Hotel Review - Manohara Hotel, Borobudur

After a day of heavy traveling, there is nothing much more enjoyable than having a good night rest in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere and when you are in the town of Magelang where the Buddhist complex, Borobudur, resides, you simply must choose Manohara Hotel as your home for the night. Here are some of the reasons why:

Welcome drink from Manohara Hotel to soothe your day

• Being the "closest to the Great Sanctuary" of Borobudur
• Affordable yet luxurious
• Relaxing environment

We departed from Plampitan Hotel early in the morning (7am local time) to catch our bus ride to Magelang and hopefully reach Borobudur before noon. It was about 2 hours plus ride from Semarang to the quaint town (Rp 21.000 per person for air-conditioned coach) and another 15 minutes plus to Borobudur site. The journey itself was worth mentioning for the scenery from Semarang to Magelang are quite enchanting (I actually dozed off when the ride began and only woke up halfway so I'm not too sure what I had missed out at the beginning).

On that day, Tour de Borobudur XII was going on and participants were cycling their ways to Borobudur from Semarang. Their end point was the Manohara Hotel and it felt like we were actually on a race along with them (and prompted me to consider joining next year).

Our room

Manohara Hotel indeed lived up to the "closest to the Great Sanctuary" statement for the hotel is actually inside the Borobudur ground. Just a five minute stroll and you will be at the ground terrace of Borobudur. There are a few entrances to the UNESCO heritage site and this one reserves for the guests of Manohara, I presume.

Lush greenery...

...and clear blue sky right out of our room

With only 30 rooms in the hotel, the rooms are designed with great care, blending Javanese touch with modernity. Lush green garden and spacious surrounding helps to create a stress-free atmosphere. In short, you cannot miss the opportunity of staying in the hotel whenever you drop by to visit Borobudur.

Another reason we chose Manohara Hotel was that we intended to take the Borobudur sunrise package the following day offered by the hotel. Priced at Rp 335.000/pax for non-guest foreigners and Rp 185.000/pax for guests, it actually worth the value for the comfort of the stay as well as the breath-taking scenery we had before the incoming crowds. More on that later.

Entrance ticket to Borobudur

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

Manohara Hotel is indeed a luxurious accommodation by Indonesian standard. Priced at Rp 690.000 per night per room for double bed and Rp 745.000 for twin bed (which translates to about RM 230 and RM 249 respectively), you can definitely find other places at a portion of the Rupiah. However, it deserved the high price for where can you find a stay where within a few minutes walk, you can see the imposing view of Borobudur? The price is inclusive of buffet breakfast for two as well as entrance fees to Borobudur for the duration of your stay. Take advantage of the packages offered by the hotel such as the aforementioned sunrise package as well as the Borobudur sunset package at a discounted rate. For more information, you can go to its website here.