Twin Volcanoes Homestay

For IDR 650 000 a night, the double room was disappointing. There was a car park and the mountain weather was cool, but the room facilities weren’t clean. The floor was sticky and dusty, the glass was dirty, and the pillows, mattress, sheets, and towels smelled musty and didn’t seem to have been washed properly between guests. The cramped bathroom leaked, and the gas hot water heater was hard to turn on. Breakfast was only a small serving of soy sauce fried rice with crackers, no protein side dish.

The scenery between the two volcanoes was lovely, and the location is good for hiking Mount Merbabu. That was the only nice part of our stay. Service was almost nonexistent. There was never anyone at reception, and we only figured out who the host was right at the end. We were told to text a WhatsApp number instead, and getting replies took time, which made things complicated. Our room was dirty. Even with the sliding balcony door closed, there was a gap of about 1 inch, so the loud wind and rattling at night made it very hard to sleep. Earplugs didn’t block it. There was also a huge hole in the room door around the lock, so we never felt we could properly shut it. We asked to check out an hour after the official time because our itinerary had changed. They refused, even though all the other rooms appeared vacant. They weren’t very flexible or helpful.

The stay was very disappointing, and I can’t imagine why anyone would give it five stars. The access to the homestay was bad, and the place didn’t live up to the surrounding view. Everything smelled moldy, including the bedsheets. The floors were sticky, the utensils were old and disorganized, and the rooms were extremely dirty. A waste of money.

We really didn’t like our room. We were there during wet season, but the place seemed very different from the pictures and videos the owner had posted or sent. The room was dirty and the blanket was moldy, which made it hard to rest before a difficult trek. Cleaning the floor and toilets shouldn’t be that complicated, especially since we had booked on WhatsApp days earlier and they knew we were coming. The owner was very friendly, and they arranged transport to and from the place and found us a good guide. That earns them at least 3 stars from us. The room was 200.000 IDR per night. Pick-up from Borobudur cost 250.000 IDR, drop-off in Yogyakarta was 350.000 IDR, and the guide was 450.000 IDR.