Introduction This is probably the single place I was most excited to check out in the Ubud area. COMO Shambhala Estate originally opened as The Begawan Giri Estate in 1998 but was later acquired by the COMO Group in 2003. The Estate itself is set on over 9 hectares of forest land and consists of only 46 rooms spread between 5 residences and several villas.Each residence is named after one of the five elements and is designed to that theme accordingly. Within the residences are the hotel’s guest rooms and suites, guests of which share the residences’ common area.COMO Shambhala Estate Location We drove a leisurely 15 minutes up from Central Ubud to Payangan, where the estate is located. The hotel itself is located on a small village street, that had to be accessed through several other village small streets from the main road. It was easy to get lost, and the small road's two-way traffic didn't ensure a very easy entrance to the hotel. Amusingly, the village next to the hotel is called Begawan Village, and the roads were correspondingly called 'Begawan Giri Street'. Bear in mind that there isn’t really anything within the direct vicinity of the Estate (apart from the neighbouring Ayung Resort), and it is located further away from the main road, something to bear in mind. However, the hotel's beautiful setting makes up for it as a sort of retreat to get away from everything. Check In Once at the hotel's entrance, we were stopped for a quick and routine security check, before pulling up at reception. There, we were promptly greeted by several friendly associates who valeted our car and offered us scented cold towels and a green welcome drink called the ‘Namaste’.Reception AreaShortly after, we were introduced to a personal assistant who would be assisting to our needs during our stay (perhaps equivalent to a ‘butler’ at other hotels); she became our main contact point. We were then escorted to our room, where the check-in formality was conducted. Before that, our assistant brought us around to introduce us to the features of the hotel, before eventually walking us to our room. Along the way, I was surprised to be told that we were upgraded from our COMO Shambhala Suite all the way to a Two Bedroom Villa.The Living Room (the only area where smoking is permitted) Room After the brief tour of the Estate, we walked to our villa (which as it turned out was close to the reception). Our Two Bedroom Villa, Saundarya, is set some 35 steps down from the main walkway, and is spread over two floors—the top floor being the setting of living room, pool, and the master room; underneath it is the secondary room, along with its own bathroom.Villa EntranceThe villa features an excellent, relatively large private pool along with several lounge chairs, all of which view the forest.Pool DeckPoolPool Deck and ViewThere is a sizeable open-air living room next to the pool with several very comfortable sofas and chairs, along with a dining table. There is also a minibar section with all sorts of items. In addition to the standard bottles of water, the hotel interestingly provides COMO-branded reusable water bottles that they encourage to take home to reduce waste(?)Living RoomMinibarThe master bedroom is behind the living room and is very beautifully appointed. I especially loved the soft, warm glow from the ceiling lighting, which really set a calm mood in the room. Aside from the bed, there is a sizeable television along with two very plush chairs and a desk.Unlike the rest of the resort, the villas were a later addition and were designed by Koichiro Ikebuchi (who also designed a bunch of other COMO Hotels, including the two Umas in Bali). Subtle similarities are evident in the very soft, warm lighting of the room. There was also a signed letter from the General Manager, along with a fruit plate that is topped up whenever the room is serviced.Master BedroomMaster BedroomFruit PlateNext to it is the massive closet/bathroom, featuring an open concept closet and double sinks. There was a wonderful oversized bathtub that actually fills up quickly, and is comfortable to use; also provided were some excellent bathsalts with dried citrus peels. Bath amenities were COMO Shambhala-branded and were very high quality.ClosetDouble SinksOversized bathtubThere were also two showers, one indoor and the other, outdoor. I especially loved the indoor shower, which had great water pressure. The indoor shower also has an interesting/novelty steam feature, which doubles its function as a sauna. All the choices made the bathing experience here phenomenal and amongst the best I've had anywhere in the world.Indoor ShowerOutdoor ShowerThe downstairs bedroom looked slightly plainer compared to the master bedroom, although it still felt like a very comfortable room nevertheless. The room is set up by default in a twin configuration, and also features two plush chairs and a large television. It has its own bathroom and walk-in closet but interestingly does not have a bathtub. However, I thought the shower looked very nice given the superb forest views.Downstairs bedroomDownstairs closetDouble sinksShowerThere is also a separate patio area downstairs.Patio Dining The food was unfortunately the least memorable part of our stay, although that's not to say it was bad. The selection of food undeniably seemed very healthy, and the quality of the ingredients was evidently very high. Despite that, I didn't care too much for the taste of the food... The rather extreme focus on well-being made the food a bit too niche for my liking... although I imagine many who come to stay here are perhaps attracted by the resort's wellbeing/'detox' offering.For the evening meal, we sampled the Balinese Nyat-Nyat curry as well as a steamed grouper fish, both served with organic rice. The curry was nice and flavourful, and was probably the better of the two. The fish tasted fresh and light, but I personally thought the combination of flavours and scents are a bit unusual for my tastes.Steamed Grouper FishBalinese Nyat-Nyat Grouper Curry with Red RiceDuring breakfast, I sampled the Smoked Salmon Zucchini Waffle, and a Balinese Congee called Bubuh Tepeng. The congee was fine and interesting, although I found the waffle to be very dry (given the lack of an unhealthy sauce to cover it in). The smoked salmon was excellent though. I did find the raw food items, like the fruit salad and the fruit plate, to be excellent; furthermore, there was an array of interesting drinks on offer, including some detox shots. I tried a wheatgrass juice that I ended up liking.Pain au chocolatFruit SaladFruit PlateBubuh Tepeng CongeeSmoked Salmon Zucchini WafflesI, however, very much loved the beautiful views from the restaurants.Kudus House RestaurantView from Rumah Kudus (breakfast)Frankly, I thought that the food at COMO Uma Ubud excelled over that at Shambhala Estate, although it may be a matter of personal preference. Amenities The hotel has two pools accessible to all guests—first, the main pool near the spa, as well as a sacred spring pool that's fed by a flowing natural spring. The main pool is beautiful in itself, with a (slightly obstructed) view of the valley, but nothing compared to the sacred spring pool.Main Pool and SpaMain PoolMain PoolThe spring pool is absolutely amazing, and it felt like swimming in a waterfall next to the mighty Ayung River. The water is very cold and fresh and felt different due to the absence of chlorine. However, bear in mind that the spring pool is located some 300 steps down, and it was indeed a bit of a hike to go down there and back up.The rather precarious walk down to the spring poolTemple on the way down (notice the flowing spring water that later feeds the pool)River view from spring poolSpring Pool (notice the small waterfall)Spring poolUnder the breakfast restaurant is also an excellent gymnasium, that is well equipped and offers beautiful valley views.Gymnasium Service Service is exceptional, particularly from our personal assistant, who was exceptionally friendly and warm. She ensured that we had everything we needed during our stay and was quick to respond to any queries and was very attentive to various detail. However, it was apparent that the hotel is understaffed and hence unprepared for the sudden surge of guests. We were told that most bookings (including our own) were last minute, which I suppose makes it difficult for them to have more staff on standby given the short notice. The fact that the hotel only reopened the month before our stay made this a reasonable excuse. I thought that attention to detail was very good, particularly at the restaurants, reception, and in-room. Having said that, service was rather slow by the pools, given the staffing situation. Overall Overall, I thought that COMO Shambhala Estate is an exceptional experience. I didn't think of the place to feel like a hotel, but more like a retreat near Ubud. As such, I didn't really feel like leaving the grounds very often (perhaps also due to the small entrance roads). Whilst the food selection wasn't something I particularly loved, I thought that the entire experience is something to repeat, and I would definitely encourage people coming to (or even, to those already living on the island) to stay at the Estate as a getaway from life. As such, I don't think I would recommend the place as a base to explore Bali, given the less accessible location compared to many other places. In many ways, the hotel exudes a special charm, akin to what one might feel at Amankila, although in a bit more of a lifestyle retreat-esque setting.