Review: Sumberkima Hill Retreat, North Bali

Sumberkima Hill Retreat is a sprawling hilltop resort in northwest Bali with a huge variety of accommodation options, plenty of guest amenities, and a sustainable and eco-friendly ethos. We stayed in their newly built cabins in March 2024. Here’s our full review.

Our Thoughts

Sumberkima Hill Retreat offers a serene hilltop getaway, nestled among nature and with sweeping views over the northwest Bali coastline. It's a welcome escape from the busy resort areas of the south and a chance to explore a more authentic side of Bali.

Despite having 50+ villas, rooms, and cabins to pick from, the retreat is spread out over a large area, offering a sense of privacy and peacefulness.

We stayed in their new glamping-style cabins, the most affordable option. The cabin was cosy, comfortable, and had stunning views over the ocean from its terrace and netted hammock. The shared bathrooms were super clean and well-maintained. For the price, the cabins are fantastic value for money!

Sumberkima Hill has some great amenities, including two large communal pools, spa facilities, yoga classes, and two on-site restaurants. They can also arrange various activities and experiences, from snorkeling and boat trips to exploring local temples and romantic beach dinners.

The attentive and friendly staff went out of their way to make our stay perfect, with an easy WhatsApp chat allowing us to call the on-site shuttle, order room service, and book activities without leaving our room.

We also love the resort's commitment to sustainability, with the opportunity to take part in local initiatives such as restoring the coral reefs and reforesting the hills.

Location

Sumberkima Hill Retreat sits on a hilltop five minutes from the small town of Sumberkima, which neighbours the better-known Pemuteran in northwest Bali.

The drive from Bali's main airport should take around 4 - 4.5 hours but can vary greatly depending on traffic.

The area is fairly remote with only a small number of tourists making it this far north. If you're looking for a break from the crowds of the south, Sumberkima is the perfect getaway and a great chance to enjoy a more authentic side of Bali.

The sprawling resort takes full advantage of its picturesque hilltop location, with every room, villa, pool, and facility enjoying sweeping views over the surrounding valley and coastline.

From the main road, the short route up to the retreat is suitable for bikes and cars. But it's worth noting that the road is quite steep and uneven, so it can be challenging for inexperienced bike riders.

Accommodation at Sumberkima Hill

Sumberkima Hill feels more like a small village than a hotel, now with almost 60 villas, apartments, and bungalows spread across the sprawling hilltop.

There are various accommodation options to suit different group sizes and budgets, from cosy glamping-style cabins to enormous 4-5 bedroom villas.

Private Villas

The hilltop retreat is best known for its wide variety of beautiful and spacious villas, ranging from romantic 1 bedroom getaways to huge 5 bedroom homes.

Each villa has a distinct design, with both traditional and contemporary styles. All have separate living spaces, kitchens, and large terraces, while many also have a private infinity pool overlooking the ocean and valley.

For couples, the Asmara Villas are our favouites, while Villa Marigold and Villa Julielele are gorgeous 2-bed options. Villa Singa is the largest villa, sleeping up to 11 guests, making it a great option for big families and groups.

Apartments & Bungalows

For something a little more budget-friendly, the retreat also has some smaller apartments, suites, and private bungalows.

The Madya Suites are modern double rooms overlooking the central pool, while the Lingga Apartment is a cool budget pad tucked away under the second communal pool and can sleep up to 5 people.

The Kesambi, Joglos, and Luwihs (here) offer greater privacy and space at an affordable price, set inside traditional wooden buildings.

These accommodation options don't have private pools, but you can still use the two main pools that are available for all guests.

Glamping Cabins

The newest and most affordable accommodation option at Sumberkima Hill Retreat is their glamping-style cabins. This is where we stayed on our recent visit.

Note: The cabins are currently called "double rooms" if you're booking online here.

The five cosy cabins are hidden away in their own area on the southern side of the hilltop, offering complete privacy and amazing views over the coastline.

We stayed in cabin 5 and ended up extending our stay for an extra night because we didn't want to leave!

Our cabin had a large comfortable 4-poster bed, plenty of storage, and tea and coffee making facilities.

But the absolute highlight had to be the large terrace with a netted hammock overlooking the beautiful coastline - this is where we spent most of our time!

The cabins don't have aircon, just a small fan facing the bed. In our experience, this wasn't an issue at all. Sumberkima tends to be naturally cooler than the rest of the island so we never felt too hot in the room.

The only downside of the cabins is the lack of a private bathroom - hence the glamping part. I was a little apprehensive when finding this out. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the standard of the shared toilets and showers.

Just a short distance from our cabin, the modern bathrooms were kept extremely clean and well-stocked with luxury toiletries throughout our entire stay. There was always hot water right away and the cubicles even had open windows with views over the valley - a unique experience!

With prices as low as 600,000 IDR per night (£30/€35/$38), the super affordable cabins still get you access to the retreat's huge range of facilities and amenities, including the pools, restaurants, shuttle, and highly attentive staff. It really is luxury on a budget.

Facilities at Sumberkima Hill

While Sumberkima may be located in a quiet area of the island, there's certainly no shortage of facilities and activities at the retreat to keep you entertained during your entire trip.

Pools

While many of the villas have their own private pools, the resort also has two large public pools for all guests to use; the "Central Pool" and the "Lingga Pool."

The central pool sits above the main reception and is absolutely HUGE! It's one of the largest hotel pools we've ever seen. With a hot tub area in the centre, the massive infinity pool has panoramic view over the entire valley and is a fantastic spot to watch the sunset in the evening.

The lingga pool is slightly smaller but has become famous for its unique shape (we'll say no more).

The pools are always open and you can call the free guest shuttle to take you and pick you up if you don't want to walk.

Or if you want to stay close to the communal pools, the Madya Villas and Suites overlook the central pool, while Villa Luna, Villa Felix, and the Lingga Apartment are just a few steps from the lingga pool.

Gym & Yoga

With its peaceful location nestled among nature, it's no surprise that Sumberkima Hill is a popular place to practice yoga.

The retreat offers daily yoga classes for guests for an additional fee. Morning classes take place at the main yoga shala at 7:30am (100,000 IDR), while twice a week they also run a sunset yoga class at their amazing hilltop amphitheater (225,000 IDR).

Or if yoga isn't your thing, you can also train in Muay Thai or join group circuit training classes at the on-site gym.

Spa, Sauna & Ice Baths

The on-site spa is a lovely spot to treat yourself to various luxurious treatments, including massages, facials, body scrubs, and mani-pedis.

You can also use the spa's brand-new saunas and ice baths for 200,000 IDR per session.

Restaurants

There are two on-site restaurants at Sumberkima Hill Retreat; Suma and Senja. We ate in both during our stay and had fantastic meals in each.

Suma is an international restaurant serving a variety of cuisines from around the world, from pizza, pasta, and burgers, to Indian curry, Greek moussaka, and Moroccan couscous bowls. The Cuban panini was my favourite.

Senja focuses on local Balinese and Indonesian dishes. Their nasi campur menu lets you pick several small plates to share between your group, letting you sample a mix of local flavours. They also serve two of my favorite Indonesian desserts, pisang goreng (fried banana) and radar guiling (padan pancakes).

Both are open from breakfast through to dinner. Prices are a little more expensive than the local spots in town but still extremely reasonable for a resort restaurant.

You can also order room-service from both restaurants over WhatsApp which is delivered straight to your room or villa.

Reception

We wouldn't usually dedicate an entire section to the reception in our hotel reviews, but Sumberkima Hill is an exception.

Their large reception holds a small art gallery displaying local artwork. During our visit, the gallery had an exhibit by Stephanie Sensey with some amazing photos she'd taken on her travels through Bali and time at Sumberkima Hill.

Cultural Performances

Every Saturday, a Kecak Dance performance is held at the resort's hilltop ampitheatre around sunset. Tickets cost 100,000 IDR per person.

It's worth noting that the performance is weather permitting and often doesn't go ahead during rainy season.

Guest Activities

The staff at Sumberkima Hill can also help organise a huge range of activities and experiences for you, both within the resort and in the surrounding region.

• Snorkeling

• Diving and freediving

• Kayaking and paddleboarding

• Boat trips

• Visit an underwater art gallery

• Temple tour

• Guided and self-guided hikes

• Trip to West Bali National Park

• Releasing a baby turtle

• Beach picnic or barbecue

• Romantic private dinners

All of the water activities are dependent on weather and may not go ahead during the rainy season. During our recent visit in early March, the boat trips and watersports weren't available on several days due to the strong wind and waves.

Staff at Sumberkima Hill

All of the staff we came across at Sumberkima Hill were extremely friendly, welcoming, and attentive.

The 5 cabins had our own dedicated member of staff named Putu who would often check in on us and was available over WhatsApp to help with anything we needed. He went above and beyond to make sure everything about our stay was perfect. Thanks Putu!

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