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Nihi Sumba review: marvellous resort on a splendid Sumba island for an indulging escapade

Is Nihi Sumba the best hotel in the world? Is it only for surfers? Read on for my honest Nihi Sumba review and practical tips

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How to get to Nihi Sumba?

Nihi might seem like it is at the end of the world, but it is not that hard to reach once you are in Bali.

The airport is Tambolaka, and it is a short 45 minutes flight from Bali.

Three airlines are currently running this route daily. The most reliable airline is Garuda. Don’t however expect 100% reliability. They canceled my return flight, so I had to spend one more night in Tambolaka.

Nihi Sumba review - the Garuda flight to Tambolaka

Nihi’s amazing service starts even before you get to Sumba. As our driver parked his car at Bali airport, a Nihi representative immediately accosted us. Four other people appeared to carry our bags and escort us through check-in and security.

Once in Sumba’s Tamboloka airport, another Nihi staff greeted us and helped with our bags.

We had booked our own transfer from Tombolaka airport to Nihi as we wanted to spend the afternoon visiting local villages.

I had pre-booked a car with Explore Sumba, and it was a bit of a disaster. The vehicle was not there. Fortunately, the Nihi assistant was able to help us call them.

They did send a car 30 minutes later, but it was a much smaller car than what we had agreed on my booking. Their vehicle was also struggling going up hills.

We visited two traditional villages on the way, and I highly recommend them. They are beautiful and their inhabitants very welcoming.

In one of the villages, we met Juliana who spoke to us in French. She is a local guide and became our guide for our tour of West Sumba. For more information on that tour, read here

Juliana also recommended the driver Roi. He has a much nicer car than the one from explore Sumba travel agency and is a good driver. He can be reached via Whatsapp at +6282247719970

TIP: No taxis or cars are waiting at the airport. It is the first airport I have been to in Indonesia that has no public transport. So make sure you pre-book your transfer to the hotel, with a tour operator or with Roi ( see above) or directly with Nihi Sumba.

Check-in at Nihi Sumba

The “ThisisLuxuryTravel reviews” always start with the check-in. So this is how I will start this Nihi Sumba review as well. The check-in started at the airport in Bali. We filled in the necessary forms.

On our arrival in Nihi, we were greeted by Julien, the general manager, with drinks and towels, and he escorted directly to our villa.

Nihi Sumba review - the Tuk Tuk to get to the room

We met our butler for the week and got the practical information. Communication with our butler happens mostly via WhatsApp. This was super convenient to ask anything we wanted but also get some information about diner’s locations or daily activities.

TIP: make sure the Nihi luggage tags you receive at the airport have the correct name on them. We didn’t pay attention to it. When they brought the luggage’s into the rooms, there was a bit of confusion as bags were placed in the wrong rooms.

Nihi Sumba review - personalized welcome signs

All the rooms at Nihi Sumba are individual villas with private pools. Most of them also have outdoor bathrooms.

 

Review of Nihi Sumba’s Puncak villa

We lodged in the Puncak Villa. One of Nihi’s biggest villa with four bedrooms. It became our home for 7 days.

It is located at the top of the resort and commands splendid views over the sea and the beach.

Nihi Sumba review - the outdoor area at villa Puncak

 

The villa has three full-size bedrooms that are splendidly decorated. Attention to detail and practicality make them very comfortable.

Nihi Sumba review - decoration in the bedroom

Nihi Sumba review - the pools at villa Puncak

The two upstairs bedrooms have an outdoor bathtub with sea view. What a treat!

The fourth bedroom is a kids room with two bunk beds. The beds are 190 cm so could also fit a small adult.

Nihi Sumba review - one of tthe lounging area at villa Puncak

There are two pools separated by a sunken dining table. There are multiple lounging and dining areas. This villa is an entertainer’s dream and had an excellent sound system.

The villa is equipped with all the amenities you would expect from this type of hotel. The decoration is delightful with lots of Sumbanese art through the villa.

There is also a complimentary minibar with soft drinks, beers, vodka, Gin and Whiskeys as well as some snacks.

The wifi was excellent not only in the villa but in the whole resort.

This villa was a pleasure to live in. It was so comfortable that we found it hard to leave it to go and explore the hotel or the rest of Sumba

TIP: There are many mosquitoes in the villa and other places like the yoga pavilion. Make sure you cover up with mosquito repellent even during the day. You can also ask the hotel for the plugin mosquito repellents.

Nihi Sumba review - sunset view from Puncak villa

Review of Nihi Sumba other villa’s

I got to visit a few other villa’s whiles at Nihi Sumba

The treehouse is probably the most special villa in the resort.

As its name indicates, it is built in trees. It also has two swimming pools and is by the sea. It has three bedrooms, so it is an excellent option for families.

Nihi Sumba review - the pool at treehouse villa

Nihi Sumba review - the bedroom at tree-house villa

Nihi Sumba review - upstairs terrace at tree-house villa

The Marranga villas are five similar villa’s located by the beach near Ombak restaurant.

What makes them unique is their beachside pavilion. You can watch the waves there and even ask the hotel to prepare your bed for the night in the outdoor building.

Nihi Sumba review - Bale at Maranga villa

Nihi Sumba review - the beach front cabanas at maranga villa

Nihi Sumba review - the bathroom at Maranga villa

Wamoro is a lush two-bedroom villa with a strategic location. It is located in between the Nio beach club and the Ombak restaurant.

Wamoro villa also has a sea view and a large swimming pool.

This villa has, in my opinion, the best location in the resort because you are near the main activity centers.

Worth noting that its proximity from the Nio restaurants means that the smell of meat grilling can flow into the villa during lunchtime cooking. So not the best choice if you are vegetarian

Nihi Sumba review - The pool at wamoro villa

Nihi Sumba review - the bedroom at Wamoro villa

There are no inferior villas at Nihi Sumba. They are all remarkable and have individual personalities.

 

TIP: If you have a mobility issue, Nihi Sumba might not be the place for you. My mum was recovering from a broken ankle, and the steps everywhere made her stay a bit challenging

 

The food at Nihi Sumba

There are three restaurants at Nihi Sumba.

Nihi is an “all-inclusive” hotel, so the meals are included in the room rate.

Ombak is the main restaurant. It is very homey, sheltered and beachfront. Breakfast and dinners are served here. Both are a la carte.

For dinner, there is a daily four-course menu or the possibility to eat “a la carte” with a choice of Indonesian and international dishes.

The wine menu is interesting. It proposes a good choice of French and Australian wines at interesting prices given Indonesian import taxes on alcohol.

TIP: In general, we found the dishes from the daily menu to be better than the “a la carte” menu. Maybe because they are freshly prepared based on daily ingredients?

There are three special events dinners per week.

The jungle party diner has Sumbanese fire dancers.

Nihi Sumba review - Dancer at jungle night in Ombak restaurant

The Sumba foundation dinner is held near the reception and is the occasion to hear more about what Nihi and the Sumba foundation do to support the local communities. It is buffet style and guests seat at long tables and mingles.

For breakfast, there is a choice of healthy options, eggs, and pastries. You can also have your choice of juices based on your fruits and vegetable selection. Coffee is great.

Nihi Sumba review - story teller in Ombak restaurant

Nihi Sumba also boasts about its Japanese Kaboku sushi Bar. We were really looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately, it was closed the whole seven days that we were there. I found it surprising that they would close their alternative restaurant during the peak season of new year week.

 

Lunch is served at Nio Beach restaurant weather permitting.

It also has an a la carte menu with simpler dishes like salads, grilled fish, pasta, and burgers.

Service at the restaurant and everywhere else in the resort was of the highest standard. They manage to strike the perfect balance between giving guests privacy, providing friendly and laid-back service, and meeting guests’ requests promptly and efficiently.

Nihi Sumba review - Nio beach restaurant

Review of The resort and activities at Nihi Sumba

The resort is truly spectacular, and the pictures don’t do it justice.

The 2.5 km beach has to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The color is a mix of the azure blue of the sea, the yellow sand, and the Emerald green from the rice fields and the forest is genuinely stunning.

There are 567 acres of land, and it even includes an equestrian center and a chocolate factory.

The resort tends to attract a younger crowd — many couples and families. The majority of guests seemed to be coming from Europe, Australia, and the US.

People are very laid back and have left their designer clothes and high heels at home. Casual is the way to go.

There are a lot of activities available at the resort. You can do as much or as little as you want.

Please see below the activities that we have done during our seven days stay at Nihi Sumba

Surfing

Nihi markets itself as a surfing hotel. We are not surfers. The first time I tried surfing, I ended up in the emergency room of a hospital ( long story…). So I was wondering if we would feel comfortable there.

Fear not, most guests don’t surf either, and there is plenty to do for non-surfers.

We did see a few people surfing the “famous wave” but not as many as I expected.

Nihi Sumba review - the boathouse surf club

Nihi Sumba review - a surfer and a horse

Snorkeling

Snorkeling is one of the activities on offer at Nihi Sumba.

You can only do it at a specific time when the tide is right and the waves smaller. We did it and it was not great.

There is a reason Sumba is not renowned for its snorkeling and diving.

Visibility was not very good, small and few fishes and wave condition made it a less than ideal activity.

On the plus side, the boat guy who came with us was accommodating and friendly, and the outing was professionally organized.

If you want to snorkel or dive, there are much better places in Indonesia. Do check out my reviews of Komodo, Alor, Maumere, and even East Timor that all offer spectacular diving and snorkeling.

 

Yoga

Yoga was one of the highlights of my trip to Nihi Sumba.

The Yoga pavilion is stunning.

It is located at the top of the resort, and it has a fantastic view of the sea and the resort.

The yoga studio is hard to reach and requires negotiating many largish steps.

Most luxury hotels nowadays offer yoga classes. To be honest, the quality of the teacher is often substandard as it is hard for hotels to attract quality teachers to do just one or two classes a day. It was not the case at Nihi. The teacher was outstanding.

She offered a variety of classes that could suit the many different levels of guests attending.

She provided clear instructions and hands-on adjustments.

It was a pleasure to start the day with a good yoga class and a fantastic view.

Nihi Sumba review - view from the yoga pavillion

 

Walking on the beach at Nihi Sumba

The beach is private, stunningly beautiful, and 2.5 k long.

We did some long walks along the beach.

It takes about 90 minutes to walk to the end and come back.

The trail is rewarding with many little water pools and animals like buffalos, giant monitor lizards or horses running on the beach.

TIP: If you walk on the beach, make sure you bring drinking water and put on plenty of sunscreens. The beach gets very hot, and there is little shade on the way.

Nihi Sumba review - the beach

Nihi Sumba review - the private beach

Nihi Sumba review - horses on the beach

 

Chilling at Nio Beach club

Despite all the villa’s having their own private pools, Nihi also boasts a spectacular infinity swimming pool right by the beach.

The view is breathtaking.

I took a book to read by the pool, but the view was so beautiful that I didn’t read much during my stay…

Nihi Sumba review - the public pool at Nio beach club

Nihi Sumba review - the pool at Nio beach club

The Nihi spa safari

The Spa safari is one of the most extraordinary activities at Nihi Sumba.

It starts with a 90 minutes hike through a beautiful rice field and jungle.

There is a cute viewpoint on the way that has been designed for selfie’s lovers 😊

Nihi Sumba review - viewpoint on the way to the spa safari treck

TIP: If it has rained the days before, some parts of the hike can be slippery. It is best to have hiking shoes and to take a walking stick. Nihi provides them.

After 90 minutes, we arrived at a cliffside lodge.

It has to be one of the most fantastic spa locations in the world.

We were served a wood fire-cooked breakfast and took a bit of time to refresh and chill by the pool.

Nihi Sumba review - spa safari breakfast

After that, we started the “spa” part of the spa safari. We could choose three treatments from a menu including body massages, head massages, foot massages, scrubs, and facials.

The location is what makes this spa so unique.

The open-Air spa pavilions look out over the beach and crashing waves

The mirror located on the massage table’s bottom is a brilliant idea that allows you to watch the sea during your massage.

Nihi Sumba review - spa safari massage room

 

Turtle release

Nihi Sumba has a turtle preservation program.

They collect and protect turtles’ eggs.

Once they hatch, the baby turtles are then released into the sea.

We were lucky to witness and participate in one of those releases.

It was wonderful to see all those baby turtles making their way on the beach towards the sea. I think some of them got a bit surprised by the high waves…

TIP: We learned about the turtle release and some other events happening by accident. The information about what is going on is not very clear at Nihi. They don’t publish a daily or weekly program as some other hotels do. To make sure you don’t miss any exciting events, it might be best to WhatsApp your butler every morning and ask if anything special is happening. We also almost missed the horseracing event as we had not been informed about it.

Nihi Sumba review - turtle release

Nihi Sumba review - turtle release

Horseracing

Nihi Sumba organizes horses race on the beach about twice a month.

The races usually take place on the full moon or new moon as this is when the tide is at its lowest.

Kids from the local villages came with their horses and showed their horseriding skills.

It was beautiful to see.

Nihi Sumba review - pasola style horse race

Nihi Sumba review - horses on the beach

Nihi Sumba review - buffaloes on the beach

Nihi Sumba review - buffaloes on the beach

Nihi Sumba review - buffaloes at sunset

Nihi Sumba review - Sunset

 

Exploring traditional villages and lagoons

Nihi Sumba is a place that is hard to leave even for a day of sightseeing.

We did manage to extract ourselves from our little paradise to visit West Sumba, and it was worth it.

We had met a local guide called Yuliana on our way to Nihi Sumba, and she took us out for the day with a driver from her village.

For more information about our trip to West Sumba, read here.

Nihi Sumba review - day trip to the lagoon

Green resorts

Nihi Does a lot on social sustainability through its Sumba foundation arm.

The resort has become the biggest employer on the island and the Sumba Foundation gives back to the local communities. Over the last fourteen years, the Foundation has set up four medical clinics and has developed over 100 water wells and water stations.  The Foundation currently feeds young children in a malnutrition program, and has refurbished and supported 15 primary schools and provides lunch for over 1,000 schoolchildren five days a week.

The program is fantastic and has a big impact on Sumba. You can find more information on the Sumba foundation website. 

 

Nihi could do a lot more on environmental sustainability.

For example, it provides water in small plastic bottles. When one knows the ocean plastic issue that Indonesia currently faces, one can feel sorry about using 4 or 5 of those plastic bottles a day.

Electricity consumption seems also quite high. In our villa, the AC was on 24 hours a day in the two bedrooms and in the kitchen that we were not using. All the lights also come up automatically at night and stay on all night. Might be a good idea to turn them off at midnight when everyone is asleep?

I did not see any solar panels or recycling, so I am not sure whether it is something that Nihi Sumba does.

Nihi Sumba review - fire-pit at sunset

Conclusion

Nihi is a splendid place to stay.

It has a soul.

Few places can blend end-of-the-world feeling and friendliness with pure luxury in the way they do it. This is what in my opinion makes them the best hotel in the world.

The place might be great for surfers, but it is also great for other people. There is a ton of activities available besides surfing.

I can’t wait to go back to Sumba. It is a special place!

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Have you ever been to Nihi Sumba? I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a comment below.

Nihi Sumba review - Sumbanese mask

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