Where to Stay in Ubud: Best Areas and Hotels

Central Ubud is the area within walking distance of the Royal Palace (Puri Saren Agung) and Ubud Market. This compact zone, roughly bounded by Jalan Monkey Forest to the south, Jalan Raya Ubud to the north, and Campuhan bridge to the west, is where the action is concentrated. Staying here means you can walk to restaurants, galleries, yoga studios, and the Monkey Forest without ever needing transport. Jalan Monkey Forest is the main pedestrian-friendly street, lined with boutiques, cafes, and restaurants from its intersection with Jalan Raya Ubud all the way south to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Along this street and its side alleys, you will find accommodation ranging from budget guesthouses to stylish boutique hotels. Bisma Eight is a design-forward mid-range hotel with a stunning rooftop pool and rice terrace views. Komaneka at Bisma and Plataran Ubud offer four-star luxury. For budget travelers, the smaller gang streets branching off the main roads harbor family-run guesthouses with traditional Balinese garden courtyards from IDR 200,000 to 400,000 per night. The dining scene in central Ubud is diverse and excellent. Locavore, Bali's most acclaimed restaurant, serves a tasting menu of exclusively Indonesian ingredients. Hujan Locale offers modern Indonesian comfort food. Milk and Madu and Lazy Cats provide the brunch culture that international visitors expect. For authentic Balinese food at local prices, warung Biah Biah near the market and Nasi Ayam Kedewatan are local favorites. The main consideration is noise. Central Ubud's streets get busy with traffic during the day, and accommodation on the main roads can be noisy. Choosing a property set back from the road, on a quieter gang, or in a compound with garden buffer makes a significant difference to your sleep quality.

The Tegallalang area, located 20 minutes north of central Ubud along Jalan Raya Tegallalang, is where you stay if waking up to iconic rice terrace views is your priority. This stretch of road and the surrounding hillsides offer some of Ubud's most photogenic accommodation, with hotels and villas positioned to overlook the famous Tegallalang Rice Terraces or the surrounding patchwork of paddies. Accommodation here ranges from simple homestays perched on the edge of the terrace valley to mid-range retreats with infinity pools positioned to create that seamless visual merge of pool and rice field. Properties like Capung Sakti Villas and Dedari Kriyamaha offer this experience for USD 60 to 150 per night, which is remarkable value for what you get. At the luxury end, Kamandalu Ubud provides five-star service in traditional Balinese pavilions surrounded by its own private rice terraces. The trade-off for these views is distance from Ubud's restaurants and cultural attractions. While 20 minutes does not sound like much, Bali traffic and narrow roads mean that a spontaneous dinner in town requires planning. Most properties in Tegallalang offer on-site restaurants, and a growing number of excellent independent restaurants have opened along the main road, reducing the need to travel into town for every meal. Beyond the famous terraces, the Tegallalang area is also home to several art and craft villages. The road is lined with woodcarving workshops, painting galleries, and artisan studios where you can watch craftspeople at work and purchase directly. Tirta Empul water temple and Gunung Kawi are both within a 15-minute drive, making Tegallalang a convenient base for exploring Ubud's northern attractions.

Campuhan sits at the western edge of Ubud town, where two rivers merge in a deep valley. This area is famous for the Campuhan Ridge Walk, a paved path along a narrow ridge between two valleys that has become one of Ubud's most beloved experiences, especially at sunrise when golden light bathes the tall grass and palm trees in warm tones. Staying near Campuhan puts you within walking distance of the ridge walk's starting point and just a 15-minute walk from central Ubud. The area has a long artistic heritage: the Neka Art Museum, which houses one of Bali's finest collections of traditional and modern Balinese painting, is located here. The nearby Antonio Blanco Museum celebrates the flamboyant Spanish-Filipino artist who made Campuhan his home. Several working artists' studios dot the hillsides, continuing a creative tradition that stretches back generations. Accommodation in Campuhan is dominated by the iconic Ibah Luxury Villas and COMO Uma Ubud, both perched above the river valley with stunning jungle views. The Royal Pita Maha, owned by Ubud's royal family, offers traditional Balinese luxury in a dramatic riverside setting. For mid-range budgets, several smaller boutique hotels and guesthouses along Jalan Raya Campuhan offer elevated positions with valley views from USD 50 to 100 per night. The Campuhan area is quieter than central Ubud but still walkable to town. The main road into Ubud center follows the ridge above the river, offering pleasant walking with views. A morning routine of sunrise on the ridge walk followed by breakfast at a Campuhan cafe and then strolling into town for the day is a lifestyle that many visitors find addictive.

The Ayung River valley, west of Ubud, is where Bali's luxury hospitality reaches its apex. This deep, forested river gorge is home to some of the most acclaimed resorts in Southeast Asia, including Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan (consistently ranked among the world's best hotels), Mandapa a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, and Viceroy Bali. If your budget allows, this is the area where Ubud delivers an experience that genuinely cannot be replicated anywhere else on Earth. The valley's appeal lies in its dramatic topography. Hotels are built into steep hillsides overlooking the Ayung River 50 to 100 meters below, surrounded by dense tropical jungle. Infinity pools seem to float above the canopy. The sound of rushing river water replaces traffic noise. Monkeys swing through the trees at eye level from your terrace. The sense of immersion in nature is total, despite world-class service and amenities being at your fingertips. Four Seasons Sayan is the standout, with its iconic lotus-pond arrival rooftop and suites that step down the hillside into the jungle. Mandapa offers a more intimate setting with traditional Balinese architecture and a renowned spa. Viceroy Bali provides some of the most photographed private pool villas in the world, each with unobstructed valley views. Rates at these properties range from USD 400 to over USD 1,500 per night, reflecting their extraordinary settings and service levels. For travelers who want the valley experience without the ultra-luxury price tag, several smaller properties on the edges of Sayan village offer river valley views for USD 80 to 200 per night. The area is about 10 minutes by car from central Ubud, and most luxury resorts provide complimentary shuttle service.

Penestanan is Ubud's best-kept accommodation secret: a hillside village just west of central Ubud that retains genuine Balinese village character while offering some of the area's best-value accommodation with rice terrace views. This traditional village has attracted artists and creative expats since the 1930s and maintains a peaceful atmosphere that feels worlds away from Ubud's increasingly busy main streets. Reaching Penestanan requires climbing a set of concrete steps up from the main Campuhan road or driving the long way around via a narrow village road. This slight inconvenience of access is what keeps the area quiet and authentic. Once up the hill, you find a network of village lanes lined with traditional family compounds, small temples, and an increasing number of guesthouses and small boutique stays that cater to visitors seeking genuine tranquility. Accommodation in Penestanan offers extraordinary value. Rice terrace-view guesthouses with breakfast included start from IDR 250,000 to 400,000 per night (USD 16 to 26). Mid-range boutique properties with pools and panoramic valley views run USD 40 to 80 per night. These prices reflect the slight inconvenience of being 20 minutes on foot from Ubud's center, but for travelers who value peace, views, and authenticity over walkability to restaurants, the value is unbeatable. The village has a small but growing collection of cafes and warungs serving organic food and good coffee. Yellow Flower Cafe, perched on a ridge with sweeping terrace views, is a local institution. Several yoga shalas and holistic wellness practitioners have set up in Penestanan, drawn by the same peaceful energy that attracted the artists decades ago. The village temple hosts regular ceremonies with gamelan music that drifts across the rice fields in the evening.