Kupu Kupu Barong

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Kupu Kupu Barong was one of the first luxury resorts to land in Ubud, Bali’s feted cultural hub, back in the eighties, and to therefore employ local teak, terrazzo and copper there in traditional villa-style hospitality. This indigenous honesty was part of the attraction for current owner Patrice Soummer, and he aimed to preserve it during the resort’s revitalisation and expansion last year, despite his own roots in Southern France. But there was one exception: Soummer had taken note of the popularity of L’Occitane beauty products in Asia – a Provence brand – particularly among the Japanese (Kupu Barong’s largest client-base). He therefore decided to invite the brand to debut in Bali at his property’s standalone spa. The Mango Tree Spa by L’Occitane was launched in spring last year, along with 17 new villas.

Designed by Soummer with Brian Adams, of the Singapore-based Hospitality Design Pte Ltd, the spa is a blend of local craftwork and texture with modern amenities. Four of the six themed treatment suites are arranged in a series of courtyards and flanked by uneven stone walls and mossy Hindu statues. Black and white pebbled pathways unfurl from the spa courtyard, through to garden arrangements and water features inside the rooms. Each treatment space is a blend of tropical traditional and modern spa styles, with an emphasis one way or the other. The Lumbung suite, for example, features traditional rice barn architecture, open at one end with a thatched roof and woven walls, while the Immortelle suite is a sleek contemporary sanctuary in terrazzo, accessed across a dark, angular reflecting pool.

The spa had initially been a tropical combination of colours and textiles, but the Provence brand aesthetic – and contemporary spa trends – demanded an earthier palette. Soummer and Adams therefore re-worked and replaced its stronger floral and copper accents.

Soothing neutrals and earth tones now define the space, from cream tiling and curvaceous bathtubs in terrazzo to the use of neutral organzas, cottons and linens, gathered and draped. Translucent white fabric drapery brings an ethereal element to the open air entrance pavilion, which is otherwise grounded by contemporary teak seating and thatched eaves. Slender white bevelled columns and simple European-style suspended lanterns add a faint sense of French rustique.

The resident hammam has been calmly dressed in iridescent beige, but it maintains a sense of place with a smattering of small silver tiles, white statuettes and a pair of ornately carved double doors in heavy wood. The tree spa, literally built into the branches of an old Mango Tree (a product of the owner’s childhood daydream), has also been given the white wash treatment, its eco-green stained bamboo and hand-beaten copper utilities now a buttery yellow and beige.

Kupu Kupu Barong hosts the only spa by this brand in Bali, but this is set to change. The Bamboo Tree Spa by L’Occitane will open up in Jimbaran, not far from Denpasar, later this year in the 25-suite Kupu Kupu Barong Roof Top Suites and Spa.

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