Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

If you think of luxury at the highest level when you think of Ritz-Carlton, you are right. Anyone who believes that this cannot be improved upon is not familiar with the reserves of this traditional hotel brand. There are just seven of them worldwide. One of them is located on the outskirts of Ubud and is so exclusive that the access road is easy to miss. At the end of an alley barely wide enough for a car, there is an impressive pavilion in the traditional Wantilan style, which serves as a reception and bar, but above all as a breathtaking vantage point. Situated on the edge of a mighty rock, it overlooks the entire ten-hectare reserve in a valley of the Ayung River. You have to look closely to discover the 60 refuges in this lush green hidden object. Mine is a 430 m2 Riverfont Pool Villa at the bottom right of the picture. It consists of a main building with bedroom and bathroom as well as a garden cottage with sliding glass doors that serves as a lounge and dining room. At least as impressive as the ambience of dark wood and precious Balinese furniture and batik fabrics is the almost monastic tranquillity that surrounds you here. Shielded by high walls and dense jungle, only the sound of the Ayung River and the gentle lapping of the pool can be heard.

Would you even want to leave such a paradise during your stay? Not really. Why should you do it anyway? Because a little further downstream, the bamboo cocoons at Kubu at Mandapa serve an unforgettable 10-course meal with the best ingredients from a maximum radius of 100 km. Because Bali's most beautiful spa with terraces and outdoor treatments awaits just a bend in the river. Because a morning walk through the hotel's own rice fields is like meditation. And because a breakfast of hand-pulled ramen, caviar scrambled eggs and cold-brewed Java coffee awaits you afterwards at Sawah Terrace.

Test highlight
A rafting tour with champagne on the hotel's own jetty