It’s about the same size as neighbouring Bali, with the same lush green jungles, terraced rice paddies, palm-fringed beaches, volcanoes with lake-filled craters and rich indigenous culture. But unlike Bali, it’s not overburdened by traffic and tourists. Add islets and atolls that wouldn’t look out of place in the Maldives, reefs brimming with turtles, world-class surf breaks and an expanding selection of sophisticated places in which to eat, drink and stay, and you’ll begin to see why Lombok carries water as the first bona fide “new Bali”.
Where to stay
Rascals in Kuta, run by Australian hotelier Steven Moloney. Photo: courtesy Rascals Kuta Lombok
About half an hour’s drive west of Kuta, ground zero of tourism development on Lombok, is a quiet coastal village set on a hill with breathtaking views of Selong Belanak Bay and its reef. There are half a dozen small hotels and villas set on the hill, though no other can hold a candle to Segara Lombok, according to Australian hotelier Steven Moloney, who got married there earlier this year.
“It’s a very small boutique hotel with a chill atmosphere, a special spot with only 10 bungalows made from natural materials like wood, river stones and alang-alang [thatch] roofs, with outdoor bathrooms,” says Moloney, who runs his own boutique property, Rascals, in Kuta. “They are full most of the time, so if you want to stay there in high season, you’ll need to book months in advance.”
There are no cars on the Gili Islands, only horse-drawn carts. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer
When Moroccan restaurateur Larbi Ahassad, owner and chef of the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant El Bazar, in Kuta, wants to get away, he heads to Meno, the smallest and least developed of the three popular offshore islets – the Gilis – in the north. “It doesn’t have the hustle of Gili Trawangan, the larger island next door,” he says. “It’s our favourite island escape because of the white sand, the turquoise water and the serenity.”
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Bask is a boutique hotel on Meno with 30 suites, villas and lofts with private pools, all the amenities and services one would expect at a luxury hotel plus some that come as a surprise, including an underground nightclub with a glass wall that peers into the main pool.
“They host you in such a warm way,” says Ahassad. “The design and fittings are beautiful and the setting is like a dream, facing the sunset with volcanoes on the horizon. You literally sleep 20 metres from the shore, surrounded by nature.
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“For people who love good design, good food and good wine, it’s the best in Lombok.”
