The Santosa’s great advantage was its position in Senggigi. There was somewhere to walk in the evening and a choice of restaurants for dinner, yet inside the grounds it could feel as though the entire hotel had been left to me. My garden terrace was the best part of the stay. The beach was another matter.
The Santosa Villas & Resort is now listed as permanently closed. This review recalls my visit in 2015.
A quiet corner of Senggigi
After the drive from the airport, the scale of the hotel surprised me: a spacious lobby with high ceilings, then extensive, well-kept grounds. My room was in the part furthest from the lobby and restaurant, and I lost my way among the paths more than once. After dark, the lighting was poor. Everything was so quiet that the place seemed deserted.
That sense of emptiness lasted throughout my visit. It helped make the hotel peaceful, though finding my way back to the room took some practice.
The Deluxe Suite and its garden terrace
I had booked a Deluxe Suite on the ground floor of a villa. Santosa was an older hotel, and I had read complaints about worn rooms, but mine gave me no such trouble. Perhaps the category made the difference.
The room was spacious, with a comfortable bed and good furniture. The bathroom was clean, with a small wooden window, fresh towels and a generous supply of toiletries. What I liked most, though, was the terrace opening onto the garden. It felt quiet, comfortable and secluded. For that position, I was quite willing to keep getting lost.
The beach and pool
I had plenty planned on Lombok and hadn’t intended to spend all my time at the hotel. For a holiday devoted to relaxing on the beach, I would have been disappointed. The grey sand was dirty, boats were moored along the shore, and vendors sold all sorts of things. It didn’t feel like a beach to settle on for the day.
Walking farther along the shore brought cleaner, more inviting stretches. The evening view was lovely, too. Back at the hotel, a large, well-equipped pool made up for some of the beach’s shortcomings.
A pier just to the left of the hotel offered boats to the Gili Islands and Bali, with tickets sold there. At the time, this was another useful aspect of the location.
Breakfast and the spa
Breakfast was served in a small restaurant whose terrace had a fine view. The food was less appealing. There was little variety, the vegetables looked unappetising, and even the omelette tasted bad. How do you get an omelette wrong?
The staff were friendly and the service was reasonably good. The spa disappointed me: attractive from the outside, uncomfortable once inside, and the massage left much to be desired.
I came away with a positive impression of Santosa overall and felt it offered fair value. I liked it for a brief visit while exploring Lombok, but wouldn’t have chosen it for a longer resort holiday. The room and that secluded terrace deserved better breakfast and spa facilities—and a better beach.
Where I would look in Senggigi today
With Santosa closed, I would begin with Merumatta Senggigi Lombok, on the neighbouring beachfront. Of these alternatives, it looks closest to the garden-resort setting I liked at Santosa, with a pool and Senggigi’s restaurants nearby. The Garden View Bungalow would be my starting point: a single-storey room with a garden-facing balcony and an outdoor shower. The bungalows contain two adjoining rooms, so this is not a detached private villa.
For a more compact base in Senggigi, I would compare Aruna Senggigi Resort & Convention. Its Superior Cottages sit apart from the main building, among gardens with a separate pool; the Deluxe Rooms are in the main building and have balconies. The beach is across the road, an important distinction when weighing it against a resort directly on the sand.
Farther north in Mangsit, Holiday Resort Lombok would be on my list for more time by the sea. I would look at the Deluxe Garden Chalet, with its ground-floor terrace and semi-outdoor bathroom. It keeps the garden-room idea that appealed to me at Santosa, within a beachfront resort. The trade-off is location: I would plan on a taxi for evenings in central Senggigi.