Amanjiwo Hotel Central Java

Amanjiwo (peaceful soul) rests in the rural heartland of Central Java. The resort is located within a natural amphitheater, with the limestone Menoreh Hills rising directly behind, the Kedu Plain to the front and four volcanoes - Sumbing and Sundoro to the west, Merbabu and Merapi in the east - on the horizon. Amanjiwo looks out onto Borobudur, the largest Buddhist sanctuary in the world. The heart of Amanjiwo is a sweeping circular monolith crafted of paras yogya (a limestone found in the Yogyakarta area), and all but entirely open to the Javanese country air. Amanjiwo's major architectural motif, of circles and squares and crescents, pays homage to Borobudur and to the centuries of grand temple architecture that fill Central Java.

Amanjiwo is about an hour's drive from Yogyakarta airport. The primary international gateways to Yogyakarta are Bali and Jakarta. Both offer several, one-hour flights a day to Yogyakarta. From Solo, it is a scenic, two-hour drive to Amanjiwo. 80-minute flights service Solo from Singapore 3 times a week. Complimentary airport transfer is provided. While visitors from most countries do not require special visas, passports must be valid for at least six months from date of entry.

The Dalem Jiwo Suite is a discrete compound, complete with a private entrance, a grand rotunda and surrounding terrace and two detached and walled bedrooms. The suite's 15-meter pool, finished in a green Javanese stone known as hijau danau, is set into the rice fields. Dalem Jiwo's personal assistant, always on call, has separate quarters in the compound.

The Dining Room looks out onto the crescent-shaped Terrace, with its banquette seating, brass tables, teak chairs and Yogya batik cushions. The view from the Terrace shoots past the rice fields of the Kedu Plain to Borobudur, directly ahead. Just beyond the great Buddhist temple is the rounded hill of Tidar. Considered the geographical center of the island, Tidar is known in legend as the very head of the nail that holds Java to the earth. Mt. Sumbing, in the northwest, towers over everything. From the colonnaded Pool Club , with its 40-meter, green-stone pool, enjoy stunning views to Mt. Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes.