Amandari - Spa Review
A Playground for Aman Junkies
by
Evelyn Chen
In
the seventh century, a Hindu priest came to Kedewatan
Village in Ubud, Bali to meditate, and brought
with him a tiger from Java. Before he left, the
priest made a statue of the animal to remind villagers
that this place had been blessed. The temple is
located 129 steps down from Amandari, a rustic
and elegant resort and spa, whose name translates
to “peaceful spirits.”
“The
tiger serves to remind us of the cultural roots
that so closely bind us to the Balinese community
here,” said Liv Gussing, the Amandari’s
general manager, and in the course of our two-day
stay, we came to realize just how interwoven the
Amandari is with the local community. For instance,
local villagers unobtrusively make use of the
hotel’s pathways to access their rice fields.
The resort also sponsors a daily traditional Balinese
dance class for children from the village.
Culture
aside, Amandari is the birthplace of Ubud’s
first infinity pool and recipient of countless
awards. Though it opened some sixteen years ago,
the resort shows none of its age but all of its
maturity. The first upscale luxury resort to appear
in Ubud, Amandari is an elite development sitting
on an escarpment above the Ayung Valley. It was
designed as a walled Balinese village with only
thirty private villas connected by paved footpaths.
Lush foliage flanks both sides of the footpaths
while Hindu mini-shrines pepper the pathways throughout
the entire resort.
A
luxurious sense of space permeates the open-air
lobby, which is designed like a traditional Balinese
meeting place. Our villa was a short walk from
the lobby. Huge by any standard, this thatched
roof suite came with a romantic outdoor sunken
marble bathtub and access to a gigantic swimming
pool. By the pool, a private bale overlooks the
valley plantation.
Unlike
many other luxury resort spas that invest heavily
in renovations and unique concepts to make their
spa a destination, the Amandari has kept things
simple yet charming. The spa offers two open-air
bales, a beauty room, sauna and marble steam room.
Guests will find the usual array of massages,
facial and body treatments on the menu, but do
look out for a unique reflexology treatment performed
by Pak Wayan, a blind reflexologist. Wayan is
in such high demand throughout the island that
he only spends Thursdays at the resort, with Amandari
guests flying in from as far as Morocco just to
have a reflexology session with him. The treatment
can be painful, but it is well worth it.
We
also highly recommend the Aman facial, using 100%
natural and organic products, with an expensive
rose essential oil as the main ingredient. It
will send you to nirvana within minutes. For a
different spa adventure, try traditional Balinese
healing. One such healer is Pak Cok, whose work
is described as “magical and therapeutic.”
During our fifteen-minute consultation with him
in his bale sheltered by mature trees, Cok felt
our face with his hands and poked the back of
our toes with his stick to come up with the diagnosis
that we have good mental and physical balance
but that the mind consumes too much energy from
the physical body. Cok plucked a leaf from a tree
in front of his bale and asked that we chew and
swallow it. A drop of honey helped to drown the
bitter aftertaste. It should be noted that traditional
healing has strong roots in Balis and should not
be easily dismissed.
Whether
you come for Cok’s healing hands, more traditional
treatments or just to soak up the informally luxurious
ambience of the Amandari perfected by a beautiful
lush landscape, natural surroundings and highly
personalized services, it is not difficult to
see why this unique property is the favorite playground
of Aman junkies.
Amandari
Kedewatan, Ubud, Bali
Indonesia
Tel: 62 361 975 333
Fax: 62 361 975 335
amandari@amanresorts.com
www.amanresorts.com
| Evelyn
Chen is a Singapore-based
freelance travel writer whose work has
also appeared in About.com's go asia
channel and spa site. She travels regularly
to spa destinations in South East Asia
and has reviewed numerous award-winning
properties in the region. |
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