I am a Travel Writer and This Bali Resort with Lush Rainforest Views Is In One of the Most Beautiful Places I've Ever Visited

"I was caught off guard one morning as I sat on the terrace of my villa at Anantara Ubud Bali Resort, set in a forested part of the island's central highlands. The time change from New York had woken me just at sunrise, and I was in my robe in the cool, still air, looking out at a lush ravine with a cup of coffee."

"Instead, it was the simple fact that this part of Indonesia is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, with scenes and landscapes that demanded my calm attention: bright-green rice terraces fringed with palms, temple grounds with mossy stone structures, and pools rippling in the rain. Little bursts of flowers popped everywhere in the form of canang sari, the small offerings in Balinese Hinduism: palm-leaf baskets on shrines, bridges, beaches, sidewalks, with incense laid over piles of blossoms and thin-sliced pandan leaves."

A visitor experienced unexpected stillness on a villa terrace at Anantara Ubud Bali Resort in Bali's central highlands, waking at sunrise to a lush ravine. Frequent, involuntary meditative moments occurred amid vivid scenery: bright-green rice terraces, moss-covered temple grounds, and rain-rippled pools. Small canang sari offerings appeared throughout the environment. The resort opened in fall 2024 outside Ubud and was designed by Aboday Architects and EDC International to showcase the natural setting. Buildings descend a river valley, most spaces include glass walls facing the Payangan rainforest, and villas are reachable by open-air cable cars along the hillside.

Read at Travel + Leisure