The Banyu Experience
Banyu is built around one idea: the best things happen when you step away from your life for a few hours. Not a weekend away, not a vacation - just one afternoon. A temporary change of state.
The word "banyu" means water in Javanese. Water that moves, that takes a new shape, that carries heat and cold equally. The bathhouse is designed as a sequence of thermal experiences: heat opens you, cold closes you, and in between there is stillness.
Spread across a walled compound, Banyu combines traditional bathhouse rituals with modern thermal design. A place where the only agenda is your own recovery.
The Bathhouse
The bathhouse is the heart of Banyu. A light-filled hall of stone, timber, and warm plaster, arranged around a central courtyard. The space moves from dry to wet, hot to cold, communal to private, guiding you through a deliberate thermal journey.
Facilities include a magnesium plunge pool, a floating pool, a communal sauna, a tiled hammam, cold plunges, treatment rooms, and a lounge with an open fire. Every surface is chosen for how it feels against skin - honed stone, smoothed wood, cool ceramic.
The architecture opens to the landscape: the courtyard pools blur the line between inside and outside. Rain or sun, the experience is the same - enveloping, elemental, and calm.
Sauna & Thermal Rituals
The communal sauna is the social anchor of Banyu. Built in dark timber with a wood-fired stove, it seats twelve around a central hearth. The heat is dry and intense - the kind that demands you slow down.
Adjacent is the hammam, a tiled steam room with a heated marble platform. Here the heat is wet and heavy, scented with eucalyptus. The ritual moves between the two: sauna, cool plunge, rest, hammam, cool plunge, rest. Repeat until the world falls away.
Outside, an outdoor spa with a hot soaking tub sits under a canopy of frangipani trees. In the evening, the space is lit by lanterns - the steam rising into the warm night air.
Water Experiences
Water is the medium of Banyu. The cold plunge sits at 10 degrees Celsius - a sharp, clean shock that resets the nervous system. It is the counterpoint to every heat experience, and the hardest thing you will do all day.
The magnesium pool is maintained at 34 degrees, rich with magnesium chloride for muscle recovery and deep relaxation. Next to it, a floating pool with saturated salt water lets you lie weightless, suspended in complete silence.
A third pool, the vitality pool, uses submerged hydro-jets for targeted massage. Every water experience is designed to serve a specific moment in the thermal journey.
Massage
Treatment rooms line the eastern edge of the bathhouse, each with a view of the garden. The menu is tight and intentional: deep tissue, Balinese, hot stone, and a Banyu signature treatment that combines guided breathwork with a full-body massage using warm poultices infused with local botanicals.
Every therapist is trained in-house to Banyu's standard: firm, present, intuitive. Sessions run 60 to 120 minutes and are bookable alongside bathhouse entry or as standalone treatments.
Food & Drinks
The bar and kitchen serve a tight menu built for post-bathhouse hunger. Light, fresh, restorative - think raw bar, grilled vegetables, grain bowls, and cold broths. Everything designed to sit well after a few hours of heat and cold.
The bar is a long slab of reclaimed teak, serving a short list of natural wines, sake, cold-pressed juices, and a single rotating house cocktail. There is no music. There is no phone reception. There is only the sound of ice in a glass and the low hum of conversation.
The menu changes daily, dictated by what is fresh at the morning market.
Project Timeline
Demolition has already started
Start
Demolition begins
0 mo
Q4
Foundation & structure
3 mo
Q1
Framework complete
6 mo
Q2
Interior rough-in
9 mo
Q3
Finishes begin
12 mo
Q4
Landscaping
15 mo
Open
Grand opening
18 mo
Total duration
18 months
Start
Q3 (September/October)
Status
Demolition in progress
Membership
Banyu operates on a 3-hour session model, designed for a maximum of 70 guests per day. This is intentional - the experience is calibrated for spaciousness, not throughput.
Coming soon
Most popular
Pre-sale
Inquire
Private Gatherings
The bathhouse and patio can be reserved for private events. From an intimate dinner for twelve on the courtyard terrace to a full buyout for eighty guests, Banyu provides a setting that is distinct from any other venue.
The space comes with a dedicated events coordinator who works with you to design the menu, the treatment options, and the flow of the evening. Catering is handled in-house by the Banyu kitchen.
Ideal for milestone birthdays, brand retreats, team offsites, or a night that simply demands a more beautiful room.
About
Banyu Bathhouse is being developed on a 3,000 square meter site in Ubud, Bali. The project is led by a team with experience in hospitality, wellness, and architectural design across Southeast Asia and Australia.
The site was chosen for its water table, its orientation for natural light, and its proximity to Ubud's cultural heart while remaining secluded enough to feel removed from the town. The architecture is by a local practice known for sensitive, material-driven work. The thermal systems are designed in partnership with a German engineering firm specializing in spa environments.
The name Banyu (Javanese for water) reflects the project's conviction that water in all its forms - hot, cold, still, moving, salt, mineral - is the most direct path to a changed state.
3,000 m²
Site area
70
Projected guests/day
18 months
Construction
Visit
Banyu Bathhouse
Br. Begawan, Desa Melinggih Kelod
Kec. Payangan, Kab. Gianyar
Bali 80571, Indonesia
Located a 20-minute drive north of central Ubud. Access road is suitable for cars and scooters. Parking on-site.
FAQ
Founding memberships are open for pre-sale. Contact us to reserve your place in the founding circle and receive construction updates.
Pre-sale inquiries are responded to within 48 hours.