Story

We loaded wood from Borneo onto trucks in Java, crossing the strait to Bali, then across all of Bali to board yet another ferry to Lombok. From the beaches in north Lombok we reloaded the wood onto small boats headed for the Gili Islands, and the final stretch by horse-drawn carriages. An intricate logistical journey through Indonesia that took years to master—but at last, we had all the material needed to build what was going to become Lost Paradise. Our only source of electricity at the time was through a 500m long cable hanging in the coconut trees, only just enough to power one fan and one light bulb. We opened our doors with only one room finished. Our first guest—a solo female traveler, must have been petrified finding herself on a construction site in the middle of the Island, surrounded by iron meshing, sacks of cement and cubic upon cubic of old dark wood, with only a fan and a light bulb.

The great earthquake of 2018 that destroyed over a hundred thousand homes in the North Lombok Regency also struck our then-ongoing construction project. After months of renovations, just when we thought things were going back to normal, alarms were once again sounded; Mt. Agung, Bali's great volcano was going to have an eruption. Smoke was rising from the crater, people in the proximity of the volcano were being evacuated and all incoming flights were cancelled due to ashes in the sky. Fortunately, this time around it was a false alarm and Agung never erupted. On that New Year's Eve, for the first time, all of our rooms were booked and guests were celebrating at the bar—only to three months later see the arrival of Covid.

We used the time during lockdown wisely. Our beautiful swimming pool took shape and the garden went into bloom. When we finally reopened, we realized that what we had was no longer a little guesthouse, but a full-on, kick-ass resort. The shift from construction work into hospitality was the final important step, and this time it was smooth sailing into a field where we are masters of the trade. Not even a global recession can shake us now, and believe us when we say—this is just the beginning. We are very proud to present to you and welcome you to Lost Paradise of today! A story of old wood, cold beer under the palm trees, and purple sunset skies. Who would have thought it would take well over a decade to accomplish?