The Most Unique Boutique Hotels in Ubud (2026)

This is my favourite boutique hotel in Ubud. It was the home of the architect and art collector Hendra Hadiprana, and it still feels like it.

It’s a 6-hectare estate of rice paddies and lotus ponds, full of antiques and stone sculpture. If you’ve heard of The Chedi Club in Ubud, this is it. It was renamed in 2020, and some booking sites still use the old name.

Every stay comes with a butler, afternoon tea and a cocktail hour. I think the service is the best in Ubud.

I’d book a Club Pool Villa, with an infinity pool that runs out over the paddy. The entry Club Suite is beautiful but has no pool, so you’re paying for the estate rather than the room.

The catch: the restaurant is expensive, and I’d eat in Ubud instead. I think some of the furniture is looking tired, and the mosquitoes still get through.

It’s not walkable, but the free car gets you to town in 10 to 15 minutes. The airport is 1 to 1.5 hours away.

Kids are welcome, there’s a kids pool and babysitting can be arranged. It’s still a grown-up place, though.

Pita Maha gets you your own pool villa without paying 5-star prices. About 24 villas step down the side of the Campuhan valley, laid out like a Balinese village, and most have a private pool.

It’s named after the Pita Maha artists’ group, founded in 1934 by an Ubud prince with the painters Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet.

I love the staff and the view. Yoga and afternoon tea are free, and a free shuttle gets you into Ubud in about 10 minutes.

I’d book a valley-view villa with a private pool, or the Honeymoon Pool villa as a couple. Not every villa has a pool, so make sure yours does.

The catch: it’s showing its age. I think the villas feel a bit old, and the food is the weakest part of a stay. The villas are spread out with stairs between them, and there’s no gym.

It’s about 1 hour 15 to 1.5 hours from the airport.

Don’t mix it up with The Royal Pita Maha, a bigger, dearer resort on the Ayung River. Pita Maha is the one on Jalan Raya Sanggingan.

Bambu Indah has the most unusual buildings in Ubud. Jewellery designers John and Cynthia Hardy built it on the Ayung River in Sayan. There are bamboo houses, antique Javanese teak homes, a treehouse and a spring-fed natural pool.

You get around on bamboo bridges, and there’s even a bamboo lift down the gorge.

I’d book a Moon house, or the Treehouse if you can get it. It books out early.

The catch: the cheaper houses. I find the ground-floor and rice-field houses damp and musty, with bugs. The front desk can be hard work, the menu is short and pricey, and the river is loud at night.

So I’d only book it at the top. If the budget only stretches to an entry house, I think Pita Maha is the better buy.

Kids are welcome, and there’s a kids pool. There are no TVs in the rooms. It’s 15 to 20 minutes to central Ubud, and 1 to 1.5 hours from the airport.

Tjampuhan is Ubud history you can afford. It was built in 1928 as the royal guesthouse of Ubud Palace, and it’s one of the oldest hotels in Bali.

The painter Walter Spies built his house and studio here, and you can book it as a villa. The Pita Maha artists’ group started here in 1934.

It sits where two rivers meet, by the start of the Campuhan Ridge Walk, and it’s a 15-minute walk to Ubud Palace. There are two pools and a spa grotto with spring-fed jacuzzis.

I’d book a Premier Raja Room, away from the road. If the history is the point, or there are three or more of you, book the Walter Spies house.

The catch: it’s the biggest hotel here, and the most worn. It’s built down a steep hillside, so expect lots of steps. I think the rooms by the road are noisy, some bathrooms are tired and the cleaning is patchy.

Ask for a room near the lobby if stairs are a problem, and one with air-con.

It’s the cheapest hotel on this list, and about 1 hour 20 from the airport. Kids are welcome, and there’s a kids pool.

If you love art, you’ll love this. The resort sits inside the Agung Rai Museum of Art. You get direct access to the museum, and there are Legong dance shows, cultural workshops and 6 hectares of gardens.

About 40 rooms and villas are spread through the grounds in Pengosekan, about 10 minutes from central Ubud by car.

I’d book a Superior Villa, with its own pool, an outdoor bath and a fish pond on the path. The rooms are the cheapest way in, but the villas are the reason to come.

The catch: I don’t think the rooms are well soundproofed, and the food isn’t much good. The paths are a maze, too. I’d ask for a villa away from the walkways and the dance stage.

It’s about 1 hour 15 to 1.5 hours from the airport.

For the most drama for your money, I’d look here. The suites and villas are stacked down a jungle ridge in Payangan. The three-tier pool is built like a rice terrace, with a giant stone statue watching over it.

It’s more of a small modern resort than a character hotel. But it’s adults only, and I think it’s the most consistently good hotel on this list.

I’d book a Jungle Villa or a Valley Villa, which come with their own heated pool. I’d skip the Jungle Suite if a private pool is the point, as it doesn’t have one.

The catch: it’s out on its own, about 30 minutes from Ubud and 1.5 to 2 hours from the airport. Check-in is 4 pm, which is painful after a red-eye. The small stuff comes up too: tired towels, weak showers, geckos at night and a glass-walled toilet you can see from the sink.

Don’t confuse it with The Kayon Resort, an older hotel by the Petanu River.

Puri Sebali is the cheap way to wake up over rice terraces. The suites and private-pool villas sit on a ridge above the Sebali rice terraces, with an infinity pool over the jungle.

I love the staff and the views, and the yoga and morning treks are free. I think it’s great value too.

I’d book the Royal Panoramic Suite, which looks over the rice terraces from its balcony. That’s the sunset room.

The catch: you’re about 3 km out of town, and the shuttle runs only twice a day. I don’t think the private villa pools are always kept clean, so I’d stick with the suite.

It’s about 1.5 hours from the airport.

For paddy views close to town, this is a solid pick. It’s built around rice fields on Jalan Suweta, about 5 minutes’ drive from the Palace.

I think it’s the best-run of the cheaper hotels here, with great staff, a good breakfast and good pools.

I’d book a Lanai Room, on the ground floor with a paddy view, as the cheapest way in. For your own pool, book the One Bedroom Pool Villa.

The catch: it’s the least unusual hotel on this list. It’s humid and insects get in, ants included. There are no TVs either.

As of May 2026, underground cable works had started along Jalan Suweta. I’d ask the hotel if they’re still going.

It’s about 1 hour 20 from the airport.