The perfect reason to leave the kids at home! Upon our arrival at Amanjiwo the hotel manager casually asked my husband and I whether we had children. ‘Two young boys’ we replied. ‘You could have brought them with you’ he informed us, ‘We have facilities for kids here’. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if we’d made the wrong decision by leaving the kids at home. Five minutes later it was confirmed; we had most certainly made the right one!
Amanjiwo, around one hour by car from Jogjakarta, overlooking the Borobudur monument, is simply one of the most stunningly beautiful, idyllic places I have ever visited.
It’s hard to know where to start when writing about this hotel. From the moment we were collected at the airport – maybe it was the lemongrass scented cooling towels, possibly the jars of snacks positioned conveniently between us in the car, I’m not sure, but something was telling me this experience was going to be something special.
Voted by The Sunday Times Travel Magazine as one of the top 100 hotels in the world in 2011, it takes only minutes after arrival to see why. So much thought has gone into the architecture and location of the hotel. With limestone hills behind, Volcanoes Sumbing and Sundoro to the west, Merbabu and Merapi to the east, rice paddies below, you look down across the Kedu plain, a view punctuated right in the middle by the magnificent Borobudur Temple.
The suites are spacious and luxuriously comfortable. All come with their own pavilion, ours overlooking the rice paddies below. This is a divine location from which to enjoy afternoon tea, with only the sound of a nearby rice picker to emphasize the quiet. There is no TV in the room – a welcome break – which instead has been replaced by coffee table books on the history of the area, traditional Javanese music playing lightly on a CD player and a watercolour set should your creative side be sparked to life by the blissful undercurrents of the surroundings. An additional treat, the outside bathtub, just one of the many surprises that makes an Amanjiwo suite stand out from a typical hotel room.
It’s incredibly hard to drag yourself away from this hotel but should you manage to do so there are a number of options available. If you want to peer down on the Borobudur monument from an even higher viewpoint, you could attempt the approximately two-and-a-half hour hike up the hillside directly behind Amanjiwo. It’s a tough one at times, but the amazing view is ample reward for the effort, and you will certainly have earned the divine evening meal upon your return to the hotel!
It’s incredibly hard to drag yourself away from this hotel but should you manage to do so there are a number of options available. If you want to peer down on the Borobudur monument from an even higher viewpoint, you could attempt the approximately two-and-a-half hour hike up the hillside directly behind Amanjiwo. It’s a tough one at times, but the amazing view is ample reward for the effort, and you will certainly have earned the divine evening meal upon your return to the hotel!
The highlight of the trip of course, is the visit to the phenomenal Borobudur monument. Built in the 9th century, and a UNESCO world heritage site, Borobudur at dawn is utterly breathtaking. Getting up at 4am is no hardship at all in Amanjiwo. We were greeted with fresh orange juice, Javanese coffee, and warm pain au chocolates before heading out. It’s the perfect time to visit as only a handful of other enthusiasts were there too, all of us revelling in the silence and beauty of this amazing structure. As the sun rose and Mount Merapi smoked in the distance, there was a hush amongst everyone as we took it all in.
It’s difficult to pin point one particular area that makes Amanjiwo really stand out from the rest. Obviously the location, atmosphere and feeling of complete serenity are good contenders. Maybe it was the exemplary food – I cannot recommend the passion fruit soufflé enough if it’s still on the menu! However, what stood out to me, above everything else were the staff and their hospitality. From our driver’s knowledge of the local area and his appreciation of my very limited use of the Indonesian language, to the wait staff and their ability to know exactly what you need before you do, the hotel is untouchable in this area.
Amanjiwo, meaning peaceful soul, is simply paradise in a hotel. There really is no better excuse to leave the kids at home and treat yourselves. It’s an experience that you will never, ever forget.
Amanjiwo
Ds. Majaksingi, Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia
Tel (62) 293 788 333
Email amanjiwo@amanresorts.com
www.amanresorts.com