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Bali: The Ubud Bliss Sanctuary for Women

From: Traveller

It took five years to find the right site – a tropical jungle on a mountainside near Ubud, Bali – but Zoe Watson says her newest Bliss Sanctuary for Women was worth the wait.

The newly built, five-bedroom villa joins two other villas in Seminyak and Canggu as women-only retreats catering specifically to solo female travellers – no children, no couples – while eschewing the standard wellness retreat concept of itineraries, group activities and sharing rooms with strangers.

“Eight years ago, when we opened our first villa in Seminyak, not a lot of women were doing solo travel,” says Watson, who owns all three retreats. “Now, it’s one of the largest growing segments in the travel industry.

“But travel on your own is about pushing the boundaries and getting out there: what we’ve put together is quite different, it’s more a self-love experience, and the villas allow lone female travellers to feel safe and 100 per cent supported.”

The rooms curl around a tiered pool, with a firepit and yoga shala looking into the rainforest: for full forest immersion, take a bath on the balcony, or book the Treetops valley view room, a glass cube that juts into the greenery.

The Bliss Sanctuary concept taps not only into the solo female traveller trend, but is also on-point for the growth in wellness travel. All the rooms are sole occupancy save one, which allows two women to share: traditionally, it’s mothers and daughters, sisters or two good friends, catching up after years apart.

Stays operate on an all-inclusive basis, which means unlimited food, drinks, yoga, massages and spa treatments, with a villa hostess and personal driver to co-ordinate each person’s day. The one nod to the communality of the villa is when all guests gather for an evening meal drawn from its wellness, vegan and smoothie menus, which sit alongside Indonesian and all-day breakfast offerings.

May 2019

Bliss Sanctuary For Women, empowering women to travel solo with a tailored Bali retreat holiday just for you.

Follow your bliss your way with an experience completely tailored to you. More than a retreat for women, it’s your personal time out for rejuvenation and wellness. This Bali holiday is free of group schedules so you can choose to do as much or as little as you like. From unlimited sightseeing, unlimited massages, unlimited yoga, meditation, healers, plentiful and yummy food, shopping, personal drivers to take you anywhere you would like to go…  it’s all up to you.

Check out our Bali Packages and remember they are all completely flexible so you can change anything you would like once here.

We would love to meet you!