If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (IDR2,528,925.62), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Within wave-catching distance of point break-perfect Are Guling Bay, Somewhere Lombok is the stuff of surfer-chic dreams. The standalone villas cascade down the jungle-caressed cliffside, each with a private plunge pool which glitters with emerald-green Balinese stones. The bedrooms are contemporary-boho in style, chock-full with local handicrafts – and refreshingly TV-free (which will encourage you to swap screens for surfboards). Explore Lombok’s southern shores at your own leisurely pace, or take the time to do nothing at all – and by nothing, we mean sipping passionfruit ice-tea topped with lime sorbet in the poolside hammock.
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £150.88 (IDR3,060,000), including tax at 21 per cent.
More details
Rates include a bountiful breakfast spread of tropical fruit, homemade granola, and smoothie bowls, plus à la carte options including pineapple-topped pancakes and French toast.
Also
The villas are spread across several tiers set into a steep hill, and are only accessible via stairs – making the resort unsuitable for guests with mobility issues.
At the hotel
Beach shuttle service, scooters to borrow, beachwear boutique, charged laundry service, and free WiFi. In rooms: plunge pool, pool towels, beach bag, Harman Kardon Bluetooth speaker, minibar, tea-making kit, coffee machine, air-conditioning, and Sensatia Botanicals bath products.
Our favourite rooms
The identically-designed, indoor-outdoor villas have been kept deliberately minimalist to allow the natural beauty of southern Lombok to wash over you. Large glass sliding doors open onto a palm-fringed terrace, with a private plunge pool tiled with Balinese green stones. You can also soak up some steamy views of Mount Rinjani from your Jogja-stone rain-shower, through an almost full-height window which brings the volcano to you.
Poolside
The saltwater infinity pool (open daily between 6am and 8pm) blends so seamlessly with the glittering expanse of Are Guling Bay that it feels as though the waves are lapping its jade-green edges, rather than the golden sands below. Elephant-grey loungers line the deck, and there’s an oversized cabana with a shaded hammock just a few barefoot steps away – so you can gently sway while listening to the not-so-distant sound of crashing waves.
Spa
The bijou spa temporarily resides in one of the villas, with two treatment rooms for massages, and an outdoor whirlpool. Soon-to-open additions include a yoga pavilion, meditation room, fitness studio, and sauna.
Packing tips
If you’re short on swimwear, Somewhere’s surfer-chic boutique has got you covered. The beautifully curated store stocks island essentials like kaftans, sarongs, and reef-friendly SPF.
Also
The striking photographs on display throughout the hotel were taken by co-founder Valia Gontard, which capture the wonderfully unhurried pace of island life and its people.
Children
Cribs can be added to every villa free of charge, and under 12s are welcome to sleep on the sofa.
Sustainability efforts
Somewhere Lombok teamed up with Bali-based sustainability consultants, Eco Mantra, to ensure the hotel was sensitively designed, built and run as efficiently as possible. The villas are inspired by the surrounding tropical greenery (an oasis of all-native plant species, nurtured by the eco-driven landscaping team), and have been handcrafted using locally-sourced materials. Bathrooms are stocked with eco-conscious, refillable products from Indonesian beauty brand, Sensatia Botanicals, and there are thoughtful touches throughout the bedrooms such as handwoven textiles and handmade ceramics created by local artisans. The hotel follows a strict waste-management and recycling programme, as well as composting any organic waste.
We like the large communal tables for getting stoked, but really any of the tables with an Indian Ocean view will (more than) do.
Dress Code
Salty hair and sandy feet – just lean your board against the wall and tuck in.
Hotel restaurant
The indoor-outdoor feel of the villas is matched by Somewhere’s all-day dining restaurant (open from 7am onwards), a simple yet stylish open-plan space with rustic wooden tables, dangling rattan lamps, and lots of luscious potted plants. The Indonesian-fusion menu focuses on fresh, locally sourced produce, offering a wholesome selection of small and large plates like ginger soy-soaked beef tataki, spicy turmeric chicken skewers, and grilled chimichurri prawns with a zesty hit of charred lemon. Save room for the zingy lime sorbet, or pop a few of the chocolate truffles in your beach bag and save for a toes-in-the-sand snack.
Hotel bar
On the edge of the main building and the sweeping ocean-facing lawn, Somewhere’s bar is as open-air (without actually being outside) as it gets. Pull up a rattan chair and order a dragon fruit-spiked cocktail, or flop into one of the beanbags with a watermelon and mint smoothie in hand.
Last orders
All-day dining delights will keep you fuelled pre- and post-surf.
Room service
There’s no in-villa dining menu, but that just means more time by the pool or at the beach.
Gracing Lombok’s southern shores, Somewhere overlooks surfers’ paradise Are Guling Bay and is just 10 minutes from the beachside town of Kuta.
Planes
Lombok International Airport is 40 minutes away by car, with direct connections from Denpasar in Bali (30-minute flight), Singapore (just under three hours), and Kuala Lumpur (also around three hours). The hotel offers airport transfers for IDR350,000 (for two passengers, each way) or IDR500,000 (for four passengers, each way).
Automobiles
Car and motorbike rentals are readily available all over the island, as are affordable local taxis if you’d prefer not to get behind the wheel yourself. Take Jalan Mawun and drive past the village of Prabu, turning left when you see the hotel’s sign.
Other
There are various speedboats (around a 90-minute transfer) and ferries (up to five hours’ sailing time) available between Padang Bai and Lombok via the Gili Islands, or from Sanur to Senggigi in west Lombok. The average ticket price is around IDR670,000 a person, each way – depending on the season and operator. The hotel runs a pick-up and drop-off service from the main pier starting from IDR600,000.
Worth getting out of bed for
Lombok is still flying relatively under-the-radar as Bali’s little, lesser-known sister, drawing in-the-know surfers and digital nomads to its near-deserted shores. Plant your board and catch some waves at Are Guling Bay (10 minutes’ drive from Somewhere), one of the island’s best surfing spots where the line-ups are still uncrowded. A few warungs (small, locally-run eateries) are scattered along the beachfront for post-surf snacks, but the main hub of southern Lombok is nearby Kuta (the hotel offers a regular shuttle service to the coastal town). Whether you’re here to surf or sunbathe (or both), there are beaches in abundance – Mawi Beach, Semeti Beach, and Selong Belanak are all popular local hangouts, as is Merese Hill at sunset. The pink sandy beach at Tangsi is a little off-the-beaten-track, but lives up to its bucket-list status. You’ll inevitably want to indulge in some island-hopping, and the neighbouring Gili Islands and smaller Sekotong Islands are worth planning day-trips for – best combined with snorkelling, scuba-diving, and glass-bottom boat tours. There’s also plenty to keep you busy on dry land, including waterfall hikes, Mount Rinjani treks, and visits to traditional Sasak villages like Sukarara (where you can get creative in a weaving workshop) or Tetebatu (the perfect place to pick up some handmade souvenirs).
Local restaurants
There’s a cluster of restaurants around Kuta, including Knalpot Restaurant & Bar – a casual eatery which serves fusion dishes like tamarind-dusted Thai fish cakes, grilled mahi-mahi, and creamy coconut dosa by day, then a concoction of jungle daiquiris, chamomile-infused margaritas, and homemade pineapple and mint lemonade by night. The clubhouse at SIWA is more of a fine-dining affair where Indonesian flavours are blended with Western classics, in a swish setting which crests the hills above Kuta Beach.
Local cafés
The bakery at Bara is a buzzing poolside brunch spot, where freshly baked pastries and tropical fruit bowls are delivered to your day-bed – shaded by pretty peach-coloured parasols and thatched palapas. We’d recommend stopping by on Sundays for the bottomless brunch menu.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this all-villa retreat in Lombok and unpacked their coconut surf wax and songket sarongs, a full account of their blissed-out beach break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Somewhere Lombok in Indonesia…
It’s impossible to get board (ahem, bored) of the surfside, jungle-framed views at Somewhere Lombok. In fact, we challenge you to find a single angle which doesn’t make you swoon (ideally onto one of the cushy bean-bags by the infinity pool) – especially when viewed through the aesthetic lens of Valia Gontard, Somewhere’s creative co-founder, surfer, and photographer (whose island-inspired works hang on the whitewashed walls). Together with her sister Claire, and Hong Kong-based design studio, Eight Partnership, the free-spirited Gontards tapped into their Indonesian roots while curating every little artisan-made detail – down to the Javanese ceramics and handmade basketry by local weaver Mami, whose workshop is just 15 minutes away from the hotel. All in all, private-villa life at Somewhere is as swell as you’d expect, especially with your own plunge pool to dip into and balcony to bask on.
