Diamond Beach Villa

Tucked away in the northwest of Indonesia’s idylic island of Lombok, Diamond Beach Villa is one of those paradise spots that will steal your heart and leave you wanting to return. Set in a huge grassy lawned garden full of trees, swaying coconut palms and tropical flowers, this private complex of 5 traditional Javanese style, wooden ‘joglo’ houses offers a peaceful oasis from the outside world. Spend days relaxing by the pool drinking Indonesian tea spiced with turmeric, ginger and lemongrass, listening to the birds, the sounds of the breeze or the ocean in the distance.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Diamond Beach Villa.

The wooden joglo houses where you’ll stay are a total highlight of Diamond Beach Villa; ornately hand carved wooden features, antique style Javanese floor tiles, delightfully comfortable four poster beds draped with nets. Ours had a walk-in rainshower, a bathtub and a shaded verandah with a huge day bed for more relaxing and lounging.

The location of Diamond Beach Villa is definitely something that makes us want to come back. We stayed a night in busy Senggigi after landing at the airport but a short hour-long taxi ride landed us in Tangung where the pace of life if blissfully slow and there are no crowds of tourists and no peace-shattering bars playing loud music. Cycle around the countryside on one of the complimentary bicycles; see cows roaming about lazily and notice how every view seems full of natural beauty.

Seriously, it should be a crime for a place to be this beautiful.

Maybe it’s because we live somewhere that life seems constantly busy, or we’re getting older, but the peace and quiet of this place was really something that struck us. As there are 5 villas, Diamond Beach Villa can accommodate up to 11 people making it the perfect place to bring a group of friends and family to all marvel at the beauty with you. The staff are warm and friendly and will cater for your every need (whether it’s food and drink or organising day trips and activities); we really enjoyed their company and being part of the family during our stay.

We loved the black sand private beach which uniquely offered a chance to see both the sunrise and the sunset at the time of year we visited (July). There were sea kayaks to use, sunbeds to lounge on and stunning views of Bali’s famous Mount Agung volcano as well as the nearby Gili islands (which are less than 10km away and can be reached easily by private boat or the public ferry).

You won’t find yourself fighting with strangers for a space to lay your beachtowel here, this slice of paradise is all yours during your stay.

The Vegan Food

Because Diamond Beach Villa is one of those places where service is bespoke and the staff were super keen to help, being a vegan was no problem at all. We loved that we were able to try vegan versions of traditional food from Lombok and that our very own personal chef, Susillo seemed to be as passionate about food as we are.

For breakfast we started with fresh fruits and juice, as well as turmeric and ginger spiced tea then sat back and waited for whatever the daily creation was. Whether it was a traditional ‘Nasi Goreng’ fried rice full of tofu and tempe (and spiced with chilli as is the lombok tradition), or the house style ‘Cap Cay’ which was like no other we have tried before with mixed vegetables, tofu and tempe all coated in a sweet, tangy and rich sauce; it was all delicious.

Dinner offered the chance to eat ‘family style’ as is part of the tradition here in Lombok, with huge platters of food shared beween guests. Indonesian food is exceptionally adaptable for vegans due to ingredients like tofu and tempe and tons of fresh vegetables being widely used in every kitchen. The simple omission of shrimp paste, meat, fish and other animal ingredients makes many traditonal dishes suitable for vegans and with the help of a passionate chef like Susilo we were totally spoiled for choice.

We were treated to ‘Nasi Puyung’ where the meat was replaced with fried tofu cubes and matchsticks of tempe and the fragrant spice paste of chilli and lemongrass and slices of fresh galangal was heavenly. We tried two varieities of ‘Berebok’, eggplant specialities of Lombok where one was cooked soft and succulent and the other was a raw crunchy salad with sliced green beans, shallots, chilli and lime.

Unlike other parts of Indonesia, food in Lombok is spicy and so a cooling salad of cucumber tossed in a light coconut milk with shallots, salt, sugar and tomato was a good balance to the fiery chillies in the deliciously spiced tofu. One plate turned easily into three as we found ourselves going in for more helpings as we chatted to Mashudi, our lovely Indonesian host.

The Vegan Essentials

Feather free pillows were already on our bed so no need to call for any changes to be made (top vegan points here). The in-room amenities were in planet friendly refillable containers (yey) which made it hard to know if they were vegan friendly. We erred on the side of caution and used our own. There wasn’t a separate spa but massages could be arranged in a beautiful open air joglo styled pavillion.

The Vegan Food Quest Verdict

Check in to Diamond Beach Villa to enjoy a wonderfully peaceful stay in ornate traditional joglo style wooden houses set in lush gardens which roll down to a private black sand beach. Eat vegan versions of local food, prepared by your own (very passionate) private chef but be warned, this is one of those places that you won’t want to leave.

We were guests of Diamond Beach Villa but please rest assured that their generosity in hosting us didn’t influence our views.

Diamond Beach Villa
Tanjung
Lombok
Indonesia

Telephone: +62 878 6240381
Email: mashudi@diamondbeachvilla.com
Cost From: £550 / $725 (Month Year)