Paradise Is Still Intact at the Four Seasons Resort Sayan

The Four Seasons has successfully reproduced an authentic Bali hotel experience at Sayan, just outside the mountainside artisans’ town Ubud. (Photos courtesy of Four Seasons Sayan)

If you’re after an authentic Bali experience, Ubud is the place to be. With all of the development happening island-wide this mountainside town is where to find paradise, because for the most part it is still intact.

The place takes its name from ubad, which means medicine in Balinese, and is considered Bali’s cultural center, because it is home to many of the island’s most gifted artisans.

The Jakarta Globe was recently invited to the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan in Ubud to see and experience the property, not to mention revel in the best Ubud offers.

An arriving guest’s first encounter of the property is not a lobby, but instead a long wooden bridge with unobstructed views of lush hillside vegetation. No other building is visible as far as the eye can see, provoking a “lost in paradise” feel, especially when one enters at night.

At the end of the bridge is no front desk either, rather a round lotus pond and a descending staircase. As guests walk down to the lobby, they will soonrealize that they just entered through the roof of the building. From the lobby patio the Ayung River is visible, and the tranquility of the natural surroundings is only broken by the sounds of the flowing river and the occasional distant noises of people river rafting.

From a distance, the setup of the resort looks somewhat like a scene from ascience-fiction movie in which an alien mothership is found in the middle of the rainforest, slightly covered in vegetation. The grand, modern building is dominated by dark-brown wood and light-brown limestone, which blends nicely with the greenery. Although the resort only has 60 guest rooms, the property sits on top of a massive 7-hectare terraced hillside — if you don’t feel like walking, golf carts are ready to take you around the property.

Of the 42 villas here, most have only one bedroom, and it’s a fair guess that the majority of guests are honeymooners. Similar to the resort entrance, our one bedroom villa’s entrance is a lily pond with a descending staircase. The look of the villa is modern Balinese, with highlights of natural and rustic materials. The resort’s associate public relations director, Prhativi Dyah, explained the refurbishment of the villas not only included both new indoor and outdoor furnishings, but Balinese details such as a carved wooden screen featuring a pattern of leaves and birds in front of a glowing red background on the wall behind the bed.

The bathroom of our villa was big, in fact it was much larger than some hotel bedrooms we’ve come across. Compared to the villas overlooking the garden, the riverfront villas have a better view, not to mention a dramatic soundscape provided by the rushing water, which adds apowerful and romantic element to the experience.

During our visit, the resort was hosting a traditional Balinese dinner buffet. We’ve had our fair share of Balinese dinners in fancy resorts throughout Bali, although unfortunately none have lived up to our expectations of authenticity.

So we had low expectations for what the dinner entailed, but as soon as we tried the babi guling (suckling pig) it was clear that the food and beverage team here know what they’re doing. The various local dishes were indeed ripe in local flavor, most apparent with the spiciness of the sambal. From our observationduring the dinner it was an international crowd and we were probably the only Indonesian guests there.

A must-do when staying in the Four Seasons Sayan is a spa treatment at the spa, which — it turns out — is a whole villa dedicated to exclusive and private wellness treatments.

Aside from spa pampering, the resort offers plentiful activities, and one that we took part in was the guided tour of Sayan village, to see how the locals live. Our tour guide comes from the local village, and said that before working for the resort her occupation was to dig for sand by the river.

The resort also has a complimentary daily shuttle to the heart of Ubud, and arranges visits to the town’s hotspots.

Within the room are details of Ubud activities, including what to expect and length of time required. This helps with planning out an Ubud adventure — assuming you can drag yourself away from your comfy honeymoon bed.

Four Seasons Resort Sayan
Ubud, Bali
www.fourseasons.com/sayan/
One-bedroom villas at average rate of $680 per night