Review: Ayung Resort Ubud, Bali 2015

Coming out from Tanah Lot, we hired a car to take us to Ubud. Now, as this was a rather last minute trip, the itinerary was not planned to the level of detail as I would have liked it to be. The driver quoted us IDR400,000, which we haggled to IDR300,000, but was still expensive by Indonesian standards.

Again the driver had difficulty finding the hotel. Though it was easier this time round since it was in broad day light.

Jan 16 2015 to Jan 17 2015 [1 night]

Welcome drinks were served along with a glutinous rice candy, which tasted good. Thereafter we were escorted to our room by an associate, who also introduced the hotel's facilities and services.

After settling down in the room we went for afternoon tea. The associate welcomed us into lounge at the hotel's restaurant, which featured sofas, couches and a small dining area.

The table was made and drinks were served. I thought the associate greeting us was extremely friendly, without being intrusive in any way. A unique touch of Indonesian hospitality, I presume.

The platter was quickly served, and the presentation was beautiful.

Feeling a little sinful from the welcome snacks and the afternoon tea, as well as the upcoming dinner, we felt that a few rounds in the pool was the right thing to do.

We headed out for dinner after the swim. The hotel offers shuttle bus services heading to Ubud town and back, with 3 free services in the daytime and another service at evening, for which every passengers would be charged USD7.50.

We took the evening shuttle bus, which was actually a limousine van to head out for dinner. Before leaving the hotel, the driver introduced himself as Apel and struck up a conversation with us. Apart from perhaps a limited vocabulary, he spoke fluent English and even managed to pop a few Japanese phrases with the two Japanese ladies sitting in front of us.

Apel was very friendly and helpful, recommending restaurants to the Japanese ladies and offering to help us find a guide to take us to Mt Batur the next day.

When we returned after dinner, we found the room has been turned down for the night, with chocolate pralines served on a folded banana leaf with a handwritten goodnight wish.

Since we are leaving for Mt Batur in Kintamani early in the morning, we only slept for a few a hours before getting up to meet our driver at 2am and head down to the volcano to catch the sunrise, which turned out to be spectacular.

Coming back from the volcano, we were tired and famished, and so decided to grab a quick breakfast at the restaurant before getting some rest.

We were again welcomed by the same friendly associate (my sincere apologies for not noting down your name), who guided us upstairs to our seats.

A bread tray was served together tea and orange juice. They have quite an impressive selection of tea featuring, among others, Darjeeling and Early Grey.

Next came a selection of cheese and cold cuts.The smoked salmon was spectacular, and the ham was pretty good too. The cheddar was perfectly edible, though paled in comparison to the others.

For the mains we had ordered some egg dishes. First came the egg Benedict, which we really enjoyed. I especially liked the sauce, which really cleansed the palate as it was a little sour and quite refreshing. I thought it was a kiwi puree, though I later found out from the server that it was actually made with avocado.

This was followed by an egg white omelette, which was soft and well done. We were also constantly offered refills of juice and tea by the friendly servers.

We had a nap after breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Since the hotel was quite a distance from Ubud town, we asked the front desk if we might hitch a ride on the hotel shuttle bus, despite having checked out. The receptionist checked the availability and agreed, saving us the hassle of having to get our own transport.

Again the driver was friendly, introduced himself and struck up a conversation. This time round we kept quiet for most of the ride (since we were still recovering from the trek).

Conclusion
While the hardware of this hotel is good, it is the service that really set it apart and made the experience worthwhile. The hospitality was warm, yet never excessively intrusive. It is also amazing that the drivers consistently managed to strike up friendly conversations with patrons and to proactively make good recommendations for restaurants and tour services.