Advancing the final phase of development ahead of its Q1 2028 launch.
Samara Lombok has secured a substantial investment from Westgrove, a family office founded to provide independent investment and corporate finance advice to a select group of families—accelerating delivery of the ~150-hectare resort with a clear timeline towards its planned Q1 2028 opening. Located on Lombok’s south coast, adjacent to its more famous neighbour Bali, Samara Lombok will be one of the region’s most comprehensive luxury destinations and the first Destination by Hyatt in Southeast Asia.
Just 25 minutes from Lombok International Airport, Samara Lombok will open with three boutique hotels and 150 of its 500 villas. The masterplan includes 12 dining concepts curated by celebrity chef Will Meyrick and world-leading children’s cookery author, Annabel Karmel MBE; a world-renowned tennis academy with four tennis courts and four padel courts; a marine biology and watersports centre operated by luxury marine expedition company Rascal Voyages; and a football training centre anchored by a globally elite club partner.
Built for Scale, From the Ground Up
Samara Lombok is led by Erik Barreto, Steve Ebsworth and Tom Wheeler, co-founders of Rascal Republic, a Singapore-based hospitality and development group behind successful ventures, including, at launch, the world’s highest outdoor bar, 1-Altitude; one of Singapore’s longest-standing bar-bistros, Dallas Restaurant & Bar (Marina Bay Sands); and Rascal Voyages—a premium yacht charter company for off-grid Indonesian expeditions.
As the island’s largest private developer, Samara Lombok’s founders have invested heavily in essential infrastructure—from roads and utilities to education and economic opportunities for neighbouring communities.
“When we first visited South Lombok, it was raw, beautiful and completely off-grid. There were no roads—access was by 4×4, motorbike and on foot,” says Tom Wheeler, co-founder of Samara Lombok. “We knew that if we were going to build here, we had to do it properly: with infrastructure, with community, with education and with a long-term commitment to the destination. We have since installed over 40km of concrete roads and established multiple sustainable development initiatives, including a food programme that supplies ~1,400 local children monthly with organic produce from our gardens.”
What began as a long-horizon land strategy has since evolved into a fully realised hospitality vision, underpinned by Lombok’s emergence as a nationally prioritised tourism destination—drawing directly on the trio’s experience in experiential travel and hospitality development.
Indonesia’s Tourism Shift with Lombok at the Centre
Bali has long dominated Indonesia’s national tourism story. It received over 7 million of Indonesia’s 15 million international arrivals in 2025, and the weight of this is showing with crippling congestion. To distribute tourism demand, the Indonesian government has designated Lombok as a Super Priority Tourism Destination, backed by ~US$3.2 billion public investment.
Funding has been directed into major infrastructure—from the airport and road networks to Mandalika, a government-designated Special Economic Zone and master planned coastal tourism enclave in South Lombok. Anchored by an international MotoGP circuit, Mandalika sits at the centre of the island’s transformation. Further, Lombok International Airport handled approximately 2.5 million passengers last year (against a capacity of 7 million), with around 30 weekly direct flights to Singapore and Malaysia, and new routes to Australia and Thailand coming online. A six-lane bypass now links the airport directly to South Lombok, ensuring seamless connectivity.
Samara Lombok Presents Limited Turnkey Villas
Samara Lombok offers a rare opportunity for lifestyle investors and second-home buyers to enter at an early stage in the development cycle, with clear potential for long-term value appreciation as the destination matures. With significant government-backed infrastructure now in place across Lombok, alongside strong construction progress and early sales at the resort, the investment outlook is substantially de-risked—creating a window to secure at today’s prices before values spike.
A limited number of turnkey residential villas remain available for purchase at Samara Lombok, including 12 designs ranging from two- to five-bedrooms, with fixed pricing, milestone-based payments, and construction timelines of 15 to 18 months. Samara Lombok villas operate on a 90-year leasehold, considerably longer than the 25- to 30-year leases common across Bali and much of Indonesia.
Global Hospitality Alignment Signals Institutional Confidence
The defining commercial signal is the collaboration with Hyatt: Samara Lombok will be home to Southeast Asia’s first Destination by Hyatt—a collection of independent upscale, luxury hotels and resorts, with strong local identity. The arrangement gives Samara Lombok full operational independence while connecting it to Hyatt’s global distribution network and the World of Hyatt loyalty program.