Hainald's Flores Island Rat was described from mountain habitat on Flores, Indonesia. The original account's certain ecological evidence is limited to a very small number of specimens.
Its back is orange-brown flecked with dark hairs, and its underside is creamy white. It has soft, long fur and a tail longer than its body, with a whitish underside.
The certain adult specimen in the original description was trapped on a steep slope in lowland montane forest at about 1,300 m. One juvenile was also mentioned, but its assignment to this species was tentative.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.