Magatama Sebatu Resort — Hotel in Pulau Bali

TLDR: Yes. I recommend this place and I want to go back. All photos taken on the property with iPhone 13 mini without filters. Expect local architectures and services.

Room: Bamboo (Duplex) Date: Apr16-18, 2023

Landscape: 5 star. You have to drive up to the villa; all the buildings on this property are built on a hill and facing the bottom of a valley. It's an isolated place. NO OTHER BUILDINGS IN BETWEEN YOU AND THE FOREST AND RICE TERRACE. Yes, you have your private (small) rice terrace view. No, no other tourists are in the valley (nor in your photos); this quiet valley is only for around 10 guests (and farmers) of this villa.

Room: My room is made of natural materials, stone and bamboo. I love the exotic/local style; but you have to set your expectation differently. I stayed at Conrad Bali Resort before Magatama Sebatu Resort. Conrad was completely modern experience, very Hilton, with beautiful local touch. Magatama, on the other hand, was local sourcing with the ambition to provide modern quality. You have everything you need here: fridge, air con, hair dryer, power adapters, wifi, hot water, kettle, mini bar, and bath tub. The local side of this room was, made by bamboo, squeaking sounds, not sound proofed (a very quiet valley tho, you only hear chirping), doors can't be completely closed. I personally love this kind of exotic/local living experience (while having everything I need to work remotely).

Location: 15 min away from the famous Tegallalang Rice Terrace (but no, thank you; that's too busy and touristy. I have my own Rice Terrace view from my room. I rode to there only for Circle K). 30 min away from Ubud center. The roads to this property are unpaved (great for young couples to have adventurous, exotic, rocky ride. Don't expect your grandparents would appreciate the bumpy road). The villa manager reported that the local government had had the plans to fix this problem.

Services: Super friendly and helpful staff. The Villa staff was always there to help. The staff also provided recommendations for sightseeing (I even asked a front desk if I should get a sarong, and she started explaining the cultural background and where to wear). The service infrastructure wasn't as strong as international brand; they didn't have mobile apps for check-in, room services, and questions. However, the management team used Whatsapp to provide similar experience. I ran out of hot water at night on the first day; I texted and they sent people to fix the problem in 5 min. I confirmed my breakfast in person on the first day and through Whatsapp on the second day. The Villa has on-demand meals and Spa, all delivered into your room. The Spa was decent but the food wasn't the best based on the price. Credit card has 3% surcharge.

Side note: Before I went there, I was suspicious about the photos of vapor over water in other reviews. Yes, it's real and visible. You just need to wake up early. It shows up soon...

It is a very beautiful property with the essence of the nature. They have four villas named, MAHAGONI, BAMBU & ALBASIA, JATI & LOBBY. We had stayed in Mahagoni. This property is quite away from the central Ubud city, although the property is great but during the night it gets scary, as there are no street lights outside the property & also he road to the property is quite difficult to fine moreover it is a broken road. The lighting in the room is quite dim. Moreover we had a bad stay experience at night, as frogs would get into the room through the gap in between the wall & the roof. Also the front wall of the property is made of wood with hollow spaces, so the frogs came from that space as well. There is a lizard named Gecko which is very creepy, gets into the room from the gaps & spaces & makes strong weird noise at nights which will surely not let you sleep as it didn't let us sleep. You might have a horrifying experience as we had experienced it already. You would find such reptiles in all of the Ubud as it is surrounded by jungle. The food here is good but you might not get much of the vegetarian options. Also food delivery options are also available in the location through Grab & Gojek, but as the property is quite far away from the city center the order can also get cancelled, so order accordingly. Also the swimming pool is huge with a great view of forest. Completely calm & peaceful place to stay (Only if there are no creepy insects & reptiles getting into the room). Although the staff is very humble & helpful.

Suggestions: Take instant food packets, torch, mosquito repellant along with you. Also, never keep your luggage's open. As frogs or gecko's might...

Overall the facilities are beautiful. It’s in the middle of no where outside of Ubud and the view is incredible. The staff are also very nice and helpful. They really try to give you everything you need and help you. If it were up to this I would have rated 5 star.

The food is awful. Haha genuinely awful. It’s usually cold and small portions. Even the Balinese food is quite flavourless. Usually came an hour after ordering and cold. Although, it’s very reasonably priced and the standard is similar to other restaurants and warungs in the area. So expect below average food for your whole stay here.

Probably the worst thing about this place for our stay was the construction going on next door and on the road which we were not warned about at all before we came. No afternoon naps for us. ALSO be warned there are roosters EVERYWHERE. And they all crow at 5:30 in the morning. For about an hour. Hundreds of them.

If you come definitely ask for any room but mahogani. Despite the oversized pool we had, the room lacked privacy and seemed to be the most noisy. Based on other reviews recently I expect other rooms didn’t have this experience.

It’s close to lots of waterfalls and rice paddies and is really fun and easy to ride scooters...