Hotel Raja Samosir

The water had surprisingly big waves, and I liked that it wasn't salty. The view from the hotel was great. People call this a beach, but it's actually part of Toba Lake. In Medan, it seems people use pantai for any waterside place with sand, even rivers and lakes. Rooms start at IDR 250.000, which didn't seem too expensive.

I ended up paying 300k for a room and an extra bed after a night discount and bargaining. I had booked at the normal on-the-spot rate of 300k, with the extra bed listed at 75k. The location is convenient, close to Toba Lake's white sand, with souvenir shops and restaurants nearby. Unfortunately, there was a centipede on my bed :)))

The beach itself is really nice, with the kinds of entertainment you'd expect at a spot along Lake Toba. It isn't owned by the property, though. The rooms were noisy late into the night, and some seemed to have as many as ten people in them. The 'staff' didn't seem to care, and the owner was nowhere to be seen (orang Medan it seems..). As for the room, there was no hot water, just a basic plastic bak mandi with no hand shower and very low water pressure. The towels were damp and dirty, fit for cleaning floors. If you want somewhere clean and quiet for a relaxing holiday, don't stay here. Calling this a hotel, let alone getting a permit for it, is hard to understand. 'Camping place' would be more honest. It's also a mystery why booking sites like Traveloka or Agoda list it as a 'Hotel' with average reviews of 6 to 7/10, apparently checked?? That puts their customers' satisfaction at risk.

The lake view is quite nice, since the hotel looks right out over the water. But you can only really sleep here. The waiter paid little attention, the bed wasn't comfortable, and the only facility was a television. There was no hot water or breakfast. For those facilities, the price felt quite high, and the hotel isn't up to standard.