Mandapa A Ritz Carlton Reserve

The hotel is amazing in many respects. There is very little in the way of suggestions to improve the guests’ experiences. They have thought of issues that cover the obvious to ones that are minor.

The keys to making the Mandapa such a spectacular hotel are the people, the people and the property. I say people twice because the wonderful quality of the staff transform an ordinary excellent Ritz Carlton stay to one that is memorable. I, for example, rate golf courses on how many holes on the course are memorable. Similarly, an important characteristic of a hotel stay are the number of positive, memorable interactions with the staff. At the Mandapa, they were frequent. But the leading light has to be our butler, Tapsir. He’s so positive, energetic, helpful and importantly gets things done. I’ve stayed at many luxury hotels over the years, and Tapsir alone manages to put the Mandapa into a class by itself. Our slightest wishes seem to be translated into action immediately. Changing the time or place of a tour, making suggestions, or simply making us feel like valued guests is something he makes look easy, even though he has many families to take care of.

In addition to Tapsir, there are so many people, each being so kind and generous with their time. There are too many to list, but several stand out: Chef Eka at Kubu, who created my favorite cheesecake with a recipe from my wife as a surprise for my birthday, Sang and Ngura managers at Sawah, Mia who treated us with such a warm welcome every morning in Sawah, Nova, who sent us your delicious chocolate mousse cake recipe, Fabri, a great waiter at Kubu, Ayu, a super massage therapist, and numbers of others such as Sugi who was our butler on Tapsir’s day off, Jaron and the many people who were buggy drivers, housekeeping help, launderers, tour drivers, pool attendants, etc., etc. I’m sure I left many names off the list, but everybody deserves recognition.

These people make the Mandapa a fantastic hotel. And the setting in the Ubud hills with beautiful views contribute to the feeling of calm relaxation we get from the time we enter the property.

The only thing I can suggest to improve is the fact that the rooms are quite dark and we need flashlights to read the labels on the light switches. They should be made more easily visible and readable.

Other than that, I have no suggestions. The training of the staff is remarkable. They are so warm and welcoming and the property is amazing. And of course, there’s Tapsir!!

Our second time here this year. Fabulous. We had a villa by the river this time and it was just gorgeous. The spa is fantastic and the bar has a hard to beat sunset. Three restaurants and all are fab. The rooms are very well sized with a separate living area perfectly for those who need to do some work without disturbing anyone. the whole property is so peaceful. Darren our butler was top. He also looked after us last time too.

I’ve got to say that this it was truly one of the most eye-opening and unbelievable experiences of my life. The Mandapa Ritz Carlton reserve is trulyin a league ans class completely of its own. I specifically want to call out Yunik at Sawah Terrance and my Patih Nessa. They truly went above and beyond in terms of service. This hotel has genuinely thought of everything and one thing in particular that I thought was just absolutely incredible, is that after our spa service I accidentally left my earrings in the jewelry box and upon getting into the room at night I noticed that there was a small box in my room, and I opened it up and my earrings were in there without me saying anything or contacting anyone. It just goes to show the intentional touches. I even appreciate at the turndown service how they provide little cards on the bed to teach you about Balinese culture and different things that are so important to Bali people. The culture here is truly so beautiful, and the service is unmatched. They go above and beyond to teach you and a thoughtful and delicate way and serve you with a level of luxury that I have never experienced before. Some standout things that I really enjoyed were the blind dealer at the spa and the 90 minute massage at the spa as well. The relaxation room is so beautiful and so relaxing just sitting and listening to the river go by. The rooms are beautifully designed, and they are immaculately cleaned and everything just has an attention to detail that sometimes you wouldn’t even notice yourself. Truly unbelievable on all fronts and I cannot recommend this hotel enough.