Need to know
Rooms
Six villas built in traditional Sumbanese style.
Check–Out
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
More details
Rates include a breakfast of fresh coffee and juices, fruit salad and an array of Western and Asian mains (say, pancakes with ginger-star anise syrup and lime cream, nasi goreng or a dragonfruit smoothie bowl), plus gluten-free choices.
Also
While villas are sizeable enough for guests with mobility issues to comfortably stay in, rustic and sandy surrounds make navigation harder.
At the hotel
Public beach, 120-hectare reserve, farm, outdoor gym, volleyball court, pushbikes to borrow and snorkelling kit, charged laundry service, universal plugs, and free WiFi. In rooms: TV (on request), wireless speaker, yoga mat, desk, minibar, international plug sockets, bathrobes, free bottled water, coffee and tea kit, custom eco-friendly bath products, air-conditioning and ceiling fan.
Our favourite rooms
All villas are set on the beach and have uninterrupted ocean views, so you won’t be missing out whichever you book. Styled with pitched alang-grass-thatched roofs, they echo the houses in the local villages, and are filled with local carvings, ikat weavings and ceramics, but with a modern bent. For your own private swimming spot, and a bath tub set (discreetly) by the window, choose the one- or two-bedroom Beachfront Pool Villas.
Poolside
Some villas have their own private pool, generously sized and terrazzo-lined, blending seamlessly into the sand; and the Savu Sea has those mightily inviting brochure-ready waters that are all the more luminous in person.
Spa
The lack of a spa won’t trouble your relax-ometer, whose needle will be hovering around the ‘Hindu cow’ marker. But if you need some get-up-and-go, the alfresco gym will challenge you callisthenics-style.
Packing tips
You won’t want for home comforts here, but Sumba doesn’t exist in service to tourists; don’t expect to be able to stock up in a local shop (easily, anyway), so make sure your travel kit’s together before take-off. That includes eco-friendly mozzie spray. Having said that, Sumba stays wonderful through collective effort so try not to bring, and definitely don’t leave, any disposables.
Also
It’s not just locals you’ll see ambling along the beach, but also herds of buffalo or wild horses, lazy lizards and frolicking dolphin pods among Sumba’s many untamed characters.
Children
There aren’t any dedicated facilities for kids, but the Two-Bed Pool Villa fits a family of four, and there are distractions suited to younger guests who’ll thrill at the adventure of it all.
Sustainability efforts
The hotel plays its part in keeping Sumba paradisiacal well. An onsite farm supplies the kitchen with fresh produce (and only local growers and fishermen are called on to supplement), solar panels are being installed, bath products are custom made and green as can be, and plastics have been drastically reduced. Villas have been built using local stone, teak and alang grass, and thousands of native trees have been planted within the resort. The native community has been cared for, too, forming a 100-strong team of staff; and owners have built a school and water stations for the nearby kampungs (villages).