Located right on beautiful Kuta beach on the southern shore of Lombok Island only a short flight or boat ride from Bali is the Novotel Lombok Resort, a four-star property built in the traditional Sasak style and a real escape for couples looking for a relaxed, toes-in-the-sand experience.
Getting There
There’s a high speed catamaran that runs from the east coast of Bali to Lombok but the easiest way to get closest to the resort is with Garuda Indonesia who fly from Bali and Jakarta to Lombok with regular connections to Australia. The new international airport is just a short drive from the resort and transfers will be arranged for you. See novotellombok.com for more.
Venturing Out
There’s really no need to leave this lovely haven, but if you do feel like a day driving around you can hire a car and then head off to the town of Sengigi or further north to the fabled Gillie Islands, or perhaps visit a local village and see how they have lived the same way generation after generation for hundreds of years. You can organise diving, fishing, sailing and horse riding through the resort and, if you just want to kick back you can try your hand at a cooking class, language lesson or craft demonstration – there’s no shortage of activities on offer.
Taste Temptations
With four beachfront restaurants we weren’t bored with the food enjoying the buffet dinners at the Spice Market and the fresh, local seafood at Vue. And for a real toes in the sand experience, you can’t go past Sampan Beach Bar with its absolute beachfront location. This is relaxed dining at its best!
The Rooms
There are rooms, suites, Sasak villas and private pool villas and they’re all lovely, but because we were celebrating a special occasion we went for the top of the line and chose a pool villa which, once we closed the gate, was like our own private sanctuary – heaven! We loved the traditional architecture and decor, our private pool which was big enough to swim laps in and the proximity to the beach where we would spend our mornings on one of their comfortable, extra large, covered day beds between dips in the gentle aqua waters.
Couples Will Love
An afternoon at the spa indulging in a couple’s massage treatment which is so good it will have you going back daily – well it did for us! We loved the simple pleasures associated with staying at a beachfront resort where there’s no daily agenda – a place where time really does stand still and from where you will return home in a blissfully relaxed state, ready to do battle with the world once again.
