I’ve been to Ubud a few times, and each visit, I cannot believe how much busier it the town has become! So for our most recent visit with our 6 month old, we decided we wanted to stay a little further out and just head in via Grab taxi when we fancied it. This ended up being a great decision. We landed on a beautiful property called Arkamara Dijiwa and enjoyed the most magical, tranquil stay with an easy 15 minute drive to centre of town. It just ticked every box and we’d have to put it up there as one of the best hotels in Ubud.
This jungle-inspired retreat was just perfect and so I wanted to write about our experience, and hope it is helpful when deciding where to stay in Ubud. Read on to find out more!
A regular room is around £80 per night, with a pool villa starting at around £120 a night.
Make sure to check out the latest rates and availability here.
Overview
Location
This beautiful hotel is set in the village of Singakerta, just south of Ubud. It’s set in a valley area, with rice paddies surrounding it from one side, and a wall of jungle on the other. It’s quite unlike any setting I’ve experienced before! We coordinated our pickup from Sanur through Arkamara Dijiwa, and they collected us in a lovely vehicle with a car seat to drive us. On arrival to the hotel, we were met by the wonderful friendly staff, little did we know just how often we’d see them throughout our stay. They were just amazing with our little one, greeting him with cuddles and making him have endless giggles.
Arkamara Dijiwa offers a shuttle at set times throughout the day into the centre of Ubud. We tended to get Grab taxis in just because we were never ready at the shuttle times, but the journey was just 15 minutes or so and cost around £4 each way.
As I mentioned above, Ubud has become increasingly busy and actually the fumes from the scooters and the noise was more intense than I remembered. Even if we didn’t have our little one, I would have found it quite intense, and so we loved heading back to our peaceful sanctuary after an Ubud outing!
Review of Arkamara Dijiwa
First Impressions
After check-in, we were led to our room. The route weaved its way through the property, so we got to experience an instant wow moment with the first pool. From there, there was a path behind the main hotel building towards our room, which was a Suite set up near the second infinity pool.
I’ve stayed in some amazing hotels, and of course, Ubud is renowned for gorgeous properties but some of them are incredibly expensive. Arkamara Dijiwa gave us a magical, lush, jungle stay without the hefty price tag. Every part of the hotel has been designed to take in its surroundings, whether the dense tropical foliage or the panoramic views of the surrounding rice paddies. Just beautiful!
The room
I didn’t realise I’d booked a suite until we had arrived. In hindsight, although we loved the space of our room and the outdoor bathroom, we might have preferred one of the regular rooms in the main hotel building. This is because the number of stairs and a bumpy stretch of path meant it was impossible to push our stroller to the door of our room. We had to carry our son and the pushchair separately. Not the end of the world but we’d have preferred to be able to use it to and from our door. So for anyone with any accessibility challenges, definitely book a room in the main hotel building. There’s a lift that serves each floor, and it’s closer to the rest of the facilities with a smooth path to get there too.
Our suite was spacious, with great air conditioning and a stunning outdoor bathroom. Well, semi-outdoor as the shower area was technically covered so that the room was protected against mosquitos.
We also had a private terrace that faced a wall of tropical trees.
The property also has several villas with private pools, and when we return one day, we would also consider splashing out to stay in one of those. They looked stunning and the ones near the spa were also accessible (but not those near the far infinity pool).
Facilities and activities at the hotel
Despite the access issue we faced to get to our room, the hotel was actually very family friendly. There were several other small children staying during our time at the hotel. And whilst there was no kids club or kids pool, the team went above and beyond to cater where needed for small people.
Wellness is the main focus at the hotel and there is the stunning Kamalini Spa and also the Yoga Shala. I enjoyed a fantastic complimentary sound bathing session which was incredibly relaxing and restorative. Check the weekly schedule as it was only on once during our 4-day stay, with two local experts hosting the session.
Other wellness activities include things like Full Moon meditation and blessing, chakra blessing, and floating sound journey in the upper infinity pool.
At the spa, we also enjoyed a lovely foot massage one morning whilst it was a little rainy.
There is no gym but they offer daily morning hikes to the nearby rice paddies. We could also see on Strava several running routes nearby. If you’re a fan of padel there’s also courts nearby too!
The hotel really places emphasis on local experiences. There were round a dozen different activities to try such as cooking classes, incense crafting, creating canang sari (a traditional Balinese offering) and making Balinese boreh (a local body scrub).
Food and drink
Kaukau restaurant is the beating heart of the hotel. It’s where breakfast (included), lunch and dinner are served, as well as the location for cooking classes and demonstrations. They also do special Cultural Dinners and a Nusantara BBQ, so guests can an amazing all-you-can-eat Balinese BBQ.
On the rooftop of the main hotel building is Juggan Sky, which offers beautiful panoramic jungle and rice paddy views. They have a different menu up there, together with excellent cocktails, which we really enjoyed.
Breakfast was a true highlight each day. They had a build your own menu type of experience, where you could pick four menu items ranging from Western, Indonesian, sweet and savoury. In addition to this you could order unlimited coffees and juices. I loved the dragonfruit smoothie bowl, followed by a delicious bowl of Mie Goreng and other tasty small plates.
The staff and service
Because of the hotel’s size, you really get to know the staff and see them throughout the day. We had so many friendly faces to greet every day and they made such a fuss of our little one. In fact, they loved playing with him so much. Sometimes they’d take him to see the koi fish ponds so we could eat our dinner in peace. We’d pop over to see him giggling away with them.
We also did a half day Bali trip to the rice paddies and the Tirta Empul Temple. The driver was Yogik, one of the team at Arkamara Dijiwa. He took such great car of us and ensured the car seat was safely fitted for our little one.
The Most Magical Hotel in Ubud
So there you have my overview of what I truly believe is one of the best hotels in Ubud. We couldn’t fault it, bar the slightly difficult access with our stroller. Arkamara Dijiwa gave us the most wonderful jungle experience and perfect respite from the hustle and bustle of Ubud.
I hope this guide helps in planning your trip to Bali and deciding on whether to stay at this beautiful jungle retreat. Make sure to check rates and availability here.
If helpful, do take a look at my other Bali blog posts here:
- Sanur, Bali: A Complete Travel Guide
- Bali Beach Hotel: The Best Resort in Sanur, Bali
- Intercontinental Bali Resort in Jimbaran: The Best Luxury Family-Friendly Hotel in Bali
- The Best Beach Clubs in Bali – Updated Jan 2026
- Two Must-See Temples in Bali: Tirta Empul and Uluwatu Temples
- Sundays Beach Club: Spending a Day at One of the Best Beach Clubs in Bali
Feel free to ask any further questions below if there’s something I haven’t covered.
Disclaimer: My visit to Arkamara Dijiwa was an independent visit paid for by myself. And as always, my reviews are entirely honest and my own.
