Villa Umah Shanti

From the edge of the infinity pool, the Keliki river valley drops away in layer after layer of rainforest, and the only sounds are birds, cicadas and the brook somewhere below. Villa Umah Shanti, whose name means a house of peace, spreads across a hillside garden north of Ubud, with three separate bedroom pavilions stepped down the slope so each couple has its own private corner of the jungle.

The main pavilion is an open, timber-framed living space with teal walls, deep sofas and wide glass doors that fold back to frame the forest like a painting. A dining table doubles as a breakfast bar beside a well-equipped kitchen, and there is a separate study stocked with books and board games for rainy afternoons. Each bedroom has a canopied bed under a mosquito net, its own TV, and a private balcony or terrace looking into the trees, one with a hanging egg chair made for doing nothing at all.

The bathrooms are a highlight, open to the garden with freestanding soaking tubs, stone floors and greenery all around. A friendly team of four looks after the house, breakfast is included, and the staff can cook lunch and dinner on request. Ubud’s cafés, galleries and palace are around a fifteen-minute drive away, close enough for evenings in town yet far enough that the valley feels entirely your own.