Golden Tulip Hotel Mataram – Lombok, Indonesia

It was one of those magical times when the sky burst into a radiant cerulean shade as you’re watching and waiting for the glorious sunshine to splatter it with scarlet orangey hues. Then the first morning light touches the verdant trees, picturesque mountains and rice paddies. It was all too perfect, except for one thing, I was wishing that Golden Tulip Hotel Mataram Lombok in Indonesia do have a small balcony on every room so that I could have this great show with my morning caffeine fix.

Lombok was our fourth stop on Trip of Wonders 2016, a twelve-day exploration on different key destinations in Indonesia by the Ministry of Tourism with 40+ souls from different Southeast Asian countries. We enjoyed the first leg of our trip when we visited Jakarta (for a quick overnight stop), Bandung and Yogyakarta.

Traditional Lombok architecture meets contemporary design

Located at Mataram’s main road, Jalan Sudirman, it is close to Lombok’s business district, restaurants, banks and shops. Golden Tulip Hotel is one of the relatively newest hotels in the area. Opened in February 2015, the hotel offers a great place for businessmen or travelers who want to have the comfort of a 4-start hotel but still feel the rustic countryside ambience (check here for discounted tours, transportation and activities in Lombok).

My Deluxe Queen Room (check for discounted rates here) was simple and elegant with touches of Lombok design; as with the cool pattern on the border of the headboard.

Deluxe Queen Room

Neutral shades of black, grey and white dominated the room with a splash of mustard from the upholstered headboard.

Standard room amenities were included such as; work desk and chair, lounge chair, end tables, flat screen TV, wardrobe closet and the huge queen-sized bed.

Gorgeous view

The room itself was sleek and spotless. The stylishly designed room observed a lot of restraint in terms of its overall theme and layout which is basically what every hotel should aim for.

I drew the curtains aside to see what view I got. It opened up to a panoramic view of mountains, rice paddies and lush greens surrounding the hotel. It was so lovely that it made me slump on the tiled floor and just viewed everything from there.

View from my room

I then saw the pool that’s overlooking this great scenery. I immediately asked my buddy if we could have coffee there. I prepped up some coffee from the in-room complimentary facility and went down to the pool area.

Outdoor pool

Just in time for sunset, me and my buddy lounged on a poolside bed and watched as the sky turned into its radiant orange hues, it was wonderful.

That night, we had our regular Bintang beer session on the poolside. We shared a plenty of fun stories with the representatives from Thailand that it ended up until the wee hours of morning.

It’ll a busy day the next day as we had island hopping and snorkeling activities on the nearby Gili Islands so I loaded up heavily on breakie that morning.

Malimbu Restaurant

The breakfast buffet spread at the in-house restaurant of Golden Tulip Mataram Lombok, the Malimbu Restaurant, was a mix of international and local breakfast favorites. I super loved the make-your-own congee station and stuffed myself with more carbo treats as with the fried potatoes and freshly baked breads.

We had it on, again, on the poolside area with the great pastoral view of Mataram.

My DIY congee

That night, we had dinner, still, at Malimbu Restaurant which I heard is one of the best dinner buffet places in town.

Barbecue-themed buffet dinner

Easily accessible through the swimming pool, we had an option to dine inside the restaurant itself or have it on the poolside area. We, of course, were so in love with the view from the pool area so it wasn’t really a hard decision.

Skewered happiness

It was a barbecue-themed night with an outdoor grilling station. The buffet spread had predominantly Asian cuisine with some highlights on Indonesian dishes. I enjoyed the fried noodles and the loads of skewered happiness from the grill.

Lovely morning from Lombok. Will be leaving in a while to hop on to another adventure. #WonderfulIndonesia #TripofWonders

A photo posted by blissfulguro (@blissfulguro) on Sep 14, 2016 at 3:44pm PDT

I woke up earlier than necessary as my body clock is in Philippine time. I glanced over my glass windows and was amazed on the show that was about to happen. The earth and sky were in perfect harmony as they flaunted a dazzling light display. If there’s one thing that’s worth remembering about Golden Tulip Hotel Mataram Lombok, aside from our crazy beer sesh, was the unobstructed view of Indonesia’s great landscape.

Golden Tulip Hotel Mataram Lombok (check for discounted rates here)

Jalan Jendral Sudirman 40,

Rembiga, Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia

Contact Number: (+62) 370.617.0999

Email Address: info@gtmataram.com

Malimbu Restaurant

Ground floor

Open Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Special thanks to Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism for making this trip possible.

As always, opinions and opinions are all mine.