Review of Como Shambhala Estate, by John Weich

For the past decade Bradley Gardner and his wife Debbie have been luring guests with sybaritic service and spiritual surroundings to their luxury resort, COMO Shambala Estate, hidden in the hills around Bali's Ubud. They spent four years transforming the property from a mélange of rice fields into a navigable landscape of technicolor flowers, wild ferns, water gardens and exotic trees and requisite jungle fauna.

The luxury resort is completely isolated behind the indigenous village of Begawan and virtually impossible to find on your own. COMO Shambala Estate is a short drive to some of the island's most visited tourist destinations, including Bali's arts and crafts capital Ubud, the fabled rice fields and the lake region in the north. The entire luxury resort, designed by architect Cheong Yew Kuan in collaboration with the owners, is accessible by a rigorous stone stairway, appropriately dubbed 'stairway to heaven'.

It's best to treat yourself to a three-night stay, or longer. Shorter stays are welcome at certain times of the year, but the full rejuvinating benefits of the luxury resort are gained from a long, relaxing break.

The facilities

Each suite of the COMO Shambala Estate has its own butler, always on call, no task too onerous to perform with a smile. Ask them to recommend secluded spots for afternoon tea; I ended up in a part of the luxury resort I didn't even know existed, in a tiny, hand-carved hut imported from Java that offered a fantastic view of the river. With an 8: 1 ratio of employees to guests, there is always someone nearby eager to lend you a hand. The Balinese-style spa offers secluded treatments overlooking the river. The treatment menu is a long one, and includes Javanese Lulur and Balinese Spice body treatments, volcanic clay and homegrown loofah wraps, yogurt rubdowns and picturesque flower baths, all done outdoors. If you're unwilling or unable to make the walk, they'll bring most treatments to your room.

There are two restaurants at the luxury resort, the hand-carved Kudus House - the entire structure was imported from Java - serving up traditional Indonesian food and the much more modern Biji Restaurant for fusion fare and New World Food. South African chef David King's fare is authentic and fresh, dishes drawn from the estate's own fruit and vegetable gardens as well as its poultry, fish and prawns farms. The exclusive wine list is exquisite and expensive (alcohol in Bali is expensive), and all cocktails are served with fresh juice. There is also an extensive tea offer, including the luxury resort's own blends and homemade cakes and pastries.

The suites

COMO Shambala Estate comprises just 22 suites in all spread across 8 hectares of well-manicured real estate, ensuring visitors not only isolation but also one of the highest employee-to-guest ratio in the world. As with almost all things in Bali, the governing philosophy is one of glorifying nature by blending seamlessly into it, and every suite is directly accessible to trees and gardens. Each room is kitted out with esoteric furniture, baubles and trinkets collected and imported from owners travels throughout the region. No room of the luxury hotel is the same, each exquisitely attended to down to trivial items like banana leaf-wrapped soap and a house concoction to stave off mosquitoes. Guests in each residential cluster must share a communal pool and, in some cases, living room. This is true when the luxury resort is fully booked, but that is rarely the case. Moreover, there are so many pavilions, lounge chairs and couches scattered about the 8-hectare property that there is always somewhere to hide.