Maya Chen
Capella Ubud suits a Bali trip built around jungle and culture over beach almost perfectly, and it suits almost no other kind of trip. It is a tented camp, not a beach resort: 22 one bedroom tents and one two bedroom lodge, each with a private pool, hidden in forested terraces above the Wos River in Keliki village, north of Ubud, and designed by Bill Bensley as a tribute to the early European settlers of the 1800s. Guests who want rainforest quiet, a private pool, serious dining and days that flow into Ubud’s temples and rice terraces will find it exceptional. Guests who want sand, surf, nightlife or an easy walk to restaurants should book the coast instead and visit Ubud as a day trip.
Quick Facts
- Location: Jalan Raya Dalem, Keliki, Tegallalang, Gianyar, Ubud, Bali 80561, Indonesia, in the Keliki Valley north of central Ubud, among rainforest, rice paddies and the Wos River. Address and location verified on the official Capella Ubud site on 12 November 2026
- Accommodation: Twenty two one bedroom tents and one two bedroom lodge, each featuring its own private pool, per the official site. Tent categories are Keliki, Valley, Forest and Terrace, plus the Two Bedroom Lodge
- Designer: Architect Bill Bensley, who designed the camp as a tribute to the spirit of adventure of the early European settlers from the 1800s, per the official site
- Pools: Every tent and the lodge has a private pool. The camp’s shared outdoor pool is called The Cistern, at camp central, with the Mortar and Pestle pool bar beside it
- Dining: Mads Lange, the camp dining room, and Api Jiwa, an intimate Asian inspired dinner built around fire, plus the Mortar and Pestle Bar and the Camp Fire, per the official Capella compendium and fact sheet
- Wellness: Auriga Wellness, the camp spa, with three wellness tents and in tent treatments, per the official compendium
- Price positioning: Ultra luxury. Rates are not stated in this guide because they were not verified as bookable rates on the official site today. Expect pricing at the very top of the Bali market and confirm current rates for your dates directly with the property
- Best for: Couples, honeymooners and culture led travelers who will spend real time in the Ubud highlands. Weakest for: beach first trips, families needing flat, step free ground throughout, and anyone who wants to walk out to dinner
What is the camp actually like?
The first thing to understand is that the tents are tents in structure and story, not in comfort. Capella Ubud was conceived as an early explorers’ camp, and each tent is individually styled around a character from that world, with themes drawn from the camp personnel of the story: captains, explorers, naturalists, cartographers and others. Under the canvas you get a proper luxury interior, a large outdoor deck with daybeds, a copper bathtub, and both indoor and outdoor showers, per the official accommodation descriptions, plus the private pool that comes with every unit. The tents are scattered through terraced, forested ground and discreetly hidden from view among the trees, per the official site, so privacy is structural rather than promised. From the deck, the view is jungle, valley and rice terrace, and the soundtrack is the river and the forest.
The setting does real work in the experience. Keliki is a Balinese artist village, famous for its miniature painting tradition, in the Tegallalang district that also holds the famous stepped rice terraces north of Ubud. Staying here puts you inside that landscape rather than commuting to it: the Campuhan Ridge, the terraces, the temples of the Ubud area and the town’s galleries and dance performances are the day trips, and the camp is the retreat you return to. Travelers planning the wider Bali stay should read the explainer on the Bali tourist levy alongside this guide, since the levy applies regardless of where on the island you sleep.
Which tent should you choose?
Keliki, Valley, Forest and Terrace tents
The four one bedroom categories differ mainly in position and pool style, per the official site. Keliki Tents feature heated private pools and jungle views. Valley Tents feature plunge pools and jungle views on terraced, stepped ground, and the official description notes that landscape as suitable for guests without mobility limitations, which is an important honesty point for anyone with knee, hip or balance concerns. Forest Tents feature plunge pools with lush panoramas and are accessible by buggy. Terrace Tents feature plunge pools with forest views. All four share the same core kit: outdoor deck with daybeds, copper bathtub, and indoor and outdoor showers. Choose by outlook and by how you feel about steps, not by chasing a hierarchy the property itself does not really draw.
The Two Bedroom Lodge
The single Two Bedroom Lodge is the family and small group answer: an oriental themed interior overlooking the Keliki Valley, a private heated pool of 19 square metres connected to an open plan living room, and a bedroom with its own ensuite bathroom for each of the two bedrooms, per the official site. With only one lodge on the property, it is the unit to request earliest for school holiday dates. Groups larger than that are really booking multiple tents and using the restaurants and the Cistern as their shared spaces, which works well for adult groups and less well for small children who need everyone under one roof.
How do dining and wellness work?
Mads Lange is the camp’s dining room, named in honour of the Danish trader Mads Johansen Lange, and it carries the main meals of the day in a split level tented room. Api Jiwa is the set piece: an intimate, interactive Asian barbecue style dinner built around fire, described in the official fact sheet as serving authentic and new age bites in a farm to table fashion, and widely treated as the one dinner to reserve first. The Mortar and Pestle Bar, adjacent to The Cistern, serves light poolside snacks and health conscious options, and the Camp Fire is the evening gathering point, where the official fact sheet describes meeting the local storyteller over hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows, weather permitting. Book Api Jiwa for one night of a stay, keep the other nights flexible between Mads Lange and private or in tent dining, and remember that Ubud town dinners require a transfer in both directions.
Auriga Wellness, named after a constellation, is the spa: three wellness tents plus in tent therapies, using an organic and natural range of locally crafted products blended exclusively for the property, per the official compendium, which lists its hours as 9 in the morning to 9 in the evening, seven days a week. Treatments themed around the moon phases are a house signature in the official materials. The camp also has a tented gymnasium, The Armory, per the official fact sheet. Wellness here is woven into the stay rather than annexed to it, and for many guests a treatment in their own tent, with the forest outside the canvas, is the version they remember.
Who does Capella Ubud suit best, honestly?
It suits couples on a honeymoon or a milestone trip who want seclusion with substance: art, temples, terraces and food within reach, and a private pool to come home to. It suits design travelers, for whom a Bensley camp is a destination in itself. It suits a Bali itinerary split between the highlands and the coast, with Capella as the inland half, and repeat Bali visitors who have done the beach clubs and want the island’s older, greener character. It suits spa led stays and slow mornings. Readers comparing Capella properties will find the sister property treatment in the guide to Capella Singapore on Sentosa a useful contrast, since the two camps share a brand and almost nothing else in setting.
It does not suit beach first travelers, and no honest guide should pretend otherwise: the sea is a drive away, and a stay here is a commitment to the interior. It does not suit travelers with significant mobility limitations without careful tent selection and a direct conversation with the property, because the site is terraced, stepped and spread through a valley. It does not suit restless teenagers or anyone who measures a resort by its activity desk and nightlife. And it does not suit budget led planning in any configuration: this is a top of market property, and its value case rests on privacy, design and setting rather than on facilities per dollar.
How should you build days from the camp?
Alternate camp days with Ubud days. On camp days, take the slow arc the place is designed for: breakfast at Mads Lange, the Cistern or your own pool through the warm middle of the day, Auriga in the afternoon, the Camp Fire and Api Jiwa or Mads Lange at night. On Ubud days, go early: the Tegallalang rice terraces before the heat and the day trip crowds, the temples and museums of the town, a dance performance in the evening, and dinner in town once during the stay for contrast. One longer excursion, to the temples and volcano country further north and east, is enough for most stays. Resist daily long drives: the camp’s whole argument is that the valley outside your tent is the attraction, and itineraries that leave at dawn and return at dark waste the very thing you paid for.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tents does Capella Ubud have?
Twenty two one bedroom tents plus one two bedroom lodge, 23 units in total, each with its own private pool, per the official Capella Ubud site. The one bedroom tents fall into four categories: Keliki, Valley, Forest and Terrace.
Is Capella Ubud on the beach?
No. It is an inland rainforest camp in Keliki village in the Tegallalang district, north of Ubud, set among forest, rice paddies and the Wos River. Beach days require a drive to the coast, and the property is best chosen by travelers whose Bali is centred on jungle and culture rather than sand.
Who designed Capella Ubud?
Architect Bill Bensley designed the camp as a tribute to the spirit of adventure of the early European settlers from the 1800s, per the official site. The explorer camp theme runs through the individually styled tents, each based on a character from that settler story.
What are the dining options?
Mads Lange is the main tented dining room. Api Jiwa is an intimate, fire based Asian inspired dinner and the reservation to make first. The Mortar and Pestle Bar serves the pool area at The Cistern, and the Camp Fire hosts evening gatherings with storytelling, hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows, weather permitting, per the official fact sheet.
Is Capella Ubud suitable for guests with limited mobility?
Only with care and a direct conversation with the property before booking. The site is terraced and stepped, the official description of the Valley Tents notes their ground as suitable for guests without mobility limitations, and some tents are reached by buggy. Ask the property to recommend the most suitable tent category for your needs in writing.
How expensive is Capella Ubud?
It sits at the very top of the Bali market, in the ultra luxury band, and its rates vary by season, category and date. This guide does not publish a rate figure because bookable rates were not verified on the official site today. Check your exact dates with the property or its official booking channel, and compare the total, including taxes and any transfers, against other top end Ubud properties before deciding.
