Hanging Gardens Ubud Hotel in Bali

TripAdvisor and Condé Nast Traveller have both placed this luxurious hotel, located in the heart of the Indonesian jungle, at the top of their World’s Best Swimming Pool 2014 ranking.

The Hanging Gardens Ubud is located in Payangan, a village North of Ubud, and is surrounded by ancient trees, hanging gardens and jungle forest. The hotel owner created the resort concept: a hotel surrounded by nature. The original plot had a very steep slope, a feature that was fully taken advantage of by designing a building from which guests, far from the hustle and bustle of city life, can see the rice plantations of nearby plots and the ancient Pura Penataran Dalem Segara temple through the Ayung river valley. Two cable cars allow guests to easily move around the hotel. The first takes guests from the lobby through four different levels: the bar, private villas, boutique and library. The second cable car runs from the bar to the River Café and spa, overlooking the Ayung River. The resort boasts 38 villas built in contemporary Balinese style on gravity-defying pillars and sloping alang-alang covered roofs.

At the express wishes of the owner the hotel blends harmoniously with the surrounding habitat. Maximum environmental protection and the promotion of local traditions and indigenous style were the objectives from the start. Over 700 local craftsmen worked on the resort construction, taking advantage of traditional local materials, using existing resources and adapting ancestral ideas from their culture. The owner hired local architect Popo Danes to turn this particular vision into reality.

One of the most attractive features of this resort is its pool, the reason for the Condé Nast Traveller and TripAdvisor distinction: a fine-edged, infinity pool that was designed by an expert architect. This split-level pool is lined with slate and seems to emerge from the dense jungle, with undulating curves that give swimmers the unique feeling of literally swimming above the treetops and valley.

It is without a doubt one of the most photographed pools around the globe.