Tour Bambu Indah, a Balinese hideaway akin to the Garden of Eden

Bali’s natural beauty has long captured the hearts and minds of many, with the Indonesian island being a sought-after travel destination for many years. From catching waves in Uluwatu to watching the sunset in a bustling beach bar in Canggu, Bali is a small island with much to offer. However, it’s in Ubud, a small town in the heart of the island, where Bambu Indah Resort has laid down its roots. Nestled into the surrounding rainforest, the boutique hotel melds into its context – crafted from bamboo, eleven antique Javanese bridal homes sit upon a cliff top looking down across the paddy fields.

Bambu Indah, Ubud

The resort was founded in 2005 by Canadian-American jewellery designer John Hardy and his wife, Cynthia Hardy. What began as a destination for friends and family to come and stay, eventually became available to the rest of the world in 2012. A captivating concept, the couple integrated treasures they collected during their travels, adding an antique charm to the bamboo architecture.

Embracing the importance of artisanship and locally made products, Hardy told Wallpaper*, ‘We were more than a jewellery business. We made everything and anything for a home, objects for life. This philosophy was brought into the resort; every lodge is a jewel: unique, handmade and different from the next one.

When people think about hotels, they often think about two-room possibilities; Bambu Indah is full of people moving around. It’s an experience and a joy to see how many different ways we found to build rooms and spaces for people.’

The environment, is really what gives Bambu Indah its wow-factor. Guests can dine and relax next to the river, bathing in one of the site's natural pools or cooling off under waterfalls. Connecting the recently-renovated upstairs restaurant, bar, pool area and vegetable garden is a series of bamboo bridges and walkways – a grounding stroll through nature that leaves the bustle of Ubud town, far behind you. A hand-dug bamboo elevator is a local feat of engineering that transports guests to dinner and beyond.

Bambu Indah, meaning beautiful bamboo in Indonesian, also offers sustainably-conscious dining with its Tembaga restaurant, with a menu focusing entirely on regenerative and adaptogenic food – including fragrant laksas, locally-sourced fish and a rotating salad menu – where everything is sustainably driven and designed to benefit your gut microbiome. Guests can take their breakfast or lunch, served in a bamboo pod, hoisted over the bubbling river.

With surrounding tamarind and Bayan trees garnished with flourishing cinnamon and palm, it is easy to understand why many travellers are drawn to this regenerative garden of Eden; what brought the designers to Bali 50 years ago. Hardy added: ‘I remembered when I arrived in Bali after a very long and rough road bus ride. The driver stopped at a bridge and made an offering to the spirits of the river for permission to pass.

This made us realise there was something else present in Bali that wasn’t in other places where we’ve been in our lives. Many places have islands, beaches, mountains, forests and also rice fields, but only one place has the Balinese, and that’s Bali. Many people say tourism spoils places; I feel like Bali spoils its tourists. It’s a conscious place, a different experience.’

Bambu Indah is located at Jl. Baung, Sayan, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia, bambuindah.com