Adults-only on Gili Air: what 14+ actually means

Why we set the limit

We have no children's facilities — no kids' pool, no kids' menu, no club, no cots, no babysitting roster. Rather than stock a few of those things half-heartedly and call it family-friendly, we decided early on to build for one kind of guest properly instead of two kinds adequately.

The result is a property where the loudest thing at three in the afternoon is the wind in the palms, and where the garden, the restaurant and all three pools stay genuinely quiet through the day. It is a structural choice, not a mood we are hoping for.

What it changes day to day

Three shared pools that never turn into a splash zone, and a restaurant where conversation actually carries across the table. Breathwork most mornings in the open pavilion, timed for guests who want to start the day slowly rather than around anyone else's schedule.

Soma Vita, our spa and longevity house, sets its own line at 18 and over for the sauna, ice bath and magnesium circuit specifically — a notch stricter than the hotel's own 14+ policy, because cold immersion and heat cycling are simply not something we recommend for a developing body. Massage and the rituals menu follow the hotel's regular 14+ age.

Who it suits

Couples, honeymooners, solo travellers, friends travelling together, and families with older teenagers. Fourteen and up are genuinely welcome here, not tolerated — plenty of our repeat guests are parents travelling with a fifteen or sixteen year old who would rather read by the pool than queue for a kids' club anyway.

It also suits small retreat and dive groups booking five rooms or more, and couples taking the Private Villa for a week without anyone else's children in earshot of the plunge pool.

Who it does not suit

Families with young children. We would rather tell you plainly now than have you arrive and discover it on day one — there are excellent family-oriented properties elsewhere on Gili Air and on Lombok, and we are genuinely happy to point you toward them if you ask.

The same logic extends to pets: we do not allow dogs on the property, partly for guest comfort and partly because Gili Air already has a settled population of free-roaming cats who consider the garden theirs.

Travelling with older teenagers

If your teenager is 14 or over, book as normal — they have full run of the pools, the restaurant menu and the garden, and can join a parent for a massage or the ritual bathhouse. The sauna, ice bath and magnesium circuit still needs everyone in the group to be 18 or over, so plan around that if part of your group falls between 14 and 17. If you are unsure where your family sits against the policy, message us before you book rather than after — it takes us a minute to answer and saves everyone a difficult afternoon.

Written by the team at The KOHO Air Hotel, a boutique wellness retreat five minutes’ walk from Gili Air harbour. We answer these questions by message most days — just ask.

Common questions