset as we had missed the shuttle and had to pay US$30 for 2 way transfers. We feedback to the manager but although an apology was given, we didn't feel any action was taken.

No way Jose!!!! - find a list:

by TripAdvisor Member Palentino

Just a list for you:

1. there is a SHUTTLE BUS which finishes at 17.00pm.What are you going to do with the rest of the evening? Are you ready to pay 15 dollars each time you get their cars.??? Teh only on offer. 30 dollars return is a lot of money in Bali and even in London where we come from

2. as a consequence of number 1 YOU ARE FORCED TO STAY IN THE HOTEL FOR DINNER...(there is absolutely, ABSOLUTELY nothing around, I am talking 15 kilometres away for UBUD) and you end up in their restaurant with prices higher than London!!!. You should see all the clients trapped in the restaurant. Always full house.No way to go. You can have a very nice meal in any of so many restaurant in Ubud for around20 dollars( try Nuri´s Warung...just so great bbq)

You choose, 2 bad options: 1)spend 20 pounds every evening to go to Ubud or 2)stay in U H.G.every night and enjoy their "cheap dinner" around 40 pounds a couple. 40 pounds x 10 days= 400 pounds = 800 dollars

3.as a consequence of number 2, you may decide to have some Pringles and a Coke from your room...error...cokes at 3-4 dollars...come on salary in Bali is 4-5 dollars a day aprox.

4. The POOL is not as warm as they say. In fact I was in other hotel first (The Elysian in seminyak area> so highly recommended!) and the pool was much warmer..no heating system needed. Actually it was kind of cold!

5. The SHOWER suddenly became cold after 5 minutes. Thank you very much!

6. the nice LIFTS you see in the website are not so nice. Imagine taking 2 of these funiculars and then a lift (2 floors). It can take you to get to reception aprox. 5 minutes…and by the way you´ll be pestered by the bellboys (are you having dinner with us?, you want to visit the shop?….God!

7.NO PRIVACY! Normally honeymooners or anyone would want to be secluded from other people..well…you can see other people´s swimming pools which is definitely NOT nice…

8. AND THE WORST OF ALL, TO TOP IT ALL: they overcharged us by charging us some weird exchange rate which they said was standard in Bali…consequence 30 pounds more/60 dollar per each night!!! unbelievable!!!

Stunning!!! Loved It!!!

by TripAdvisor Member lesmanww

It was so serene and peaceful..I cannot say that there was one moment that I was not awed by the beauty of the place. We arrived really late at night even though the journey was more than what we bargained for (stray dogs in the middle of roads) The staff was so patient with us to quickly check us in. When we arrived the room, we were taken back by the sheer beauty of the view that we couldnt even get to sleep. By the time we woke up the next morning we were late for brekkie, the staff quickly sorted out a decent breakfast for us and didnt even charge us for it.
The staff at this hotel is so nice and accomodating they made our stay absolutely spectacular. Yes I agree it is out of the way in comparision to other resorts in Ubud but that is the main reason why we chose the place to be isolated and not caught in the hustle and bustle of city life. We had fresh fruits in our room everyday and responses to our requests has always been prompt. I will recommend this place to anyone who wants to just take a break and chill out or couples looking for a romantice location to be with each other and fall in love all over again...
My partner and I have the loveliest time there and will most definitely return again and again.
P>S> Loved the Vehnicular!!!

very nice honeymoon

by TripAdvisor Member 3Bergen

We had a marvelous honeymoon at the hanging gardens! The place is magical, beautiful location, wonderful service, great rooms, nice restaurant, too many good things to mention. Some plusses:
the private pools, the views from the rooms (spend several hours just looking around the place), wonderful staff, the main pool (very quiet!)....
I guess you get it, we loved it!

(ok maybe the rooms/villas are overlooking each other a bit, but we were on the top row so nobody looking at us from above!)

I'm being spoiled!

by Callavetta

"Eight Days at Ubud Hanging Gardens"

Balanese Proverbs:

"Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts"
"A day without laughter is a day wasted"

This Orient Express Hotel is going to spoil me for any other vacation I'm afraid. It's definitely not representative of the Bali I saw on the two hour drive from the airport. But I like it!

I've done a heck of a lot of business travel this year and while I've managed to nurture my travelers' soul, I haven't had a vacation (holiday) in 18 months! I think it's time. So on my annual trip for our Global HR Summit, I decided to take a vacation inbetween Malaysia and Australia. What is in between that calls out to me? Ahhhhhh, of course.... Bali!

So here I sit, stretched out on my lanai in my private "villa" room, with my own pool (the kind that flows completely over the edges) in the middle of a glorious rain forest. By day I hear birds, the river below, an occasional dog bark, now and then a rooster. Every now and then a car horn toots as it navigates the narrow winding road to the hotel. Suddenly there's a huge orchastra of insects. I hardly believe that it is really insects. It must be a generator or something. But the housekeeping "boy" is here and he assures me that they are insects! Hey, hold it down you guys! By night nothing but the river and the crickets and the frogs.

This is a very different Bali from the countryside I saw coming from the airport. We left in a torrential downpour. Traffic for the first 75% of the trip was horrific and motor scooters wended their way in and out of the cars, driving through nearly foot deep flooded roads. When we got away from the major "city" near the airport, we drove on a very narrow two lane road through small towns/villages, every bit as crowded with cars, dogs, walkers and motorbikes. I was pretty sure we were going to run off the side of the road a number of times! Or hit a motorbike. Or a dog! Or a small child!

My driver, Nyoman, talked animatedly about himself, Bali, Balinesians, Ubud, my stay in Bali, the various tours he'd like to take me on (arrange through the concierge and be sure to ask for me), his family (he has 3 sons, 22, 25 and 8). He asked me how old I was! He had the good graces to act like he didn't believe me. He told me about the places I should shop and the places I should eat. He promised that if I book him, he'll show me the best places to buy the best things. As we neared Ubud, the rain stopped and we opened our car windows and smelled Bali. And I got that delicious feeling you get when you are far away from home and you realize, you're somewhere unfamiliar and foreign and nobody in the world who knows you knows where you are!

Along the roadside were huge rock carvings for sale. They are amazing and I've seen some I'd like to own. But how on earth will I take them home? I can't even imagine how much FedEx would charge to ship them!

From what I saw on our drive, I would speculate that there are several Balis; the Bali where people really do live and work, the Inland Resort Bali, and the Beach Resort Bali. I would like to see a bit of the first. I think it will be really hard to leave the second. And for this trip, I don't have much interest in the last. I'll be going to Australia next week. I'll see the Aussies there!

"Floral Bali"

I'm in the middle of a rain forest and I wish Beverly were here. The amazing variety of flora and fauna. It's incredibly lush. From my seat on the lanai I see banana trees, vines dangling from trees, flowers everywhere and a hundred different species of plants and trees. Bever, you need to be here to tell me what everything is.

"Hindu Bali"

Bali is a Hindu island, unlike the rest of Indonesia which is primarily Muslim. But it seems to be a very different Hindu from India. While my driver was quick with the stories that make Hinduism so interesting and high on my list of things to research, it seems to be a very laid back, forgiving version of the faith. Outside my room is this statue of Ganesh, my favorite Hindi god. He's the remover of obstacles. I think I can get behind this guy!