Ubud Hanging Gardens to open on July 1

Ubud Hanging Gardens to open on July 1

DENPASAR: Niche hotel owner and operator Pansea Orient-Express
Hotels announced the imminent opening of its latest resort
property, the Ubud Hanging Gardens in Bali. The property will
open on July 1 this year.

Surrounded by ancient trees and gravity-defying terraced
gardens, this extraordinary haven nestles on a hillside
overlooking the Ayung River gorge, and truly deserves its unusual
name.

Perched adjacent to steep rice terraces looking out to a
temple (Pura Penataran Dalem Segara) on the opposite hill, the
breathtaking property's 38 villas are all constructed in
contemporary Balinese style with thatched alang-alang roofs.

The villas are set high on wooden pillars with king-sized
four-poster beds, indoor baths, outdoor showers and dramatic
individual plunge pools.

The garden, conceived by the landscape architect William
Warren (author of Balinese Garden, Thames & Hudson), together
with John Pettigrew (another devotee of botanical gardens who
created the garden at the Begawan Giri), is truly unique.

Nature becomes a spectacle here, with exotic trees and
essences of the tropics -- cocoa, coffee, fruit trees, durian,
rambutan, lychees, a variety of tropical bamboos, flame trees,
bird of paradise flowers and orchids.

The Anglo-French architect Gordon Shaw respected the group's
desire to protect the environment and utilized only local
materials: alang-alang as roofing, local Batu Jaember wood, Java
stone in the pools, batiks, cottons and Palimanan mural stone.
--JP