The invitation
Bali has been part of Alice MacGillivray’s life for more than forty years. Long before Bright Threads existed, this was the place that taught her to slow down - to eat at a warung on a plastic stool rather than a resort pool bar, to shop thoughtfully, appreciate craftsmanship and find beauty in everyday rituals. It is where she learned that the places we return to have a quiet way of shaping how we live once we go home.
Bright Threads grew from these experiences, but this journey is about something much deeper than the brand itself. It is an invitation into the life that inspired it.
There is Sandi, Alice’s manufacturing partner of nine years, and Made, the driver she trusts to take her wherever she needs to go across the island. There are the places she returns to every visit, the restaurants she has discovered through years of eating her way around the island, and her favourite table at Biah Biah, just around the corner from the Ubud lane where she and her husband have stayed year after year since 2012.
And there is a reason Alice has chosen to stay right in the heart of Ubud rather than at one of the beautiful resorts further out. Over the past decade, the traffic around Ubud has become increasingly congested, and while many of the larger resorts can look relatively close to the centre on a map, the reality can be very different. A short distance can easily become close to an hour in the car.
In 2012, Alice and her husband stumbled across a beautiful hotel right in the heart of Ubud and have returned to it ever since. It may not have the scale or polished luxury of some of the big resorts on the outskirts, but that isn't why Alice comes to Ubud. Across the road is an excellent wine bar. Nearby is a bar with a dangerously good two-for-one cocktail hour and a bustling live band, a handful of restaurants Alice loves and her favourite coffee shop. And all of it can be reached on foot.
Because for Alice, the village atmosphere of Ubud is every bit as important as the rice paddies. The beautiful resorts have their place, but she doesn't want you sitting in traffic every time you want to wander into town. She wants you to be able to walk out the door and straight into Ubud - to wander the streets, stop for a coffee, find somewhere unexpected for a drink, poke your head into shops and restaurants and feel the energy of the village around you.
So Alice is taking you to her favourite hotel in the heart of it all, because she wants you to fall in love with the Ubud she has been returning to since she was a child.
After decades of returning to Bali, Alice knows the places worth seeking out and the ones worth returning to. Her favourite way to discover a place has always been on foot - walking past restaurants, observing what is happening inside and following the instinct that says, yes, this is the one. Over the years, that instinct has led her down countless small jalans, side streets, alleys and laneways, and to some of the best meals and most memorable experiences of her travels.
The invitation
Bali has been part of Alice MacGillivray’s life for more than forty years. Long before Bright Threads existed, this was the place that taught her to slow down - to eat at a warung on a plastic stool rather than a resort pool bar, to shop thoughtfully, appreciate craftsmanship and find beauty in everyday rituals. It is where she learned that the places we return to have a quiet way of shaping how we live once we go home.
Bright Threads grew from these experiences, but this journey is about something much deeper than the brand itself. It is an invitation into the life that inspired it.
There is Sandi, Alice’s manufacturing partner of nine years, and Made, the driver she trusts to take her wherever she needs to go across the island. There are the places she returns to every visit, the restaurants she has discovered through years of eating her way around the island, and her favourite table at Biah Biah, just around the corner from the Ubud lane where she and her husband have stayed year after year since 2012.
And there is a reason Alice has chosen to stay right in the heart of Ubud rather than at one of the beautiful resorts further out. Over the past decade, the traffic around Ubud has become increasingly congested, and while many of the larger resorts can look relatively close to the centre on a map, the reality can be very different. A short distance can easily become close to an hour in the car.
In 2012, Alice and her husband stumbled across a beautiful hotel right in the heart of Ubud and have returned to it ever since. It may not have the scale or polished luxury of some of the big resorts on the outskirts, but that isn't why Alice comes to Ubud. Across the road is an excellent wine bar. Nearby is a bar with a dangerously good two-for-one cocktail hour and a bustling live band, a handful of restaurants Alice loves and her favourite coffee shop. And all of it can be reached on foot.
Because for Alice, the village atmosphere of Ubud is every bit as important as the rice paddies. The beautiful resorts have their place, but she doesn't want you sitting in traffic every time you want to wander into town. She wants you to be able to walk out the door and straight into Ubud - to wander the streets, stop for a coffee, find somewhere unexpected for a drink, poke your head into shops and restaurants and feel the energy of the village around you.
So Alice is taking you to her favourite hotel in the heart of it all, because she wants you to fall in love with the Ubud she has been returning to since she was a child.
After decades of returning to Bali, Alice knows the places worth seeking out and the ones worth returning to. Her favourite way to discover a place has always been on foot - walking past restaurants, observing what is happening inside and following the instinct that says, yes, this is the one. Over the years, that instinct has led her down countless small jalans, side streets, alleys and laneways, and to some of the best meals and most memorable experiences of her travels.
