Ubud has long been Bali’s cultural counterpoint to the beach clubs further south, known for rice terraces, temples, galleries, wellness retreats and an increasingly serious food scene. A new hotel is about to add to that identity.

Kimpton Suntaya Bali Ubud will be the first Kimpton property in Indonesia, bringing IHG’s design-led lifestyle brand to Jalan Bisma later this year. The 101-room hotel is built around dining, wellness, design and social connection rather than accommodation alone.

Its location matters. Rather than sitting in the hills at Ubud’s edge, Kimpton Suntaya sits along the Wos River, within walking distance of the Ubud Art Market, Ubud Palace and Water Palace. That puts guests close to the town’s cultural life while keeping the sense of nature and seclusion Ubud is known for.

A Kimpton with a distinctly Ubud address

Kimpton has built its reputation on hotels that feel individual, pairing sophisticated design with a more informal style of hospitality. Suntaya is designed to apply that approach to Ubud specifically. Its name “Suntaya,” pronounced “soon-tie-yah,” is also very intentional. Drawing on the Sanskrit words Suniya (stillness) and Taya (vitality), it aims to capture the tension in Ubud between contemplation and movement, retreat and social energy.

The architecture reflects the same idea. Melbourne firm Denton Corker Marshall designed the hotel around the natural contours of the hillside and riverside site, drawing on the movement of Balinese ceremonial processions. The design is meant to feel layered and connected to its setting, with the Wos River as a visual anchor. Ultimately, it reflects a contemporary interpretation of Balinese influences.

101 rooms, suites and private pool villas

The 101 rooms and villas range from Essential Rooms to larger Pool Suites and private pool villas. The relatively small scale ensures enough rooms to support a substantial restaurant and facilities programme, while remaining small and intimate enough to keep a boutique feel.

Early imagery shows a contemporary, expressive interior palette. The Essential Room uses strong colour and generous glazing with views toward the surrounding greenery. Pool suites and villas step up into more expansive layouts for guests who want extra privacy and outdoor space. The location also gives Suntaya an edge for guests who don’t want a traditional destination-resort experience. They can retreat to the hotel for quiet, or walk into central Ubud without relying on a car.

Dining takes centre stage

The food and beverage programme is the most ambitious part of the project. Kimpton Suntaya will run five dining destinations, making food a central part of the hotel rather than an amenity.

Leading the programme is Imamura Ubud, an intimate Japanese omakase restaurant led by Michelin-starred chef Hirofumi Imamura, who will also oversee Shaku by Imamura, a more relaxed izakaya concept. The contrast between the two is one of the property’s stronger features: omakase built around precision and seasonality, izakaya built around a looser, more social approach to Japanese food and drink.

The hotel isn’t relying on the standard resort formula of one all-day restaurant and one fine-dining venue. The programme is built to offer different moods and different reasons to stay on property through the day, rounded out by Cascara, a progressive Indonesian concept; Samana, a social dining venue; and Pelago Day Club, built around drinks, food and a relaxed poolside setting.

This is particularly special for Ubud. The town has become one of Bali’s most interesting food destinations, and a hotel arriving with a Michelin-starred chef and five distinct venues is competing for diners staying elsewhere in Ubud, not just its own guests. That could help Suntaya become a destination in its own right.

Wellness beyond the traditional spa

Wellness is another major pillar, though Suntaya approaches it differently from the classic Ubud retreat. The hotel includes Sakshi Spa, with treatments drawing on Balinese healing traditions, alongside a two-storey fitness studio and dedicated recovery facilities that include contrast therapy, reflecting the wider shift toward recovery-focused wellness that mixes exercise with heat and cold treatment.

Ubud’s wellness market has traditionally centred on yoga, meditation and holistic retreats. Suntaya adds a more contemporary fitness-and-recovery layer on top of that, suited to a guest who might explore Ubud in the morning, train in the afternoon, then finish with a spa treatment. It reinforces the hotel’s broader idea: stillness doesn’t have to mean inactivity.

The social side of Kimpton

Kimpton’s familiar brand rituals are part of the experience too. Guests get the complimentary Kimpton Kickstart each morning, coffee, tea and pastries, along with Kimpton Social, an informal evening gathering. The brand’s “Forgot It, We’ve Got It!” programme covers travel essentials guests may have left behind.

These details are small next to a Michelin-starred restaurant or a private pool villa, but they matter to Kimpton’s positioning. The brand leans less on formal luxury and more on an environment that feels welcoming and human, an approach well suited to Ubud, where travellers often come as much for atmosphere and connection as for the room itself. General Manager Austin Jones has described the goal as creating a place where visitors and locals can meet, connected to both its surroundings and the people who experience it.

A significant arrival for IHG

The opening also matters beyond the property itself. It’s Kimpton’s first entry into Indonesia, extending a regional expansion that already includes Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Founded in San Francisco in 1981, Kimpton pioneered a design-led boutique hospitality style that has become increasingly influential across the hotel industry. Its Asian portfolio has grown substantially since Kimpton Da An Taipei opened in 2019, and Indonesia is another significant step in that expansion.

The timing fits. Ubud has become increasingly attractive to travellers who want luxury without the beach-club culture of southern Bali, built instead on art, food, wellness, landscape and Balinese culture, all areas that line up naturally with Kimpton’s lifestyle positioning. For IHG, Suntaya is a chance to introduce the brand to Indonesian and international travellers in a destination where design and dining already matter enormously.

Why Suntaya could stand out

Ubud isn’t short on luxury hotels, so a new arrival needs more than good looks to get chosen. Suntaya’s answer is the combination of accessibility, design and lifestyle programming: the seclusion and greenery Ubud is known for, close to the centre; Balinese-inspired wellness paired with contemporary recovery facilities; accommodation ranging from standard rooms to private pool villas; and a culinary offering spanning Michelin-starred omakase, izakaya, Indonesian cuisine, social dining and a day club.

Most importantly, the hotel is built as a place to participate in Ubud, not observe it from behind resort gates. That could be its real advantage. When it opens later in 2026, Kimpton Suntaya enters one of Bali’s most competitive luxury markets. Its first Indonesian address is well matched to the brand’s personality: Ubud brings the landscape, culture and creative energy; Kimpton brings the design, dining and social sensibility. The result reads less like another entry on Ubud’s luxury accommodation list and more like a new meeting point in the town itself, somewhere to sleep, but also to eat, recover, gather, and experience a different side of Bali.

Written By: Leah Kim

Published On: 17th August 2026