Yogyakarta homestays offer friendly atmosphere
Yogyakarta homestays offer friendly atmosphere
By Anis Suryani
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Despite the mushrooming star hotels in
Yogyakarta, traditional home stays are still attractive and are
able to draw and maintain visitors.
One of the traditional homestays is Indraloka Family Homestay
located on Jl. Cik Di Tiro, in the center of the city.
The homestay, built in l947, belongs to Moerdiyono Danoesastro
family. Over the years, it has been a favorite place for foreign
guests, especially those coming from the Netherlands.
Moerdiyono started his business in l963 when he rented two
rooms.
In l974, he expanded his homestay business and obtained a
permit from the ministry of tourism. The homestay has eight rooms
now.
In the same year, Moerdiyono, now 70, visited Australia to
accompany former minister of tourism and telecommunication Joop
Ave. It was a successful business tour.
Since then, he has received a lot of Australian guests, most
of them are students or Australian Embassy staff who learn Bahasa
Indonesia at local universities.
In Indraloka, guests are warmly welcome and treated like
members of the family. Guests are allowed to cook their food in
family's kitchen. A few years ago, the late Mrs. Moerdiyono used
to teach guests how to cook Javanese meals.
Moerdiyono's children usually performed Javanese traditional
dances in the living room. Mrs. Moerdiyono also acted as a tour
guide, accompanying her guests to various tourist destinations.
Today, Indraloka homestay is managed only by Moerdiyono and
his daughter.
"We won't add more rooms and room telephone facilities or
television sets. We want them to come to the living room if they
want to watch TV or make a phone call. That's the way we maintain
contact with our guests," said Rully Bambang, Moerdiyono's
daughter who is currently Indraloka's Managing Director.
Local tourists also are delighted to spend their nights in
such homestays while vacationing in Yogyakarta.
For the last few years, numerous local guests have stayed at
Indraloka. They were mostly students and lecturers taking part in
various courses in Yogyakarta. Indraloka rates are Rp 60,000 to
Rp 100,000 a night; quite affordable for locals.
Another company, Ani-Ani, was motivated to develop village-
based homestays. Ani-Ani started its business in 1966 by
inviting some students to stay in a Javanese traditional house
joglo in Brayut Village, Pendowoharjo, Sleman, some 12 kilometers
north of here, belonging to the family of Budi Utomo, the
manager.
He later created a package village tour offering cross-country
walks, bicycle riding, fishing, tours to local schools, viewing
herbal medicine jamu making and traditional festivals and
ceremonies.
The village tour package attracted foreign visitors from the
United States, European countries and Japan.
"An American couple has just spent their holiday harvesting
rice in the nearby village," Budi said.
They spent a day with farmers, having lunch together and they
really enjoyed it, commented Budi.
Ani-Ani rates are Rp 47,000 per night or Rp 84,000 for larger
room.
For bigger groups, Ani-Ani offers a camping package of Rp
25,000 per night. Lunch and dinner costs the guests Rp 7,500 and
Rp 14,000 respectively. Ani-Ani offers only Javanese menu. "We
don't serve bread or coke here. If you want some, you can buy
them for yourself in the city," Budi said.
Another package is develop to accommodate those who do not
want to spend a night in the village. It includes kambing guling
roasted lamb dinner with traditional music and dance, and
traditional food bazaar. The package is offered for Rp 45,000 per
guest with a minimum of five guests.