Accommodation in Solo

Despite being a fairly small city, Solo is full of hotels, hostels and homestays. We've checked out a few across a fairly wide price range. Have a look at the slideshow on the right to see photos of some of the options, and let me know if you want to see more pictures.

Since we will provide transport for overseas guests from Solo to our wedding reception in Klaten, it would be helpful if guests could stay in one of the hotels described. If however you would prefer to stay somewhere else for the rest of your time here (apart from the day of the wedding) that is absolutely fine.

October is not peak season in Solo and I can see no reason why these hotels would get booked up, so there's no hurry to reserve your accommodation. I can make reservations for you, once you have decided when you're coming and where you would like to stay, and I may be able to negotiate cheaper deals.

I'll describe the hotels we've selected in order of price from most to least expensive. There are pricier options should you wish to treat yourself, and equally if you can't afford to pay for accommodation at all a kind friend has offered crash space at her house a little out of town. (Generally we also welcome guests at our house, but we'd prefer to have the place to ourselves immediately before and after our wedding.)

All prices are in Indonesian Rupiahs and may be subject to tax. At the moment £1 = 13,700Rp.

Novotel
My mum stayed at Novotel last year and was very pleased with the hotel. The room was nice, with air-conditioning, hot/cold water, mini-bar, TV, bath, room service, laundry and everything you would expect from an international standard hotel. Wi-fi internet is available in the rooms and the spacious lobby. There's a bar with live music, two swimming pools (shared with Hotel Ibis next door), fitness centre etc. The hotel is centrally located on the main road, so you can walk to various places of interest. Staff can arrange transportation to and from the airport and are generally helpful and efficient. Breakfast is a large buffet with everything from cereal and toast to fried rice and cheese.

I asked about prices for October and got the following:

Room only prices:
Standard (1 bed / 2 bed) 500,000
Family 550,000
Executive (1 kingsize bed) 590,000
Suite (bedroom and sitting room, 1 kingsize bed) 950,000

With 1 breakfast:
Standard 520,300
Executive 617,100
Suite 943,800

With 2 breakfasts
Standard 550,300
Family 598,950
Executive 647,350
Suite 974,050

Hotel Ibis
This hotel is right next door to Novotel and shares swimming pool facilities (two pools). It is slightly cheaper and less classy than Novotel but still international standard. You get air-con, hot water, and all the usual facilities. The cheaper rooms have a shower and no bath. Wi-fi internet is available in the lobby and the rooms have cable internet. Breakfast is a large buffet with Western and Asian foods.

Room only:
Standard 340,000
Deluxe 370,000
and 400,000

With breakfast:
Standard 425,000
Deluxe 455,000
and 485,000

Hotel Asia
This is by far the nearest hotel to our house, just a few minutes walk away (all the other hotels require some kind of transport - rickshaw, motorbike or taxi for example - unless you're very energetic). So if you want to hang out at our house a lot you might consider staying here. I wouldn't have thought to look at it if it wasn't so nearby, but actually it seems quite nice. The rooms all have air-con, though the cheapest ones have old-fashioned systems, and the same goes for TVs. There is hot water, and the more expensive rooms have baths. The cheapest rooms don't have windows. I detected a faint smell of cigarette smoke which might bother some people, though for others being able to smoke in your room would be an advantage. There is free wi-fi in the lobby, a decent-sized swimming pool and karaoke!

Prices include breakfast for two people, buffet-style with Western and Asian options. (We are considering becoming members to use the swimming pool at this hotel, which would give us a 20% discount on rooms, excluding standard rooms.)

Standard 174,000
Standard + 254,000
Moderate 334,000
Deluxe 378,000
Superior 420,000
There are several levels of room above this going up to Asia Suite Room at 1,220,000 but I think if you want to spend that much money, Novotel or somewhere else would be much better for you.

Istana Griya Homestay
This is at the budget end of accommodation in Solo but the rooms are clean and pleasantly decorated. There is no swimming pool or internet, but they do offer a laundry service and prices include breakfast of fried rice and self-service tea/coffee all hours. Istana Griya is located in the centre of town, in an area with many cheaper homestays and hotels. Staff can organise tours, for example, to see tofu being made or learn about batik production. Only the most expensive rooms have hot water (though you may not mind cooling down with a cold shower after a hot sweaty day).

With fan only 100,000
With air-con and TV 150,000
With air-con, TV and hot water 250,000

Cakra Homestay
This is comparable to Istana Griya in price, but rooms are plain, with more traditional-style bathrooms. However, Cakra has facilities unavailable at other equivalently priced homestays. There is a lovely garden with a swimming pool, and a gamelan with twice-weekly rehearsals that visitors can watch or join in. The buildings are in beautiful traditional style, making it a nice place to hang out as well as somewhere to sleep. There is no hot water, though this may not bother you. Cakra Homestay is situated in the centre of town, south of the main road. Again, staff can organise tours to local places of interest. Prices include breakfast of tea/coffee and toast.

With shared bathroom 100,000
With shared bathroom per two rooms 125,000

With private bathroom 150,000
With air-con 175,000


I hope you've found this helpful. Please let me know if you need any more information. Nearer the time just get in touch and I can reserve your room.

General Update

Many things have been sought out, chosen, bought or ordered over the past few weeks. We've gone some way to sorting out what we're going to wear, we've had the English part of our marriage ceremony, we've given out English language invitations for October and we've even ordered a cake topper! Now at last we can focus on organising our wedding reception...

If you're planning to join us here in Java in October, I hope you've been finding the information I've been posting on this blog useful. In the course of the next few weeks I'll be adding information about accommodation in Solo, with photos and prices of various options. As October approaches I'll be adding language and etiquette guides as well as ideas of possible activities and excursions in the Solo area to help you enjoy the rest of your stay.

And for the rest of you, who can't make it over here in October, I will post photos and accounts of the event so you can keep up-to-date from wherever you are.

Please let me know if there's anything else you would like to see here. If you want information about a specific topic, select from the words on the right-hand side - these are labels and will take you to previous postings with that label.

Cheap Flight

In case you're interested I just found this rather cheap flight with Kuwait Airways (haven't tried them myself but I've heard they're fine) at http://www.crystaltravel.co.uk Only £436! It's for dates 20th - 28th October but it's probably worth checking if there are similarly cheap flights for your preferred dates. And please post a comment if you come across anything that might be of interest to other people.