Bambu Indah

Bambu Indah began in 2005 when the jewellery designer John Hardy and his wife Cynthia shipped eleven antique Javanese bridal houses to Bali, restored their carved teak and set them on a ridge above the Ayung River outside Ubud. What was meant as a guesthouse for friends became a hotel, and the Hardys went on to found the Green School nearby, so the bamboo architecture that their daughter Elora's studio Ibuku has made famous appears here in its earliest and most personal form.

Today there are 24 places to stay. The teak houses near the entrance suit families best; the newer bamboo houses stand on the river side, among them the Copper House with its large copper bathtub and the moon shaped ones; and a handful of nests and tents serve those who want almost nothing between them and the jungle. All have open air bathrooms, copper fittings hammered by local craftsmen and beds cooled by air conditioned canopies rather than a chilled room.

Most of the day is spent down by the river. More than fifteen spring fed pools, a rope swing, hanging chairs and bamboo cabanas line the water below the ridge, and a fire heated pool is used for private Watsu sessions. Vegetables come from the permaculture garden and mushrooms from the farm on site, breakfast is taken at the riverside warung, and guests are invited to join the seven o'clock village walk or the seasonal rice harvest.