Back in 2024, a travel journalist spent three nights at Floating Leaf, then drove up the road to stay a little longer at Bodhi Leaf, our newer sister retreat. She didn’t tell us in advance what she was writing, and we didn’t ask. The piece ran in The Art of Healing, a wellness magazine based in Australia, under the headline “Retreat/Spa Reviews in Bali” (Vol. 3, Issue 88, Sep/Nov 2024, pages 46 to 48).
It’s a print-only issue. There’s no digital edition and no link I can send you, which is actually part of why I wanted to write this post. I can’t link to what she wrote, so I want to tell you, in my own words, what it confirmed for me, and why the specific things she noticed are the things I still care most about getting right.
Where this started
My roots trace back to the Balinese Royal Family of Karangasem, and I was raised with the traditional dances, healing arts, and culture of Bali. Before Floating Leaf, I owned and managed a spa in central California for years, which is where the Western side of how I run things comes from. When I built the Melati Spa here, I wanted both halves in it, the techniques I picked up managing that business, and the centuries-old Balinese secrets I grew up with. The land Floating Leaf sits on was bought in 2002 and, before we built anything, it was donated to the local village so they could keep growing rice on it. We didn’t open the retreat itself until 2012, and every phase of building it, right down to where we broke ground, followed Balinese tradition and the blessing of the local community. That relationship hasn’t stopped since.
The philosophy underneath everything
Everything we do runs on one idea: Tri Hita Karana, a Balinese Hindu principle that roughly translates to three paths to peacefulness and prosperity, balance between people and the divine, between people and each other, and between people and nature. It’s the same philosophy behind Bali’s UNESCO-recognised subak irrigation system, and it’s not a value statement we put on a wall and forget about. It’s the reason the rice fields around Floating Leaf are still farmed by the village, not by us, almost 25 years after we bought the land.
What she noticed, and why it’s not an accident
A few details in her piece stood out to me, because they’re the parts I’m most protective of.
She mentioned the hair and scalp treatment at Melati Spa as the best she’d had anywhere. That treatment comes from royal Balinese techniques I learned growing up, and I insisted we keep it close to the original when we built the spa out, rather than simplify it for a faster turnaround.
She also wrote that I “teach yoga classes and do sound healing” myself, and that’s true more often than people expect from someone running two properties. When I lead a sound healing session, every bowl is tuned to a different note across a full octave, and each one has been blessed before it’s used. People sometimes ask why I don’t hand that off once a business gets to a certain size. The honest answer is that I didn’t start Floating Leaf to manage a hotel. I started it to practice what I was raised with, and if I stop showing up for the parts that actually matter, the place stops being what it was built for.
At Bodhi Leaf, which only opened in June 2024, she went further afield, out to a traditional healer’s home for a water purification ceremony in the jungle, the kind of experience we’re still learning how to offer consistently as that retreat finds its own footing. I’d rather be honest that it’s newer and still developing than pretend it’s identical to Floating Leaf.
Why I’m telling retreat leaders this, not just guests
If you’re a retreat leader weighing venues in Bali, a stranger’s review in a print wellness magazine probably isn’t the deciding factor on its own. But it is one more honest, third-party account of how hands-on this place actually is, written by someone with nothing to gain from being kind to us. That matters when you’re trusting a venue with your own group’s experience, not just your own.
If you’re further along and want the practical details, group size, what’s included, pricing ranges, and how far in advance to book, that’s covered directly on our Host a Retreat page.
A few quick answers
Where did this feature run? The Art of Healing magazine, “Retreat/Spa Reviews in Bali,” Vol. 3, Issue 88 (Sep/Nov 2024), pages 46 to 48. It’s print-only, so there’s no link to share.
Is this the same review as the press badges elsewhere on the site? No. This is a separate feature from the press logos in the homepage strip. Adding it here because the print format means it has no other way to reach people online.
Can I read about the Bodhi Leaf part of the visit too? Yes, the same article covered a stay at Bodhi Leaf, our newer sister retreat about a kilometer away. I touched on that experience above.
Credit: “Retreat/Spa Reviews in Bali,” The Art of Healing, Vol. 3, Issue 88 (Sep/Nov 2024), pages 46 to 48. Print only, no online edition available.
