Retreat Reviews

COMO Shambhala Estate – A home away from home

Hi Om Seekers! Its been a long hiatus we have taken due to the pandemic, but we are back! Stronger than ever. We chose to visit Como Shambhala Estate during our visit to Bali when Bali first opened their borders to quarrantine-free visitors.

Do have a look at our Ig highlights to see how easy it is to travel to Bali now. Without further ado, lets deep dive into the property!

GROUNDS

The Como Shambhala Estate sits on more than 93,000 sqm of land. 

It’s flanked by a stream and the Ayung river. The Ayung river essentially gives life the whole of Ubud and beyond. The rhythmic sounds of the river are a generous gift. Your heart rate goes down as you step into the intersection of tranquility and abundance. So much space meets a disarming calm. 

COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE BALI

Thanks to the wonderful foresight of the founders of COMO (a mother and daughter team I may add) The views of the vast padi fields and forest are almost 360 degrees from where we were. The sense of grandeur was absolutely amazing.

PROGRAMME

Como Shambhala Estate has a daily programme, with 3-4 activities a day. I attended yoga on the first day and Breathwork on the second. you meet an array of travelers, and everyone is so lovely to speak to.

There are specialty retreats that you could enroll for and your itinerary of wellness programmes will be planned – from massages, and hydro-therapies to your meals. Check them out here.

Pair your activities with specific objectives or be adventurous and pick a few you fancy.

The trek to the springs is definitely worth a mention, I lugged the whole family out of the comfortable villa for a sunset trek more than 100 steps down into the valley. And boy we were rewarded by the sights that greeted us. The lush greenery, the waterfall, and the spring pools! You have to visit and do this trek, we were 100% in tune with nature, the water was cold, but o so refreshing. 

FOOD

The food at glow restaurant lived up to its name. We found the freshest ingredients in all the dishes. My gluten and dairy intolerance was met with ease. The dishes were tasty and felt just so fresh!

The kids’ menu was extensive! from the pasta, and pizzas, the kids also had a local selection and protein mains. no complaints here, in fact. My daughter has proclaimed the fries from the restaurant the “Best Fries in the World”. And she proceeded to order them at every meal.

Pro-tip!  Have some meals at your villa. We did and it was great to connect in privacy whilst taking in the energy of nature and surroundings.

I want to highlight the juices. It’s a COMO signature of course. I had the muscle mlyks, and the tonics. I felt so amazing, with the blends in my tummy – cleansed and refreshed; and yet whole at the same time. 

ACCOMMODATION

There are only 30 rooms in this huge estate, which means you get absolute privacy. The residence we stayed in had its own pool and hot tub.

The suite has a living and dining space, which is naturally cooled. We really enjoyed the space thoroughly, especially when it was raining. We could spend all day at the residence.

The beds were very comfortable and there were very few bugs, considering that we were in the middle of the jungle.

SERVICE

Needless to say, the service was top-notch. We were assigned to a personal assistant, Tini and she saw to our needs. The staff at the restaurants made sure we ate our fills, and the Italian yoga teacher was attentive and engaging.

There is always a delicate balance with high-touch villas – engaging and not intrusive. If you have preferences do make them known upfront. We had a blast and didn’t want to leave, I can’t wait for my next adventure with COMO!