I stayed at Bagus Jati for 4 nights. It takes about 1.5 hours to reach Ubud from the Airport. But the hotel is not located in Ubud, and you have to go north another 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on traffic conditions) to reach the hotel from Ubud. To save money, take a taxi from the Ngurah Rai Airport (IDR280,000) which is cheaper than the shuttle service (also a taxi of the same quality) provided by the hotel (IDR400,000).

The rooms are large and you will have a fantastic view of the forest. Each room is in a separate villa and you will find yourself extremely close to nature, with sounds of crickets and frogs to accompany you when you sleep. And plenty of birdsong in the morning. Lovely for people who need a break from the city. However, the toilet fittings, towels and bathrobes could be improved, and I was occasionally bothered by insects. I woke up one night with seven bedbug bites on my legs, bum and back. And mosquito bites when you do yoga or meditation. I made a mental note to bring insect repellent and anti-itch cream (Aveeno or Mopiko) next time.

There is only one restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner and depending on the location of your villa, it might take up to 10 minutes to walk there. It is also located on the top of the hill so you will have to walk uphill to get there. The food is tasty however the portions are small compared to other Bali restaurants, so you have to take that into account when you look at the prices (IDR100-150K for a main dish). You might also get tired of the menu if you stay here for many days. I found it quite eerie walking back to my villa from the restaurant at night. Please bring a torchlight as the one they provided me in the room had no battery (and they didn't bother to change it) and the wattage is low.

I like the swimming pool as the water is piped up from the local stream. There are swallows which regularly fly to the pool to take sips of water.

The spa, which touts itself as Bali's premier health and wellbeing retreat, was not up to my expectations. The primary reason for my stay at Bagus Jati was to experience the spa (which had been featured in spa publications). But we found that we could get better and cheaper massages in Ubud or Nusa Dua. My friend tried the Ayurvedic package and was similarly unimpressed. All the staff are hired from the nearby village, so they were not as well trained as other international hotels. Same for the yoga and meditation instructors. The employees were trying their best, but somehow the experience was lacking.

I generally had difficulty sleeping at night as I would feel some heaviness in the room and a sense of general discomfort after I turned off the lights and got into bed. I thought it was me or something I ate. On the 4th night, which was pouring heavily, my friend in another villa saw a male Indonesian ghost enter her room and it stood beside her bed before walking once around her bed. I also saw a white apparition floating up and down outside my balcony at around midnight. We shared our experiences and immediately checked out in the morning. The hotel reception staff were not surprised by our reports at all and did not charge me for the remaining night (I had signed up for a 5 night package). Before we left, a member of the staff told us that Bagus Jati used to be a village of healers, and when they died the custom was to bury their bodies on location. After I moved to another hotel the sleep was much better.