Wapa di Ume Ubud — Hotel in Pulau Bali

Wapa hotel

What can we say about this place....

We spent 4 nights here as a couple.

Hotel itself feels really relaxing, every place is green with tropical plants from the car park to the far end of the hotel grounds... The hotel rooms a spread wide and far in little blocks of 4 (2 up x 2 down) then there are separate Villa's with private pools.

This hotel is totally in the open area, no windows, just the odd blind for protection.... The rooms have doors/windows (with large gaps).

This hotel is NOT disabled friendly given that every part of it is steps with no lifts.

Staff:- really nice and friendly, anything you want you get and always thanking you...

Room:- we opted for a suite, see attached pictures. The room itself is lovely, large bedroom, large terrace, bath - with wardrobes and then a toilet with walk in shower... The shower is definitely missing that wow factor, in this sort of hotel I'd expect a large rain fall type of shower. The main bedroom is definitely missing a corner sofa or a couple of comfy chairs. The rooms have free bottled water and also has a pay for drinks and a fridge. The room service menu is the same as the restaurant one. We never used the service in room.

POOL AREA:- this hotel has a standard pool and a infinity pool, the main pool is not big by any means, but adequate enough, there are definitely not enough sun loungers for the hotel, it has 3 X twin sets with umbrellas and 2 twin sets on another level with no umbrellas... The towel area is not well looked after and needs a good amount of work on it, it is not maned either. The towels are not in the best condition either... loads of stains on them. There is no waiter service visible at this pool area.

We did walk over to the infinity pool to have a look (far end of hotel), it's a nicer area than the main pool, but again small... This side has a small restaurant/bar here so it would be easier getting a drink... This side has the same problem as the other side, little to no sun loungers.

Hotel Main Restaurant:- this place is situated at the front of the hotel, nice place, with some views down the cliff side/forest. The menu is just right and the food is cooked right, nice and at the right price... You could get a 2 course for 2 people here including a drink for 600k (around £28 sterling). They also a small coffee area here too serving freshly made barista coffee.

We had a BBQ night here, which was all you can eat buffet style .. which was very nice and plenty of food... There was traditional Balinese show that night. This was 600k pp....

SPA TREATMENTS:- We were lucky enough to have been given two free 60 min full Balinese massages... We found the 2 young girls that done them to be really helpful and the treatment to be first class. This was down in a temporary place which was a villa next to reception as the main Spa area is closed due to renovation.

The big downfall to this hotel has to be the Ants, centipedes and gecko lizards in the rooms!. I understand we're in the middle of a forest, but it's something that took me by surprise... Just something I did not get used too. Ask for Ant killer can, they provide them. Come with zip sealed bags for anything you want to eat so you can zip it up, if not the Ants are in them like a duck to water!. Keep your luggage bags zipped up during your stay.

The hotel and rooms have NO TV's at all. So if you have kids or enjoy a relaxing movie this is not your place!.

Hotel offers a "Turn Down" service for your bedroom, just place the Make my room up sign on your outside door for it to happen around 5pm onwards (only noticed this on last night!). They will close off the blinds, curtains, sort your bed out and give you fresh towels.

Hotel offers free WiFi.

The hotel is on main road, but you can't hear the traffic at all. The hotel is just 10/15 min drive to main Ubud town.

The big question, would I stay here again?. No! Unfortunately I just couldn't get over the Ants etc.... nice hotel and...

In the month of April I stayed at Wapa di Ume resort. From my arrival I was greeted with the warmest, most wonderful welcome. I was celebrating my birthday and staff had gone to the trouble to get me a welcome platter of fruit on arrival, a welcome drink, as well as a surprise birthday cake!!! The whole lobby erupted in the birthday song for me and I couldn’t be more pleased! The lead Front Desk Manager Denny was so kind and helpful explaining to me the ethos of this long established resort. In addition to the birthday cake, I was also given a room upgrade and a 200K IDR coupon to the spa. I was personally walked to my upgraded suite by Denny and shown how everything works and settled in. Everyday spent here was a joy and I was so pleased to have chosen Wapa di Ume.

Staff: all staff are so friendly and will always greet you with a warm and genuine smile, along with a hello at whatever time of day. They know everyone by name and are always at hand to help. Really conveniently, they have front desk/concierge available by WhatsApp messaging (in addition to traditionally calling/ going in person) reply is instant and it really was an absolute game changer for me! Everyone was wonderful but Nina, Lita, Sumastra, Sushuman, Denny and the wonderful house-keepers get a special mention.

Cleanliness: the resort is immaculate. My suite was absolutely spotless! Everyday it was refreshed and cleaned to incomparable quality and every evening I was offered a turndown service too. Shared areas are also spotless, down to the crockery and cutlery in the restaurant - everything is gleaming!

Amenities/Resort environment: I have never visited a resort like this. But prior to coming to Bali for the first time this is exactly what I’d imagine. The focus of the resort is on wellness and you can tell as soon as you step foot on the grounds! At the entrance there are pools of Koi fish which you can even feed! There is an open plan to shared areas with incorporation of the outside in and maximisation of breeze and cross ventilation. There is so much surrounding greenery so the air is fresh and clean. They have 2 hectares of land but only about 30% is built up with villas/hotel rooms. The reminder is for amenities - there are two hotel pools (one is an infinity pool), there is a gym, yoga studio, wedding chapel, amphitheatre and swathes of rice paddy fields (the hotel actually offer a tour of the fields so you can explore!). There are free yoga classes three times a week - I attended and was led in practice by a very experienced make yogi who led at a great pace and offered support to all attendees at their level of capability. There is a free shuttle bus to Ubud centre (and back to the hotel) at various times of day and is such a useful way to get into the centre for a little bit of shopping!

Food: breakfast is included as part of the stay. Every morning I was offered a choice of two fresh juices - so fresh and delicious! And a number of healthy and tasty dishes. Along with either tea/coffee - flat white/cappuccino etc. The hotel also offers a complimentary afternoon tea which is always worth a look in!

Experience as a solo woman traveller: I felt safe and completely cared for during the entire stay! I would absolutely recommend for anyone wanting to travel solo. Also I saw a couple of families with young children (babies of a few months ranging to 10/11year olds) who seemed to also be having a great time. I also saw quite a few couples (as you might expect) and they also seemed to be having a good time too. I noticed that there are lots of romantic packages available to couple guests.

All in all, I had a wonderful time at Wapa and I can’t wait to come back and visit. Thank you so...

Expected more for the price we paid, others do the little things better to make your stay nicer

So now my review, and I am doing this review on a place that costs $400 aud a night, so it should be a mid to high end hotel. We have stayed at a few places in Ubud over the years and you can get a better place in a central location for the same price.

We had room 805 a nice rice view pool villa, however it had zero privacy, one main path goes right past your bedroom window, so you need to have curtains closed at all times (see photo), and the view from the private pool looks over the other main path, so no privacy in your pool.

The resort needs a bit of maintenance, all the boards around the pool in the villa were loose, with rusty nails sticky up that you have to be careful not to step on. Our room smelt musty, so I asked at reception for some incense to burn but they just told me I had the best room and ...well that was it, musty room for me (would have like to open the windows but no privacy). The sheets were dirty when we checked in and housekeeping took the dirty towels off the floor and rehung them on one occasion.

Then there was the shuttle, one per hour during peak times wasn't enough as the streets are badly congested. The pickup was supposed to be 20past the hour, on one occasion it hadn't arrived by 1:55 so we walked back (25 mins walk) and still beat it home.

On the positives, the view from breakfast is excellent, the pools are really nice and the staff are all lovely, but Bali is full of wonderful kind people.

Other hotels in this price range do the smaller things better, like instead a water and a cheap face towel in the airport transfer, they do water, beer and snacks, with a nice cotton face towel, other have spray on mosquito repellents in the rooms, Wapa had none, At other places they come around and light Mosquito coils outside during turn down, Wapa had a holder with no coils and old matches. Other places put covers over the lounge beds at night so they don't get wet, Wapa are soaked in the morning and they stuffing...