Como Shambhala Estate in Ubud, Bali is already a well-known retreat for the celebrity circuit with guests including as Daniel Craig, Sting and Annie Lennox. This luxury retreat regularly makes the world’s best spas lists – and with good reason.
Bali is known as paradise island, the town of Ubud, in the highlands, about 40km from the airport at Denpasar, has been known as a centre of healing long before Bali was discovered by the western tourist. The location is gorgeous anyway with steep sided valleys set off my rice paddy terraces. Even if you weren’t looking for healing this is the type of enviroment that makes you feel pretty relaxed.
Shambhala Estate is a wellness retreat offering a wide-ranging mixture of treatments including yoga, Pilates, meditation, mountain biking, rock climbing and white water rafting. Estate features include lush rain forest inhabited by a chorus of birds, frogs and the beauty of local butterflies. Monkeys, squirrels and dragonflies will be your companions if you choose to take the 300 odd steep steps all the way down to the the Arang River, where you can cool off in the river.
There are five large residences on the property and a number of smaller villas. The most luxurious is the Bayugita, originally built for a wealthy British expat as his state-of-the-art Balinese retreat. The residence features open-sided teak decks and a private plunge pool as well as an open-sided bathroom complete with spa.
Guests can do as little or as much as this wish. The resort will contact you in advance to see if you have any specific requirements from your stay. There are world-class fitness instructors available as well as ayurvedic doctor, natural therapist, nutritionist and clinical psychologist. There are specific programs including “Stress Relief” and “Lose Weight” and the much less scary sounding rejuvenation program.
For lounging nothing beats the main lap pool which is infinity-edged and offers stunning views of the clearing and forest beyond. There is also a hydrotherapy pool which is fill of local spring water which is chlorine free and is even claimed to have anti-aging properties.
There are three main options for dining at the resort: unless you just decide to have a personal chef whip you up something in your villa or residence that is. Next to the main pool area there is a light snack menu some featuring banana-leaf plates: tasty and healthy. The Glow is the heart of the resort consisting of a modern, open-sided all-day dining restaurant again featuring healthy, tasty food. For more final dining there is the option of Kudos House which offers gourmet meals in a 150-year old Javanese building.
In keeping with the healthy overtones of the resort there are two gyms a conventional fully air-conditioned multi-station gym indoors and an outdoor jungle gym which is used for personal training and includes pull up bars and balancing stations – you might want to get up early for this one and avoid the heat of the day.
If your idea of good holiday is non-stop partying and shopping then Shambhala Estate is probably not for you. If however you need some time out, some stress relief and maybe a little bit of healthy living it sounds like an attractive option.
