Katamaran Resort is the newest addition to the cluster on Mangsit beach, close to Senggigi on the east cost of Lombok. The resort features 32 ocean view suites, and 20 private pool villas.
We arrived on the first morning flight to Lombok from Jakarta. We’re usually traveling light, so we went straight off the plane and headed out to get going. We had already arranged a driver from the resort to pick us up, and he punctually waited outside for us with a sign. The drive up to Katamaran is about an hour from Lombok airport, and as it was early in the morning, traffic was pretty calm.
At the resort we were greeted by the friendly staff, who helped us with our small luggage, and took us to the check in. The reception was big and spacious, designed as an outdoor office. We were given welcome drinks and wet towels while processing the check in. As we arrived early, our room was not ready yet (check in starts from 2pm), so we decided to head down to the restaurant and have some much needed breakfast.
The main restaurant is facing the beach and resort pool area, and features a semi-indoor space and an outdoor terrace just by the beach. There are plenty of seats both outside and inside, so even a busy morning it would be no problem to find a spot. The breakfast was buffet-style with a great variety of both local and international dishes. There was an on-demand egg station, and all kinds of breads, fruits, juices, coffee etc. It is also possible to get the breakfast delivered to your villa if you order the night before.
After breakfast we checked out the resort grounds. Most of it is the private villas, so we spent our time around the pool. There’s a pool-side bar and some lounge seats, and they play lounge music all day. The vibe is a bit more youthful than Puri Mas, which we stayed at earlier this year, without feeling like a spring break party. The main feature of this area however is the resort pool. It’s a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the ocean, and it has transparent sides which is basically made for your mandatory Instagram shots. The number of chairs by the pool is a bit limited, but if you stay in a private pool villa you probably won’t spend too much time here anyway.
As time approached 2pm we were given the keys to our villa. We stayed in a Tropical one bedroom pool villa, which was located just a few steps from the main pool. The outdoor area features a pool deck with two sun chairs, and a day bed covered with a roof. The pool was fairly spacious, and most of the area had sun for the majority of the day when we visited (early October).
The villa inside basically features a bedroom, with a very comfy master bed overlooking the pool - a very nice view to wake up to every morning. There’s also a desk behind the bed, which comes in handy when doing a bit of work during your trip. There’s also storage space for luggage, and two big closets available in the same area. The bathroom is decent sized, and leaves space for all your amenities. There’s both an indoor and outdoor shower, so you can choose what you prefer.
You can tell that it is a new resort, the design of everything is very modern and a bit minimalistic, but with a local Indonesian touch.
For dinner you have two different options at the resort. First off is the main restaurant, same as where breakfast is served, then there’s also The Kliff, which is set on the roof of the spa building. Unfortunately we weren’t able to try this one, as it was closed for renovation due to the earthquake a couple of weeks earlier. From what we could see though, it looks very nice, and it’s a definite try for a next visit. Due to this, we ended up having all our dinners at the resort main restaurant. There’s a wide variety of choices, both local and western, and we found it pretty ok.
There are also a few other options along the beach which you can easily walk to, like Puri Mas Boutique Resort and Jeeva Santai Villas