MK House Tendean

It’s a good choice on a small budget. There’s no restaurant or breakfast included, but the street vendors right outside sell lots of things, from chicken porridge and cakes to fresh fruit. The staff were polite and informative. My room was very clean and had a queen size bed with a good mattress, two pillows, blanket, sheets, small writing desk, and wardrobe. Every rental room has a window, though some upstairs rooms have a better view. The bathroom was clean too, with soap, hot and cold water, a western toilet, basin, mirror, and a small window. I did miss having a water refill station, since I try to avoid single-use plastic bottles.

I stayed for two weeks in a deluxe room with a fridge and bathtub. The bathroom was spacious, the water pressure was good, and the heater worked well. Getting around was easy with public and private transport available. The place is a little tucked away from the main street, but cars can still get in, and it’s the first house in the alley. There’s no breakfast, though the alley entrance is lined with street food vendors in the morning. Even with hectic, chaotic Tendean Street nearby, I barely heard noise in my bedroom. It was a pleasant stay. Mr. Toni and Mr. Erga were very helpful and supportive.

The room layout made it hard to walk beside the bed because the TV was mounted low and took up space where people would normally pass. The bathroom mirror was old, dirty, and clearly not maintained, so I could barely see my reflection. The spray gun pressure was extremely high and could potentially hurt someone. I couldn’t lower it because the shut off valve under the seat didn’t work. Water also kept dripping onto the floor from the aircon after it had been on for two hours. There were no-smoking signs in the guest rooms, but several operational staff ignored them. I had to ask five different staff members not to smoke near my room. They seemed to think smoke wouldn’t reach my room if they stood five meters away. My experiences with reception were very different at check in and check out. At check in, the 30+ yo man sounded arrogant and spoke as if guests were beneath him. He held onto my ID without explaining that he needed to keep it, then handed me the key and directed me to the room as if I should automatically know everything. When I asked about the ID, he only said “retained.” He could have answered more politely, for example by apologizing for not explaining and saying I could have it back at check out. I wondered if he was the owner and felt entitled to act that way. At check out, the young man at reception was very polite and pleasant. I’ve stayed in 50+ other hotels, and this property was unusually unhelpful when I asked to drop my bag off before check in time.

We only stayed one night, and I wouldn’t choose to stay longer. The place didn’t look like the pictures at all. We had a deluxe room, which was spacious, but that was the only good part. The room smelled quite bad, the walls could use some paint, and the bathroom needs a little renovation. The staff didn’t speak any English, not even a word.