Bisma Eight Ubud

What’s better than a Balinese boutique hotel? A Balinese boutique hotel with a Japanese twist, that’s what. We’ll take your infinity pool and raise you a handcrafted Japanese-inspired soaking tub in every room; we’ll take your peaceful jungle setting and up the ante with minimalist design, yoga on the rooftop, and an impossibly picturesque, almost-too-cute-to-eat breakfast. That’s the idea at Bisma Eight, a 38-suite hotel right in the center of Ubud. This is Bali’s artisan capital, and the designers have taken proper advantage of that fact. But it’s different from what you’d expect here, and that’s part of its appeal.

Suites are divided into three self-explanatory categories: Garden, Canopy, and Forest. It’s a two-story hotel, and garden suites are on the ground level. They feature king-sized beds — conveniently screened off, if you wish, from the adjacent living areas — and private gardens. Upstairs, Canopy suites have private balconies, lined with bamboo and planted with ivy. The ace is the Forest suite, each one like a miniature treehouse, with private balconies and terraces that seem to jut out over the jungle, offering panoramic views over the jungle below. Every suite comes with a Japanese tub, electric kettle, and wi-fi. Technically, you could drink tea and check Instagram while submerged in steaming hot water, but we’d recommend, at least with respect to the longevity of your mobile devices, savoring those particular pleasures separately.

Elsewhere at Bisma Eight, there’s a fitness center, a great pool and sun deck, and a library that stocks poolside reading material. You could also pick up a cappuccino and a magazine at the onsite Library Café. The hotel’s signature restaurant, the Copper Kitchen & Bar, does contemporary Asian cuisine. But you’re also just a fifteen-minute stroll the center of Ubud with all its bars, cafés, and shops. Go to town and have a ball. Holding it close to the vest or not, you’ll know you have a gem of a Japanese jungle retreat to return to when the night is over.