QUNCI VILLAS, LOMBOK

When we first arrived at Qunci Villas from the Gili islands, I have to say we were a little disappointed - I know, right!? But hear me out: we'd just spend six days on an island, with really only a handful of other people, being able to stroll out from our hotel to grab a beer or a snack and slobbing around in our swim stuff, so arriving at this incredibly beautiful, pristine resort was a bit of a shock! I think the crux of the problem is that we're really not fancy people at all, and we sort of felt like impostors, but I have to say we made ourselves at home pretty quickly in the end!

It seems a little crazy, but at first we weren't blown away by the room. Our hotels on the Gili islands were much cheaper, and they all had the simple Indonesian style that we love, but we realised that we really lucked out. We picked an ocean view room, but it was the last bungalow at the edge of the resort, so we could walk straight out onto the deck, grab sun loungers and come and go as we pleased. We had every intention of exploring the surroundings of the hotel, but in the end we didn't even step onto the beach just over the edge of the infinity pool! I never want to be that type of person that doesn't really make an effort to leave the resort, but after six days gallivanting around our little islands, it was lovely to stay put and be pampered!

I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves - we had two nights of gorgeous sunsets and worked our way through the cocktail menu. We'd been advised to steer clear of drinking strong spirits on the Gilis, and to stick to beer, as there have been issues in the past with local, illegally brewed spirits that can be dangerous - though I'd assume mostly in excess quantities like full moon party bucket drinks - so we made very good use of the happy hour. On our last night we ordered lots of small dishes and about half the cocktail menu and relaxed on our terrace, listening to George Ezra and Sam Smith and talking about what we were looking forward to doing when we got back to KL.