Bali may still dominate the postcards but Indonesian island Lombok is chasing a bigger share of the luxury travel pie. And impressive luxury resort Samara Lombok is clearly betting that its moment is coming.
Conceived by the co-founders of Rascal Republic, the Singapore-based hospitality and development group behind successful ventures including the world’s highest outdoor bar 1-Altitude, the sprawling 150-hectare integrated resort development on Lombok’s south coast has secured a substantial investment from Westgrove Partners as it advances toward its planned opening in the first quarter of 2028.
Located just 25 minutes from Lombok International Airport, it will open with three boutique hotels and 150 villas - with a limited number of them available for purchase - as part of a wider 500-villa masterplan. Upon completion, the development will include 12 dining concepts curated by celebrity chef Will Meyrick and children’s food author Annabel Karmel. The broader positioning centers around nature, sport, wellness and family-focused experiences, and guests will enjoy access to four tennis courts, four padel courts, a football training centre tied to an elite global club partner, and a marine biology and water sports centre operated by Rascal Voyages, a premium yacht charter company for off-grid Indonesian expeditions
Steve Ebsworth, co-founder of Samara Lombok notes: “What excites us is the timing. Lombok now has the backing and infrastructure to become one of Asia’s next great luxury destinations.”
And timing really is the key word here. In conversations about Indonesia luxury, Bali has historically been the first destination on travelers’ lips, drawing more than 7 million international visitors in 2025 alone. But with overcrowding and congestion increasingly becoming part of the Bali experience, the Indonesian government has been aggressively pushing Lombok as an alternative, pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure and tourism development. The island has officially been designated a “Super Priority Tourism Destination,” with investment flowing into airports, bypass roads and the Mandalika Special Economic Zone, home to the international MotoGP circuit that has rapidly raised Lombok’s global visibility.
Samara Lombok appears designed to ride that wave, with the project emphasizing long-term planning, infrastructure, community and sustainability initiatives.
Also particularly exciting is that Samara Lombok will be the first Destination by Hyatt property in Southeast Asia, giving the hospitality giant a foothold in what many see as Indonesia’s next major luxury tourism market. Destination by Hyatt allows independent luxury properties to retain operational autonomy while plugging into Hyatt’s global distribution and loyalty ecosystem, and for Hyatt, this partnership deepens its exposure to the growing appetite for experiential and nature-led luxury travel in Southeast Asia, particularly as affluent travelers begin looking beyond Bali for destinations that still feel relatively untouched but have enough infrastructure, connectivity, and brand backing to reassure.
Lombok ticks those boxes, and Hyatt’s involvement in Samara Lombok seems to be a signal about the next hotspot for luxury in Indonesia.
Westgrove partner Sze-Liang Lim backs this view: “Our investment in Samara Lombok is grounded on a clear macro thesis of Indonesia actively redistributing tourism growth, with Lombok being at the core of that shift. What differentiates this opportunity is the level of site readiness where land consolidation, infrastructure and planning have already been substantially de-risked. This allows us to deploy capital at scale with clear visibility on execution and long-term value creation by the co-founders and team at Samara Lombok.”
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