Viceroy Bali

Viceroy Bali

Viceroy Bali sits on a secluded ridge above what locals call Ubud's Valley of the Kings, in the Petanu River valley near the village of Nagi, its terrace villas stepped down through jungle toward a river gorge and a run of terraced rice paddies below. Ubud's market and the Monkey Forest are about ten minutes away by car; the airport is closer to ninety minutes, so this is not a stop for anyone counting hours between flight and pool. The Syrowatka family opened the resort in 2005, built it from raw hillside land, and still runs it today, an independent operation in a town filling up with chain resorts, though it holds Small Luxury Hotels of the World membership. Twenty-five rooms and villas, spread across a single level, means no queue for the outdoor or indoor pool, the squash court, or Akoya Spa's sauna and steam room. Apéritif, the resort's fine-dining room, has picked up its own run of best-restaurant awards, and the property itself holds a Michelin Key. There is also a private helipad. Couples booking a shared room should know the front desk asks for a marriage certificate, and can require a second room without one, a detail worth checking before an unmarried trip. Families get an extra bed at 185 dollars a night and a children's breakfast at 64 dollars, workable rather than generous. What lands is the quiet: one floor, twenty-five keys, monkeys and waterfalls in the valley below, and a staff fluent across five languages whose reputation for remembering names, guests say, outlasts the view. Perched above Ubud's Petanu valley since 2005, this 25-room, family-run resort trades scale for privacy, with a private helipad and a Michelin Key setting it apart. It suits couples ready with a marriage certificate and travelers who prefer quiet to crowds, not large families or last-minute unmarried trips.