The Ubud Village Hotel started its story in 1989 when it became amongst the first hotels to open in Ubud’s Monkey Forest area. Built and run by a local family, the hotel originally started with just 10 cottages, before later expanding to 28 in 1995. The family’s successes with the hotel were epitomised by the opening of a second hotel, The Ubud Village Resort, in 2006, further south in Nyuh Kuning.

Recognising its tired state by 2010, the hotel was demolished and completely rebuilt by the family, now in its second generation. The hotel reopened in 2017 with a four-star hotel with 67 brand-new rooms and suites.

Location

The Ubud Village Hotel occupies a prime plot smack bang in the middle of central Ubud. Precisely, it is located on Jalan Monkey Forest, which hotel the hotel shares with most of Ubud’s high-street shops and restaurants. Nearby is also the Ubud Royal Palace, as well as many of Ubud’s famed galleries. Furthermore, within a 5-minute downhill walk is the aptly named Ubud Monkey Forest, where you’d even find wild monkeys roaming about on the road.

Honestly, the hotel’s location is unparalleled by most others, especially if you hope to do most of your exploring on foot.

Arrival and Check-in

We arrived at the Ubud Village at 12.30, after checking out from the Pita Maha Resort. Due to the hotel’s high occupancy, we were requested to wait for our room to be ready. Regardless, we were invited to take a seat at the hotel’s beautiful living room for the check-in process. There, I was really pleasantly surprised by the design, which reminded me a bit of The Legian in Seminyak.

A friendly front desk host brought to us the registration form and a couple of refreshing welcome drinks. I was surprised at how meticulous the attention to detail was. For instance, the drinks were set very gently on the table by the host. Furthermore, the host kneeled down as she handed us the registration from. Wow, that was some very polished and elegant mannerisms. Colour me impressed! Around 1.5 hours later, our room was finally ready. The same friendly associate gracefully walked us all the way to our room.

Our Junior Suite

We booked a Junior Suite, which had a very marginal premium over its entry-level rooms. The suite is sized at 52 sqm, which I think is on the smaller side for a junior suite in South East Asia. Despite that, it was clean, bright, and nicely appointed. In truth, I do feel that this junior suite looks more like a room than a suite, but I digress.

Right by the door is the foyer, where the closet and minibar are located. In addition, a built-in luggage rack is also convenient placed next to the entrance.

Bedroom

The bedroom takes up the central section of the suite, equipped with a lounge on one side of the bed(s). This section also features a small desk and a television affixed to the wall. The cabinet beneath the television annoyingly resembles a minibar. This left me often confused as to where the minibar went whenever I opened the cabinet, only to realise it’s in the foyer.

In an attempt to make the suite feel even more spacious, there is a window that looks into the bathroom. This isn’t my favourite design choice, but I wasn’t too bothered by it. I was, however, annoyed by the lack of power outlets on the nightstands. To charge electronic devices, one will have to make do with the sole outlet by the desk. What an annoying inconvenience for an otherwise nice room!

In addition, between the wooden elements and the marble flooring, something about the suite’s design really reminded me of the suite we had at Komaneka at Bisma. Hilariously, there is another Komaneka right across the street.

Bathroom

The bathroom is accessed through the double sliding door by the foyer. It itself is equipped with a separate shower and standalone bathtub, in addition to a single sink and toilet. By the side of standalone bathtub is also a small drying rack. The shower cubicle nicely features both a rain and a handheld showerhead. Inside it were the provided shower gel and shampoo, which came in large dispensers.

I’ll say it again that I’m not very fond of standalone bathtubs, and this was no exception. By design, it was difficult to put any bottles of soap or shampoo on the rim of tub, making it quite inconvenient to use. Thankfully, the water pressure in the shower is great.

Balcony and Living Area

The final section of the suite is its living room/balcony that is located just outside the bedroom. This area is entirely open air and overlooks the hotel’s narrow atrium. The area is equipped with a ceiling fan for temperature control. This living room features a small sofa by the centre window bay as well as a table for two. A candle holder is placed on the table, although it actually was devoid of a candle. There’s also a nice-looking carved artwork on the wall. Whilst the space is nice in theory, I didn’t end up going out there often due to the prevalence of mosquitoes.

Dining

Breakfast is included and is served each morning at the Madu Restaurant by the hotel’s pool. The restaurant is open-air, which I think gives it a nice ambiance. In addition to a small buffet, many of the breakfast options were ordered with an à la carte menu. The menu is presented shortly after being seated by the restaurant’s warm and friendly servers, who also proactively offer tea and coffee. Nicely enough, the service here was quick and attentive, unlike larger resorts (looking at you Maya Ubud).

Buffet

Like many buffets on the island, the quality of the food spread isn’t exactly great, although not exactly bad either. This wasn’t a problem at the Ubud Village, since the buffets merely supplemented the à la carte menu. On offer were just some pastries, bread, and cereal, along with juices, yoghurt, fruits, and vegetables. Overall, nothing offensive.

À la carte menu

The made-to-order food from the à la carte menu was much better. For reference, the menu read as the following.

During my stay, I mostly stuck to having their Eggs Florentine. The dish is served with roasted potatoes and a grilled tomato, in addition to streaky bacon. The poached eggs themselves were placed on a piece of toast, and topped with a beautiful hollandaise sauce.

I was honestly very impressed that the kitchen was able to whip up a perfect hollandaise sauce each time. Despite that, by design of placing wilted spinach on toast (instead of an English muffin), the bread inevitably gets soggy. To prevent that, I ended up requesting for the toast to be served on the side. Still, it was pretty good!

I also had a regular fry-up one time, and it tasted and look just as you’d expect. Overall, for what it is, I think the Ubud Village Hotel offers a solid breakfast.

Hotel Grounds and Amenities

Since the hotel is completely built up, there isn’t much greenery spread around. The sole exception to this would be the pathways in the atriums of the hotel, which looked quite nice. Regardless, you won’t see me complaining, given the hotel’s incredible location in the middle of downtown Ubud.

Pool

Whilst the hotel advertises two swimming pools, I was only able to find one. I wasn’t sure where the other pool is located, or whether the decorative-looking pool near the lobby is the second one. Either way, the main pool is located at the back of the hotel, right next to the Madu Restaurant.

Both sides of the pool are lined with sun loungers and there are also a couple of lounge chairs at one end of the pool. For what it is, the pool looks quite nice, if not a bit tight. Despite that, whilst quite small, I think it does its purpose quite well.

Gymnasium

The hotel also has a small gymnasium on the ground floor, between the lobby and the main swimming pool. Likewise, the gymnasium isn’t very large and is a bit spartan. But then again, I don’t think it’s a very amenity here, given that one could easily jog around the Monkey Forest neighbourhood each morning for cardio.

Service

As expected from a small, family-run hotel, the service here is really a delight. Outside the unexpectedly polished host who checked us in, everyone I encountered at the hotel was outstandingly warm and friendly. In particular, the lady behind the front desk was always very convivial and sociable. Whenever I walk past the desk, she’s always there to crack a joke about the weather or otherwise. It felt like going in and out of a friend’s house! How very wholesome 🙂

Overall

Overall, the Ubud Village Hotel is an unexpectedly great hotel. The hotel’s location is next to unbeatable and honestly, the hotel’s offerings are very solid. Between the excellent service and the hotel’s great value for money, I really have no qualms about staying here again. In such a way, I’m very pleased to recommend the Ubud Village Hotel.

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