Why build a display villa before a resort
A resort like Saraya starts life as drawings, renders and a written specification. Buyers commit before most of it exists. That puts the burden on the developer to prove the specification is real.
A display villa does two jobs:
- For buyers, it shows the finish, the layout and the materials in a building they can walk through and touch.
- For us, it is a full test of the supply chain, the contractor's methods and the specification itself, at the scale of one villa instead of 154.
The second job is the one people underrate. A fault found on one building costs a fraction of the same fault repeated across a whole resort.
Where The Elysian is
The Elysian is our finished display villa in Mandalika, on Lombok's south coast. Mandalika is the area around the government's Special Economic Zone and the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit, where MotoGP races are held.
Saraya Beach Resort & Residences itself will be built in Sekotong, on the island's south-west peninsula. The Elysian sits in a different part of Lombok, but it is built to the specification Saraya buyers receive.
What the display villa showed us
Building The Elysian showed that some of the steel, concrete and electrical parts available locally did not meet the standard we had set for Saraya.
I'd rather say that plainly than bury it. A display villa that turns up nothing has either been lucky or hasn't been looked at closely enough.
These three areas matter more than most:
- Steel is the skeleton of the building. Lombok sits in an active earthquake zone, and the island's 2018 earthquakes were a hard reminder of how much depends on reinforcement being right.
- Concrete has to cope with heat, humidity and, close to the sea, salt in the air. The mix decides how well it protects the steel inside it over decades.
- Electrical systems carry air conditioning, pumps, lighting and kitchens every day. Wiring and fittings that are under-specified wear out early and can be dangerous.
What we changed for every Saraya villa
We made three changes, and they apply to all 154 villas, whatever their size or view.
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| Structural steel and rebar | Bought from suppliers elsewhere in Indonesia instead of locally |
| Concrete | The mix design has been upgraded |
| Mechanical and electrical (M&E) | Every villa built to the higher M&E specification |
Bringing materials in from further away takes more planning and more freight. I think that is a small price for a structure owners can rely on for the length of their title, which can run for decades. My note on HGB title in Indonesia explains how long that can be.
Why I wanted this tested before the resort
Saraya brings together a Thai architecture firm, KRAM Space Architect, a contractor from the Zhongqi Huapu group, TSG Construction Indonesia, and suppliers from across the country. Kinnara Capital manages design, pricing and buying across all of them.
With that many parties, a written specification only works if someone checks it in a real building. The display villa was that check.
It also reflects a rule I hold myself to. My early businesses taught me not to rely on things I can't see and verify, and I set out how I learned that on my lessons page. A specification on paper is one of those things until it has been built and inspected.
What buyers can see at The Elysian
The Elysian lets buyers judge the finish, materials and quality of a Saraya villa with their own eyes, instead of from a render.
Design, pricing and the construction contract for Saraya are all done. TSG has been appointed and is in a position to start work on site. The upgraded steel, concrete and M&E standard applies from the first villa built, not as a change partway through.
What a display villa can't tell you
A display villa answers questions about one building. It can't show how the finished resort will feel, how the gardens will grow in or how the hotel will be run. Those depend on the master plan and the operator.
It also doesn't replace the paperwork. Anyone buying off-plan, at Saraya or anywhere else, should still check the land title, the permits and where their money goes. I set out those checks in checking a developer before you buy off-plan.
The other big early decision was where the buildings sit, which I cover in why Saraya sits 100 metres back. The project's own site, sarayalombok.com, has more on the villas themselves.
This note is general information only. It is not legal or financial advice.