View, comfort, staff

As location is remote it could be Good to have some “entertaiment” at the hotel.

We travelled to Sumba after two week of travelling in Indonesia and wanted to pamper ourselves in a very expensive resort. Lelewatu rates itself as a 5* resort and we thought on the pictures it looked great. We have picked the best room in the resort and were surprised how unclean and unmaintained it was, dead bugs on the floor, filthy windows, rusty door knobs. The lack of maintenance and lack of general upkeep was visible everywhere on the resort with ripped dirty sunbeds by the pool and unclean communal toilets. The food was also substandard- we have received uncooked chicken, pasta that it was so cooked that it was melting and pizza that was visibly from a package (the ones you buy in supermarket)- all of these at premium prices of course. First night was very stressful for us- we had bugs falling on our bed and an huge spider (I mean enormous spider in the bathroom), we asked for someone to come and deal with it and we have been brought a bug spray and that's it! (5* resort!). We have spoken with the general manager and said we had a horrible and stressful night running around and spraying bugs, couldn't use the toilet because of the huge spider and in general the standard of cleanness was not what we were expecting from 5* resort. The general manager, Putra, said we should contact booking.com to have this processed and he will approve the refund for the first night from his side. Needles to say, the second we have left the resort, he stopped responding to our messages and never approved the refund on booking.com- we have been basically tricked. Very dishonest man- beware! If you travel to Sumba, there are a number of beautiful boutique hotels with amazing service and standard and half the price, I would recommend anyone to do your research before booking at Lelewatu.

The greatest thing about Lelewatu - is the staff. Everybody - our butler, managers, massage therapists, and other staff - were exceptionally friendly and welcoming, as well as very helpful and definitely did their best to help us whenever we needed anything. The location is beautiful as well, very remote and quiet.

Unfortunately, the place itself needs lots of love. It definitely was intended as a high-end resort, and it probably was - several years ago. Place isn't really well maintained, and you definitely can tell the age of some parts of it. We had and unpleasant experience of having moldy pillows, a stained mosquito net, and a cat piss corner (perhaps, no one stayed there for a long time, and there was a cat on the premises) in our room.

Bungalows are nice

Swimming pool was cold electricity was out every night No hot water several times Nothing to do in area Impossible to go out on your own, really remote location No trips offered Due to bad weather, constant noise of the waves

A very unique place with jaw-dropping views. Everyone is very friendly, the food is good and the place is heaven. Feeling very lucky and grateful we could stay there. Watch for the dolphins in the morning.

The room (cliff villa) and the view were spectacular. Just like the pictures. And they even elaborately decorated the room for me with a last minute request. The staff was all excellent and always trying to help. It was very private and secluded and quiet. One of the better overall setups I've stayed in worldwide. The bed and the quality of everything was top notch. All comparible to the best 5 star pool villas in Bali. Overall wifi and cable worked well. Netflix on TV went out a couple times but on my phone no issues and cable on TV no issues.

I understand the comments in some of the other reviews. Let me try to explain each from my perspective. For sure the place is old. The rooms were slanted a bit, and the exterior flooring had a couple nails above the surface level or a bowing board here or there. I get that it's imperfect, but the other reviews made it sound way worse than it really is. I overall didn't mind. The road in and out are very steep, so maybe book a driver if you're scared of heights. The location in general is quite isolated. 45min drive on poor quality and steep roads to get to civilation. So if you stay put its fine. But for adventures not a great choice. If you stay put though you must eat the expensive food there. The quality is average at best, but the presentation and service is always fantastic. The price is more for that than the food quality itself. So maybe bring food for the small fridge. Many aspects of the place are misleading in this way. It's a free mini bar but just 2 water and 2 soda. You get a butler, but really it's just like regular room service and answer questions at the front desk. Only difference is 1 person assigned to you 24/7 which seems crazy for that poor person. We also had a fair bit of bugs in the house but it's partially our fault not closing doors quickly and being in the middle of a forest. It was just very excessive. The AC was OK but not really powerful enough for the big room. And of course the price is very high for a place in need of maintenence and other improvements. At the end of the day though I'm just being hyper critical and I actually enjoyed my stay a lot. If you can afford it and can deal with the issues I brought up you won't be disappointed with the the beautiful villa and view off your private balcony pool and lounge space. Perfect for sunset, but you can't see sunrise. I would recommend just be prepared from my comments is all.

the room is very nice, big, there is exceptional view

so why not a perfect score? Well, probably in view of the difficult times, there is a lack of staff, of cleanness also. the service at the restaurant is too slow, this in spite of the perfect dedication of the remaining staff

We love the location, the view, the friendly staff and the breakfast

On our second night, the electricity went off. We reached back at the hotel late at night and we couldn't see anything or take a shower. We were staying at honeymoon suite but because of this we were downgraded to another suite. When we asked for a partial refund, we were rejected.

great set up in Sumba. Perched on the cliff. separate pools in each bungalow was perfect.

The foundations are a little off and as a result the buildings do often have a bit of sinkage in spots. May upset some guests. Some of the equipment needs better maintenance.

Amazing villa with ocean view and nice private pool. Very confortable stay, friendly staff and good breakfast. We stayed there one night after many days on the road and it was great to relax.

For a luxury villa it might get a bit old or not super duper well cleaned.

very friendly staff, very zen and peaceful, suitable for couples. great view of the Indian ocean

location a little far, not many places to eat

Room, views and location is amazing

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The rooms and the location facing the ocean The friendly staff

The price of the restaurant is too high for the quality you get, limited choice and food was just ok. Half of the menu was not available and only one bottle of new zealand red wine was left at 1m IDR. Breakfast 500K. IDR and nothing special about it. Everything else is quite expensive for sumba, the spa especially Almost no activities outside a few day trip by car Very remote location (but beautiful) No foundation or involvement in the local community like Nihi or Maringi, too bad

we came here for our honeymoon, we had one of the best 5 nights here and enjoyed the view, the landscape is just breathtaking. Herce our butler made everything possible for us. The staff were really welcoming and friendly.

the villa are nice, the staff are friendly, the panorama from this property is amazing and the food from the the kitchen are good too

maybe need more attention with the property, everything almost broken already, and should cleaning the room twice a day, because we are in the nature, should keep all is clean, even the cover bed need changing once on 2days

lelewatu is nice location and was probably better before the pandemic it’s a little run down now but the staff are nice and the view from the room is amazing

the food wasn’t amazing

the hospitality, the responsiveness of all staffs

the wifi is not really stable meanwhile the telco network was even worse so we can like quite dependable with the wifi.

I was staying for 2 night here n it’s the best staying I had in Sumba by far. The room is very comfortable n the view is amazing. I spend all day long at the pool n terrace n never get bored. The staffs also available 24h n very friendly.

staff very helpful and friendly, great view and nice resort but the location so far from center but overall I love this resort 👍🏻👍🏻

Room with private pool n view ❤️❤️

Almost everything. Loved the traditional joglo and attention on the details. The view from the private pool is amazing. Also the breakfast very good. The staff is very friendly and helpful as well.

Liked almost everything. Only thing need to fix is the wood pavement next to the private pool which is a but broken.

- the hotel’s grounds are stunning; its location and setting are sublime. - the staff are really nice and genuinely want to be helpful, even though some of them seem shy and nervous. - the butler was good and always available on WhatsApp. - they have all the bells and whistles of a 5* luxe property.

- our villa was beautiful, with a great sunset view, but showing its age. And the crazy wash basins are a triumph of design over practicality! - wifi unstable and unpredictable. - there were numerous maintenance issues in the villa, ie nails sticking up out of the decking, light bulbs not working, shower button sticking, TV channels incorrectly tuned. Also, because of the straw roof, there were lots of moths and tiny little midges. Not harmful, but unwanted! - on the one day we used the main swimming pool, the sun lounger I chose was broken. Ok, there were others, but that isn’t the point. - the path down to the sea was closed as part of it has collapsed and hasn’t been repaired. The wooden viewing platform at the end of the path also looked to be in a poor state. The hotel’s grounds are huge and must require an incredible amount of upkeep. - the hotel talks about sea views when working out in the gym, but the reality is that it’s virtually impossible to even see the sea beyond the trees! Not the end of the world, but they shouldn’t promise things they can’t deliver on. - they seem to stream the music in the restaurant but the WiFi/signal isn’t great so the music was forever stopping and starting. And the speaker playing it was distorted when played too loudly. Not good at all. - we borrowed bicycles one day. They were ok but would benefit from a service and some TLC (stuck gears, wonky saddles). Our food and beverage experience was the big let down - it simply is not up to scratch for a hotel at this price point: - the food overall was really hot and miss. Some things were top notch, but many things were poor and not worthy of the price or the location. - visits to the restaurant were usually awkward affairs, but this depended on which member of staff was working. One (female) waiter was good, but other staff acted a bit like rabbits in headlights.