Nalua Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Lombok

First off, positive:

-Mido. Mido is the head surf coach and he knows his stuff. He is passionate about teaching, happy to give constructive feedback, and encouraging. He keeps his students calm in the water and pays attention to details. A gem!

-Ratna the breakfast lady makes delicious and incredibly fluffy banana pancakes!

-The room was spotlessly clean, and the bed is comfy. The AC is not too noisy.

-The shop sells some very beautiful things indeed!

-They have a good rental board selection, especially those rare, coveted mid-length/first shortboard shapes.

Constructive:

-This is not a boutique hotel. The rooms are small and basic. There is not enough storage space. Due to the location in Kuta's busiest intersection and next to a nightclub, it is constantly noisy.

-Planning/communication. I know there's absolutely no way to plan exactly how the surf is going to turn out. Sometimes you have to just go and see. Sometimes conditions are bad/too big/too small/whatever. What is, however, very possible, is gathering the group, laying out the options in clear terms, and going through them as a group instead of just waiting for an hour or three for surf that isn't going to happen.

-Surf guiding. There are two guides for help Mido during the sessions. Because we were a group with quite different needs and levels, we frequently had to be split up into 2-3 groups. A tricky setup, butt unless the camp specifically reserves weeks for beginners/intermediate/experienced surfers this is what happens. While I think they try, their work is not up to par. I witnessed several events where they left their students in the impact zone getting sets on their heads without checking up on them to make sure they were okay. I spoke up about this directly with the involved guide, who just shrugged it off. This could be due to language barrier also though.

Furthermore, I got very little help some days. I was looking to catch somewhat bigger waves to get enough speed to practice maneuvers. Despite repeatedly asking the guides to come help me, they kept sticking to the inside waves with other guests. They had no way to keep track of whose turn it was to get guidance.

There was also times when they'd help and push the local manager onto waves with her friend instead of helping their paying guests, or even take waves themselves. This, for me, is an absolute no-no. If you are guiding, you are on the clock, it's your job, not your free-time with your mates.

I left a longer review on tripadvisor, in case you want...

First, I want to say that I did not participate in the camp so I cannot comment on what that experience is like. Second, I want to say that my 1/5 star review is not based on the facilities or location. Those are both good: the rooms are sparse but comfortable, and the location is great.

I am an intermediate surfer travelling solo who booked into Nalua thinking that, since it has a surf camp, it would probably be a place to meet some other surfers who I could go surfing with. (While in Kuta I learned that if you’re looking for this kind of experience, i.e., for accommodations with a built-in surf community, Pipes Hostel is definitely the place to say or at least hang out, though it is much less fancy than Nalua.) I even emailed the manager in advance to ask if it would be possible for me to tag along with the surf camp guests—meaning drive my own scooter to the same breaks as then at the same time. The manager said that was absolutely possible, mentioning nothing about needing to pay to do this. When I arrived, I was practically mocked by the head surf coach, Mido, for asking where they were heading the next day. That, I learned, is information I would have to pay for, something the manager told me at this point she thought I would have assumed. Can I cancel the remaining three nights of my booking then, given that I booked into Nalua under a false premise? No, I couldn’t. The hotel had zero sense of community, with a rooftop terrace that was almost always empty. The breakfast is fine but nothing special and the same everyday. They have really nice boards to rent and for reasonable prices. Anyway, I feel as though the manager just told me everything I wanted to head, even though it was untrue, so that I would book in, and then when I found out that I had been mislead, they already had my money and wouldn’t let me cancel the rest of the stay. They have a beautiful website and a beautiful store, but don’t be misled by this aesthetic pleasure.

I would not recommend staying here to a friend. You can find many places in Kuta with a much...

Came here for one week as a solo traveller, for the full surf camp. Had such a great time I extended my stay and surf lessons for a second week!

Couldn’t recommend more ! Mido, Romy, Andre and all the surf instructors were fantastic. I went from scared of all the waves to excited for the bigger ones! Honestly it has made a HUGE difference to my surf abilities and I’m so grateful. New surf spots most days so got to know surrounding area very well.

I appreciated most instructors were quick to teach etiquette. I am a surf photographer so I am used to the water and no stranger to lineups. In many surf camps (globally) you will have instructors who shove beginners into waves that already have someone surfing, and then you see those learners not know decent etiquette when they go off and surf on their own and that may not end well. Here we only had “party waves” where there were many beginners, at beginner waves. When we went to surf locations (towards end of my stay) where there were experienced surfers, the instructors were good to share etiquette and follow through - much appreciated !

The location was amazing. The Nalua shop is dangerous, I wanted to buy everything haha - kudos to the owners who I believe curate the stock, it’s all beautiful !

Great and simple brekkie in the morning. WiFi was good on rooftop/not great in the rooms. It’s central Kuta so it’s not quiet at nighttime but they provide ear plugs and tbh it is fine given you’re so central (I didn’t even bother rent a scooter, could walk nearly everywhere). I’ll take the noise for the quick walk to coffee/food nearby.

Will be...