The Sanubari

Style

End-of-the-Earth hideout

Setting

We don't talk about Sumba

If you’ve got a case of the ‘been there, done thats’, let us reassure you that the world’s not done with surprising you. Take the Sanubari, which at first glance looks like the blueprint for a luxurious beach resort with its thatched villas and the requisite endless white sands and stained-glass waters. However, this resort sits in a vast swathe of off-the-radar isle Sumba, Indonesia’s ace up its sleeve, where locals still live in village clusters, practising ancient Marupu religious rites and making ikat weavings, ceramics and carvings (which you’ll find in your villa). You’ll see herds of buffalo wander along the sands, chat with fishermen breaking for beers, ‘swim’ with horses and be truly transported on a genuine-article getaway.

Facilities

Quartos

11 beachfront villas built in traditional Sumbanese style.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

Mais detalhes

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.

Academia de ginástica

Acesso gratuito à Internet

Lavanderia

Restaurante no local

Serviço de quarto

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.

Crianças

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. Children aged 11 and over are charged at the adult rate.

Galeria

Food & Drink

Top Table

Those romantics at the Sanubari have the (heart) eye for a love-story setting, say a table on the beach for a sunset barbecue, cushions on the sand round a fire pit, or a parasol-shaded clifftop picnic.

Dress code

Brights, colour, pattern… Swathe yourself in Balinese batiks.

Hotel Restaurant

The romantic thatch-topped dining pavilion – with its carved pillars, ikat hangings and cane-backed seating – echoes the look of the traditional Sumbanese uma keladas (peaked houses). It sits right on the sand, so sea views are a given. The menu skews both east and west – you could have chicken parm, fish tacos or herb-crusted fish; but we prefer the picks from this part of the world: nasi goreng, coconutty rendang, char siu chicken and yellow curry.

Hotel Bar

The bar also looks like a village residence, with its thatched moptop and wood carvings. It’s built on sand too, so you can easily mosey your drinks to your day-bed. Many ingredients come from the hotel farm, which grows passionfuit, hibiscus flowers, soursop fruit, bananas, pineapples, coconuts, lemongrass, and rosemary. The signature sipper called, well, the Sanubari, takes a sweet, sticky tamarind reduction from the hotel’s 200-year-old trees and shakes it over ice before adding generous slugs of gin. We'd chase that with a Dragon in Shaker (with dragonfruit, rum and lime), banana daiquiri with fresh garden fruit, or vodka mixed with lemongrass and lime.

Last Orders

The restaurant is open daily from 7am for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Room Service

Restaurant dishes can be brought to your villa from 7am to 8pm.

Planes

Tambolaka Airport is a two-hour drive from the hotel; you can easily connect from Denpasar (AKA Ngurah Rai) in Bali, around a 90-minute flight. Staff can arrange one-way airport transfers for IDR1,000,000; if you're staying for four nights or more before 15 January 2026, transfers are included with your room rate.

Automobiles

Drop and floppers won’t need wheels of any kind, but if you’re more explorative, note that Sumba’s infrastructure lags a little behind the growing interest in visiting it, so driving can be tricky (and not recommended after dark), although it is possible to hire a car or a motorbike. You can sidestep any navigational stress by hiring a driver for the day (most wait around the airport, but you’ll be whisked off when you arrive, so ask hotel staff to help arrange); be sure to be clear about what you’re hoping to see and do. The hotel has not one but three secure car parks (one by the restaurant, two by the villas).

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Hermits have never had it so good. Now that Sumba’s an unleashed secret it may be as busy as Bali a few years down the line, but for now the island’s roughshod remoteness is a rare asset. Local communities have had little interference, meaning life – and the Marupu religon’s rituals and ceremonies, such as megalithic burials – carry on as they have for centuries. The Sanubari’s owners have built goodwill with the neighbouring kampungs (Sumbanese for ‘village’), so a limited number of lucky guests can visit to learn more about the locals and buy handicrafts to take home. Of course, your main source of entertainment is the beach: 2.5 kilometres of gleaming white sand and ‘are you kidding me?’ glowy blue-green waters. You could simply drop down on a towel (classic), play beach games, tennis and volleyball or snorkel using the hotel’s free-to-hire gear (part of the beach has a vibrant reef and curious turtles). Embark on a cruise aboard the hotel boat; go fishing; paddle boarding; or surfing on the three rideable breaks along Sanubari’s shorefront (there are more a short bike ride away). Or take it to the next level with kite-surfing. The hotel has some very special horse-riding experiences, saddling up for sunrise or set, or – our pick – ‘swimming’ with them, riding bareback through the waves. Inland lies dense jungle, rice paddies that look like you could reach out and stroke them, and coconut groves: great for hiking and motorbiking and a spot of mountaineering. Ignore TLC’s advice and spend a day-trip chasing waterfalls – you’ll head off on a 45-minute ride (with a guide if you wish) which takes you through the Wanukaka Valley to the Lapopu cascades in Manupeu Tanah Daru National Park and the 75-metre-tall Matayangu falls in Waimanu village.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .