Experience the Real Bali, High in the Mountains at Villa Uma Ubud Vacation Rental by Owner Listing 15292
Location: Ubud, Ubud Area, Bali, Indonesia, Asia (15 minutes North of Ubud)
Accommodations: Villa, 2 Bedrooms + Other (See Description), 2 Baths (Sleeps 4-5)
Photographs cannot prepare you for the awe-inspiring views from every corner of Villa Uma, perched high in the rice terraces and mountains just north of Ubud. Situated in north Ubud in the village of Kebon approximately 1 hour 15 minutes drive from Denpasar Airport, and just 20 minutes north of central Ubud. Villa Uma is a fully appointed 2 bedroom private rental villa, with a warm and experienced staff to ensure a memorable stay.
The Villa is located just at the edge of a pristine Balinese village, just 15 minutes from the shopping, wonderful restaurants, and spa treatments of Ubud, 25 minutes from Kintamani Mountain and 40 minutes from the best beach in Bali (for which we provide directions).
Enjoy magnificent meals on one of the terraces or by the pool. The chef will be happy to prepare local or western cuisine (choose from our menu or just ask them to prepare 'home style')for you and your guests. Evenings are cool so bring a light sweater to enjoy the outside air. If you turn out lights, be prepared to experience the magic of fire flies which light up the ridge in the evening.
Villa Uma offers 2 private master suites each with unobstructed views of the valley, rice fields and mountains. The fully appointed rooms have King Size beds and en-suite bathrooms, which are open to the sky and feature modern facilities.
The villa is not recommended for children due to its cliffside setting. Please contact us to view an online photo album.
PRESS:
PERIPLUS EDITIONS, "New Wave Architecture and Design on Bali", "A Tropical Mountain Retreat"
ESQUIRE MAGAZINE, May 2004, Vol 18. No. 5, Japanese edition... "Most stylish reatreat in Ubud"
Except from D+A Design and Architecure Asia Article:
"A PEACE OF UMA"
by Vincent Lim
A salad is on the lunch menu. Ketut is seen in action, knife in hand, doing a brisk walk to the end of the pool where he disappears to the slope below and returns with a ginger flower. The stalk of the pink flower mostly ends in a vase on the dining table. But part of it is scraped off, like the fine flakes of bonito, to gently flavor the boiled long bean salad that is tossed with desiccated coconut. The taste is fresh and real, like the experience of staying at Villa Uma.
Situated not far from the village of Kebon in Ubud, Villa Uma is reached by a lone road, a narrow and winding country track that can only be accessed by jeep. Thankfully, the road is too challenging for a tour coach to negotiate.
Villa Uma is by no means, not even by a long shot, a Balinese house. It makes no pretense about creating its own "authentic cultural cosmos" as most resort style villa would. You will not find a design, replete with thatched alang alang roof to sell you that desire here. Instead, this cosmopolitan dream owned by Christopher Noto (of Pagoda House Gallery), is a gentle glass edifice perched on a steep slope overlooking a valley, with a tapestry of padi fields laid out at its base. There is nothing but verdant landscape. Villa Uma sells you splendid isolation, albeit one that is within close contact with the real Bali.
There are constant sounds of ritual music from the village temples nearby. And if you feel like it, you can ride out to the villages and Padi Fields that surround the villa. The photographer and I did. We let Ketut and Made pillion us on their scooters round country roads, going by several banjars, for that hair-in-the-wind experience before we had a spot of fun-filled scrambling down rice terraces.
You are in an environment where the ethereal Balinese fragrance of incense and jasmine is constantly mixed with the heavier green smell of the forest that lies just outside your door.
Designing the villa as a two-story glass mono-pitched pavilion makes a lot of sense. Why would one want walls to lock views when the latter is so spectacular? And the house is oriented such that it captures the most dramatic space volume of the valley as seen from the Villa Uma vantage. The immediate feeling one gets in the villa is expansive and soaring space; the architecture is in clear resonance with the terrific natural space volume that the site is blessed with.
Immediate spaces such as decks and patios layer the internal spaces of the villa outwards, towards the piece de resistance - the swimming pool; where at night, Ketut and Made will line the pool edges with delicate banana leaf lanterns.
The interior design of the villa follows through the modern theme of the architecture with a cosmopolitan mix. The upper story bathroom features a bedhead panel that is more modern Thai than Balinese. Elsewhere in the villa, there is a good mix of modern Javanese style furniture; all put together by Noto with tasteful restraint.
Expect stylish plating done with a modernist sensibility when you eat at the villa. The yogurt you get for breakfast, instead of the standard Balinese jaffle, comes on a simple white dish - it's like a taste of Sydney on a plate in a remote part of Bali, And Ketut and Made, instead of being clothed in Balinese costumes, wear uniforms that are modern takes on traditional silhouettes, all in the kind of stark monochromes that would make Yohji Yamamoto proud.
Expectedly and sensibly, the bathrooms are open concept. They sit on balconies that offer uninterrupted views of the valley where distant vista is layered by mature trees in the foreground. Privacy is thrown to the winds although there is really no cause for worry as there is not a hamlet in sight.
At night, there is not even a speck of lantern light out there. There is no reflected electric light to create an unnatural haze, such that when the moonlight is strong, everything is bathed in a silvery light that makes the outlines of objects almost opalescent. At Villa Uma, the sound of the night, except for your own breathing, is only that of cicadas. The peaceful isolation buys you lucidity of mind. And deep, deep, rest."
May 2004
Vacation Rental Features
- Amenities
- Air Conditioning
- Washer
- Dryer
- Linens Provided
- Garage
- Covered Parking
- Beds
- King Bed
- Crib
- Entertainment
- Cable/Satellite TV
- DVD
- CD Player
- Stereo System
- Music Library
- Private Pool
- Kitchen
- Full Kitchen
- Cooking Utensils Provided
- Refrigerator
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Catering Available
- Outdoor Features
- Deck/Patio
- Balcony
- Lanai
- Gazebo
- View/Location
- Mountain View
- Communications
- Telephone
- Cell Phone
- Other Amenities
- Full-time cook, manager & cleaning staff, Book Selection, Driver available
- Suitability
- No Pets Allowed
- Activities (on site and nearby)
- Shopping
- Sightseeing
- Restaurants
- Rafting
- Waterskiing
- Parasailing
- Jet Skiing
- Swimming
- Snorkeling/Diving
- Surfing
- Windsurfing
- Mountain Biking
- Wildlife Viewing
- Hiking
Rate Details (In US Dollars)
Low Season : January 10th - May 1st USD$300
High Season: Chinese New Year & Easter Holidays USD$400
High Season : May 01st - November 1st US$400
Low Season : November 1st - December 13th USD$300
Peak Season : December 13th - January US$450
* Breakfast and services of 3 full time staff included (inc. Cook)
Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.
Property Photos
- Private Pathway through ricefields to Villa Uma - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel - Experience the Real Bali, High in the Mountains at Villa Uma!
- Soaring ceilings, double height window walls and wraparound views! - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel - Experience the Real Bali, High in the Mountains at Villa Uma!
- Incredible views from the outdoor bathrooms. - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel - Experience the Real Bali, High in the Mountains at Villa Uma!
- Twilight is pure magic at Uma
- One of the lofty bedroom suites at Villa Uma
- Refreshing dip at uma
Vacation Rentals by Owner Listing #15292
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Date last modified - May 14, 2009
