When I’m in Ubud I always try to book at least a couple of days at Praety Homestay. It’s a beautiful guesthouse surrounded by lots of greenery, and the breakfast, which is included in the room rate, doesn’t come much better.

There’s both a Praety 1 and a Praety 2, and they’re both located down tiny alleys, not too far from each other. The rooms look the same, and the breakfast is also similar, so it doesn’t really matter at which Praety you stay. And let’s talk more about the breakfast, because that’s what really makes Praety stand out.

The breakfast menu has a nice selection of dishes to choose from, but 9 out of 10 times I would order banana pancakes or pineapple pancakes because they’re amazing. In fact they are so good that last time I stayed at Praety, I asked if I could sneak into the kitchen and see how they’re made. Turns out it’s just pancake mix, but add banana and pineapple, and you get Bali’s best pancakes 🙂 Sometimes I also order omelet or scrambled eggs for variation, and on one of my last days at my previous visit, I tried the black rice pudding, and it was so delicious I regret I didn’t try that one before. You also have a choice between fruit juice or mixed fruit salad. They’re both delicious, but the mixed fruit salad is amazing with the pancakes and beautifully plated, so I’ll suggest you order that one.

The rooms have beautiful doors and a nice porch where I would spend a lot of time reading books, enjoying my breakfast or a cup of tea. The family who runs the guesthouse, is very friendly and happy to help you with any questions you may have, and it is my impression that most of the guest staying at Praety are there for quite a while, so there are plenty of opportunities get to know other travelers, which is great if you’re traveling solo and want to socialize. Though Praety isn’t a party hotel. When I was there, the clientele was more of the yoga/Eat Pray Love kind that is commonly drawn to Ubud.

Both Praetys are located along Jl. Sukma Kesuma, which is a nice, rather busy, street with plenty of restaurants and warungs within walking distance, including You & Mie, which is a wonderful little noodle shop with delicious food. If you’re in Ubud for Yoga Barn Praety is a little too far for walking, especially if you go to Yoga Barn several times each day which I usually do, but you can always take a motorbike taxi or rent your own.

The only thing I’m not super happy about regarding Praety is that the wi-fi is sometimes super slow. It’s a common thing at most of the cheaper guesthouses and hotels in Bali, so I usually buy a sim card with lots of data and use my phone to get online.

The rooms are cleaned every day and so are the outdoor areas, but don’t freak out if you see the occasional cockroach in the bathroom. It’s common at most guesthouses and hotels in Bali. Cockroaches tend to make less frequent appearances on higher floors, so if it’s a big concern, try to get one of the superior rooms one stair up.

There’s no pool at Praety but I’m not much of a pool person anyway, so I don’t mind, because everything else is amazing.

When I’ve been staying at Praety, I’ve booked directly with the family that runs it, and I think I paid around $10 a night, but if you book online through one of the big booking sites, it’s more expensive.

I’m back in Bali for the first time since the pandemic, and I am so happy to be back. I have actually been here since the beginning of the month, but since I’ve had so much else to do, working on my site and my online shop, it is only now that I finally have the time to get started on this round of Bali posts.

Bali was actually one of the last places I traveled to before everything shut down, so it is a bit funny, that Bali is also one of the first places I visit after the pandemic. Right now, it is the wet season in Bali, so it rains a lot, but when it does not rain, everything is lush and green from the continuous watering.

My main purpose for this trip is to eat lots of fresh fruit, do yoga, and meditate over at Yoga Barn, and it’s going very well, if I may say so. I have been to at least one class every day, and I eat a nice fruit salad at the guesthouse each morning for breakfast.

Yoga Barn has really come back strong from the pandemic and I don’t think I have ever seen it so full. The other times I’ve been there, you could show up just a few minutes before the class started, because there was always room, but nowadays you have to be there as soon as registration opens (30 min. before) for the most popular classes, if you want to make sure to get a spot.
I also think the clientele at Yoga Barn has changed quite a bit. It used to be mainly yoga hippies wearing loose-fitting, tie-dye, cotton clothes, but nowadays, hipster yogis in Lululemon are dominating the scene.
However, Yoga Barn is still a really nice place, and I am impressed with how they have managed to create such a beautiful and peaceful oasis, where people from all over the world can meet and share a common interest.
This time, my focus has been on meditation, yin yoga and yoga nidra, and it has really worked wonders. In the first week, I fell asleep during many of the meditation sessions, but after I started staying awake, it was like I opened a gate to a whole new world. I don’t otherwise consider myself particularly spiritual, but it has been an amazing experience to connect with that side of myself, to look inward and to reflect. These types of classes is also where Yoga Barn really shines, and I don’t think you find such a broad selection of classes with truly excellent instructors anywhere else in the world.

My blog post about Yoga Barn – All you need to know >>

Almost forgot to mention that the cacao smoothie bowl at the Garden Kafe at Yoga Barn is a must-try. It tastes like chocolate ice cream! Here is a short video so you can see for yourself:

Yoga Barn is the largest yoga studio in Bali, and the lush green yoga oasis is famous among yogis all over the world. Calling Yoga Barn a studio is actually an understatement, as there are cafes, accommodation and an Ayurvedic spa on the location, as well as 7 yoga studios.

It’s a wonderful place and the atmosphere is peaceful and inclusive. Even dogs are welcome as long as they stay out of the café (for hygienic reasons). Though at the classes, most attendees are people in their 20s and 30s, and my mom, who joined me for my recent trip to Ubud, quickly noted, that she was ”about 40 years older than everyone else”.    

Which classes should you try at Yoga Barn?

There are over 20 different classes to choose among each day, and in addition to yoga, you can immerse yourself in meditation, dancing and healing. I usually go for one of the traditional yoga classes in the morning and take a more meditation-focused class in the evening. I have always found it easier to find the peace required to meditate in the evening, and clearing your mind before bedtime is a great way to wind down and prepare your body for eight hours of beauty sleep.

All the classes I have tried at Yoga Barn have been very good, and the standard of the teachers is impressive. No matter whether you are completely new to yoga or have a lot of sun salutations under your belt, I’m sure you will feel that you learn a lot. Be aware though, that the content of each class seems to be up to the teacher, so Hatha Yoga on Monday can be very different from Hatha Yoga on Tuesday, depending on who is teaching. If you find an instructor you really like, make sure to note down the name, so you can find other classes taught by her/him in the weekly schedule.

Among the yoga classes, I liked the Morning Flow at 7 am the best. The first couple of days, getting up that early can be hard, especially if you have been flying eastbound to get to Bali, but it is an amazing way to start the day and you will feel great after.  

At the High Fly Yoga class I attended, we were climbing ropes attached to the ceiling, and it felt as if I was hanging upside down most of the time. The class requires at least some degree of physical strength and suppleness to be able to follow the teacher’s instruction, and even though it was fun, I felt that I was lacking the acrobatic skills to reap the full benefits.

When my mom and I went to the Qi Gong class, we both felt nauseous at a point around halfway through the class. We are still wondering whether it was due to all the energy flows moving around or whether we were just dehydrated, but it was indeed a strange experience.  

How much are the classes at Yoga Barn?

If you just want to go for a single class, the price is 130,000 IDR (approximately 8 USD April 10, 2020), but if you buy a class card (5, 10 or 20 classes) there are great discounts to be had. You can share a class card with a friend as long as the person registered for the card is attending the classes you want to use it for, so my mom and I shared a 20 classes card, which brought down the cost to 70,000 IDR (4.5 USD) per class.

Food and drinks at Yoga Barn

At the Garden Kafe, you can indulge in delicious and healthy macrobiotic and Ayurvedic food. The prices are slightly higher than at the restaurants in the rest of Ubud, but a lot cheaper than at home. There is also a juice bar, where you can get daily-made cold-pressed juices and different kinds of snacks, so my mom and I quickly made it a habit to grab a juice before each class. You return the glass bottles after you have finished your juice, so they can be used again.

Best places to stay for Yoga Barn?

Yoga Barn offers on-site accommodation, so you can immerse yourself completely in yoga and meditation and stay in your yoga bubble without any distractions from the world outside. The accommodation at Yoga Barn is a bit pricey compared to other hotels in Ubud, so if you’re on a budget, you might consider staying somewhere else nearby instead.

I have previously stayed at Evitel and Bali Putra Villa, which are both in walking distance to Yoga Barn. Walking distance is important because traffic in Ubud can get chaotic at time and the city’s tiny pavements are not made for longer hikes. Furthermore, it quickly adds up if you need to arrange transportation to get to Yoga Barn several times each day

Yoga Barn, Ubud, Bali

In Ubud we rented a villa, and it was a great way to stay. The villa was located down a tiny side street, and we had our own garden and a private pool, which was amazing. Otherwise, there was nothing fancy about the villa, which was traditionally decorated and had a modest 2.5 star rating on Hotels.com.

The Bali Putra Villa complex consists of several villas and holiday homes. In the main building near the large road, there was a front desk and a café, where breakfast was served. We had breakfast included in our stay, and we could choose between different kinds of egg dishes as well as fried rice or noodles for breakfast. I tried the banana pancakes on the first day, and they were so good I decided to stick with them for the rest of the week. You could also choose between coffee, tea or juice, but if you wanted both coffee (or tea) and juice, you had to pay extra, which I found a bit weird.

My bedroom was one stair up and from the room, I had access to a nice balcony overlooking the garden. The first night I forgot to pull out the mosquito net until after dark, when the mosquitoes were already out, so they had a real feast that night, and I woke up with a bunch of mosquito bites. The following nights I remembered to pull out the mosquito net in advance, and I slept like a baby. I don’t know whether it was because of all the yoga (we did 3 hours of yoga each day) or whether it was the comfortable bed, but I had such a good sleep and woke up rested and energized at 6am every morning.

The villa was cleaned every day, and in the afternoon, a really nice guy came by to remove the leaves and make sure that the garden and the pool looked nice. After sunset, he also turned on the porch lights and other outdoor lighting, so we could find our way home. The kitchen was outside on the porch, and my parents spent many evenings out there, in the close vicinity to the cold beer in the fridge:)

There was one bathroom in the villa, and it was newly renovated. The shower cabin had a beautiful pebble floor, and plenty of hot water with good water pressure, but you had to be careful when adjusting the temperature as the mixing faucet was very sensitive.

The villa was surrounded by lush nature and the neighboring villa had a papaya tree that my mom was secretly planning to plunder. In the evening, the garden was full of strange sounds from frogs, bugs and animals, especially along the part of the track that ran next to a swamp-like area from the main building to our villa. Some of the wildlife also made it inside the villa, so we had a gecko and a snail as permanent residents in the shower as well as a bunch of spiders, which were luckily so small that they were more cute than scary.  

The main purpose of our trip was to attend the classes at Yoga Barn, and I had chosen Bali Putra Villa primarily because of the location. Our villa was only a 5-10 min. walk from Yoga Barn, so we could roll out of bed at 6:30am and still be on time for the Morning Flow at 7am.

The service and the general standard at Bali Putra Villa were better than 2.5 stars, and having our own place was great. The staff was really nice and friendly, though not super efficient, but as long as you do not expect international luxury, I think most people would be pleasantly surprised.

Many hotels and guesthouses in Ubud have an arrangement with drivers so the guests can get around the city without being overcharged, but the only time we booked transportation at the front desk at Bali Putra to go to a restaurant outside the city, we were charged almost double the price to get to the restaurant, as we later paid to go from the restaurant and back to our villa (with the transportation booked at the restaurant).