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The Sira resort and beachfront, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Deluxe Ocean View Suite bathroom, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Deluxe Ocean View Suite king bedroom, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Infinity pool and beach, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Medsa restaurant, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Yoga pavilion, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Sendang Gile Waterfall, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Snorkelling with a sea turtle, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
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Stand-up paddleboarding, The Sira, Lombok. Source: Finn Partners Box Asia.
Perched on Lombok’s north coast, close enough to the Gili Islands that I could see them from the beach, The Sira, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, opened in November 2024 as Marriott International’s first luxury property on the island. I woke to ocean views every morning, ate fish that had been pulled from the sea hours earlier, and spent an afternoon building my own massage oil from scratch.
Curious to know why resort lovers are choosing this new luxury Lombok resort? Here’s why.
Before it was a resort, it was somebody’s home
As I toured The Sira, I was surprised to learn that it started as one family’s private home on this stretch of coast, long before it became one of the island’s luxury resorts. The original palm trees are still standing where the family planted them decades ago, and the beach house, now one of the villa types, was the actual family home before any of the rest of the resort existed around it. The resort’s 60 rooms, three restaurants and one bar are built from carved teak and handwoven tenun ikat, rather than the imported finishes you’d find elsewhere in the region.
Seventy metres of pool that plays tricks on the eye
The infinity pool runs across two levels, a 40-metre stretch up top split into sections for kids, teens and adults, and a 70-metre lap below at a uniform 1.4 metres deep. I swim laps most mornings, the turquoise sea running alongside me the whole way rather than something I have to stop and look for, and by day three I’ve stopped bothering to work out where the pool ends and the ocean begins.
A beach so pristine turtles choose to nest there
Turtles don’t nest just anywhere, and the fact that they choose this stretch of sand says something about how clean the water and shoreline actually are. To protect them, the Nipah Beach Turtle Conservation Centre patrols the shore and runs the release itself, and I get to be part of it: 84 hawksbill turtles have already been released before my group arrives, and another 20 are placed in my hands that night, headed for the water. Sira Beach runs long in front of the resort, with the Gili Islands close enough on the horizon that boats crossing between them are visible without binoculars. There’s a hut right on the sand stocked with snorkel gear, and the reef sits about 250 metres out, close enough to swim to directly, teeming with fish and the occasional turtle.
Not your average spa menu
This Lombok resort’s Scent Lab & Bar is one of its more unusual offerings – I build my own fragrance from a bar of raw materials rather than picking one off a shelf, going with frangipani as a base note since it’s already the smell of the whole property. The therapist uses my own blend as the oil for my massage afterwards, and I fall asleep halfway through, which has never happened to me during a massage before. Next door, the Chocolate Atelier has guests turning raw local cacao into their own chocolate from scratch. The Waterfall Ritual takes the same idea further into the jungle, a trip to one of Lombok’s waterfalls built around slow movement and guided reflection, which Alex Gares, the General Manager, still leads himself when his schedule allows it. For anyone staying closer to the room, the 70-metre infinity pool offers the same reset without the drive.
A room you won’t want to leave
My bags are already waiting in the room by the time I get there, which is the first sign I’m about to be spoiled. There’s a handwritten note on the desk with my name on it, next to a plate of local snacks. I’m surprised by how much room there is in the bathroom alone – a freestanding tub, a rain shower with proper pressure behind it, a robe so plush I put it on three separate times before I’ve even unpacked. Beyond it, the room settles into carved teak and handwoven textiles, with a canopy bed sitting at its centre like a pearl set into its shell. Two sliding doors open onto a private balcony where the beach and infinity pool stretch out directly below, close enough that I skip the alarm entirely and let the waves do the job instead. Every morning I’m out here with a coffee, watching the tide before I’ve said a word to anyone.
The dining alone is worth the trip
Each restaurant at this Lombok resort has its own moment in the day, and its own flair to go with it. Mornings mean Sija, facing straight out at the ocean with a plate of fresh fruit, magenta dragon fruit among it, followed by a bowl of pad thai that has no business being this good this early. By lunch, after a swim in the infinity pool or a walk down the beach, Medsa is the move, all Mediterranean brightness and an octopus dish I’m still thinking about weeks later. Dinner belongs to The Island’s Table, where the open kitchen runs at the centre of the room and you’re eating with a direct line of sight to whoever’s cooking your food.
