Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve: A soulful sanctuary in Bali’s jungle heart

Tucked away in the central highlands of Bali, where the lush jungle meets the mighty Ayung River, Mandapa is a sanctuary that masterfully weaves together the rhythms of nature, holistic wellness and local culture

I can breathe again, standing in the sky-high, cantilevered lobby of Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, in Bali’s gloriously green Ubud region. At 250 metres above sea level, we are hovering over the treeline, seemingly floating in the cool, moist air of Bali’s spiritual and cultural heart, and I feel worlds away from the traffic and cacophony of the Indonesian island’s bustling Seminyak and its neighbouring beachside areas. While this sense of sanctum is not particularly unique – it’s one of the reasons people come to Ubud, after all – I have a feeling there will be plenty of treasures to uncover at this celebrated resort.

Mandapa’s grounds span a vast 10 hectares – from the all-encompassing panorama at the suspended lobby and Japanese fusion restaurant, Ambar, 76 metres down to the villa-speckled valley and the banks of Bali’s sacred Ayung River, frequently alive with the delighted shrieks of rafters. The resort is anchored by that quintessentially Ubud sight – a rice paddy – that, like the Hindu shrine dating back some 100 years and which is still visited by local villagers, is not just for show. At Mandapa, the magic begins with this captivating resort design that is modelled on the traditional Balinese village.

A sumptuous stay in a private pool villa

The resort’s 35 stately suites are located in the upper reaches of the grounds and boast boundless rainforest views, Meanwhile, my Ubud Pool Villa – one of 25 – looks out onto the vivid green shoots of the rice terraces. Lashings of dark timber offset by vibrant indigenous tapestries add a sense of cosiness to the spacious abode, which features a dressing room and an expansive ensuite (including a separate robot toilet) with a striking tub adorned with an intricate weaving; there are also ornate, round his-and-hers wooden basins and an outdoor shower. The separate lounge room is a mini-villa of its own replete with a TV, dining table and chairs – it opens onto the pool terrace where two shaded loungers lie in wait. Luxurious, accommodating and private, it is a lesson in exclusive villa design, and yet even more opulent lodgings are on offer in the form of the Riverfront Pool Villas and two-bedroom Reserve Pool Villas.

The jewel in the crown, though, is the three-bedroom Mandapa Pool Villa, where my wellness treatments are held while the spa – which normally hosts a vitality pool, yoga pool and meditation temple – undergoes an expansion and refurbishment. With its 2,000-square-metre footprint and sweeping outdoor entertaining space that includes a gargantuan infinity pool, hot tub and romantic gazebo laden with greenery right at the river’s edge, it’s the ideal place to start to unwind and re-centre.

Re-connection through healing practices

The long, firm, flowing movements of my therapist’s hands melt my body and mind during my Blissful Marma Massage, confirming what I had suspected: that Mandapa’s wellness offering is something special. The resort offers complimentary daily wellness classes as part of its Disconnect to Reconnect Wellness Program, which means you can participate in the ancient art of vibrational sound therapy with Tibetan bowls to promote healing and relaxation, perhaps. Try Vinyasa flow yoga to foster a body-mind connection. Or release your inner creative during a mandala art session, inviting mindfulness in the process. Every class (others include aquatic therapy, chakra balancing and quantum healing) has been designed to encourage guests to take a break from the rapid-fire, digitally-driven pressures of daily life in order to reflect and reconnect with the mind, body and spirit.

No Mandapa experience conveys the essence of this ethos more than the exclusive Intuitive Blind Healer session with renowned local Ubud healer Ibu Ketut Mursi, who learned the rare art of identifying energy imbalances from her grandfather. As she and her assistant, Ibu Kis, work on my body through massage and perception, I wonder what she can sense under the surface and whether any truths will come to light. She reveals this through a translator at the end of the session, mentioning (not for the first time) my fast-beating heart in times of stress – along with an ability to stay focused on the task at hand despite what’s going on. I receive a lesson (again, not the first time) on the importance of slowing it down through meditation and stretching exercises, and protecting my energetic field, which is apparently as porous as a sponge. She quickly dismisses some trivial energy imbalances that were easily cleared, yet visibly lights up when she hears my daughter’s birthdate. “Oh!” she exclaims. “She is very special! Her third eye is completely open!”

Mandapa Camp: A new style of kids club

At the incredible Mandapa Camp – not your average kids club thanks to its masterful bamboo architecture – I watch the very same daughter feed cows until they can physically eat no more; make a bracelet with candy-coloured plastic jewels; and go up-and-down, up-and-down the towering slide on both back and stomach, red in the face from the day’s sultry heat while squealing with whole-hearted glee. The world of slides, books, crayons and hand-crocheted toys – including a monkey that somehow makes it into her suitcase – is her special place at Mandapa. Ours involves less activity but just as much colour – in the form of mixologist-crafted cocktails and painterly, produce-rich dishes at one of the resort’s four impressive restaurants, each with a unique cuisine and mood to match.

Dining and drinks with a view

There’s no better place for a sundowner than Ambar Ubud Bar, perched high on a cliff (ambar means ‘sky’ in Sanskrit). This breathtaking restaurant and bar offers flavourful Japanese fusion, handcrafted cocktails and the best sunset view in the house, made all the more memorable by atmospheric live jazz. Sawah Terrace, where breakfast and the Sunday Mandapa Royal Brunch – both exceptional – are served is an impossibly pretty and peaceful spot embraced by the dense jungle with a vantage point over the surging Ayung, and dishing up authentic Indonesian food.

The Pool Bar offers a laid-back change of scene in the valley overlooking the pool and paddies, with a casual menu of crowd-pleasers that’s on point for breezy, swimwear-clad afternoons. Special occasions, meanwhile, call for the romantic, six-course destination degustation nestled into the rice fields at The Gracefield deck. It’s Kubu Restaurant, though, that takes the prize for my most memorable meal at Mandapa. With Balinese chef Eka Sunarya at the helm, our waiter arrives at our table – moodily shrouded in a sculptural, woven XXX – to present course after course (10 of them, in fact) of stellar culinary creativity.

A sustainable zero-waste dining philosophy

The ‘Kubu Experience’ heroes a foraging-based, zero-waste dining philosophy that honours each ingredient from root to leaf – everything is sourced from within 100 kilometres of Mandapa. This sustainable gastronomic journey includes dishes the likes of Plaga Royal Galia Melon (air-dried beef, pickled melon, granita), Tabanan Braised Beans (fermented, braised, crispy), Bali Heritage Pig (pork belly, carbonara espuma, pickled onion), Jimbaran Lobster (with cauliflower textures) and Java Takusen Wagyu. Each dish comes accompanied with an illustrated note that tells the story of the produce: where it was sourced, how the animal or vegetable was raised and farmed, and why it has earned a place on Kubu’s menu.

“A boutique piggery in the highlands of Bali near Baturiti, which focuses on raising an ancient breed native to Bali, traditionally and free-range, feeding them organically – just as their grandparents did,” reads the card for the melt-in-your-mouth, slow-cooked Bali Heritage Pig course. This curated and considered dining experience has it all: flavour, surprise, wonder, romance and playfulness – plus, I never knew beans could taste so good.