Malang
Where to lay your head
Where to lay your head
Malang’s choices of decent accommodation options span every budget, although some of the colonial-era hotels that look great from outside are a little disappointing within. The busy downtown area will have you in the thick of the action, or in the leafy Oro-oro Dowo area to the city’s northwest you’re nearby to a plethora of trendy eateries but room prices tend to be slightly higher than the city centre. Rates usually rise slightly on weekends.
Hotel Tugu Malang is an extraordinary celebration of Asian arts and culture, and admirers of such with be seduced to the core, agog with visual overload as this splendid hotel weaves its magic—our idea of the promised land. Centred in Malang’s colonial heart on the southwestern side of the Tugu Monument, an ancient sacred banyan tree conceals Hotel Tugu from the busy road. The hotel is... Read our full review of Hotel Tugu Malang.
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If the privacy of a capsule dorm appeals, but feels too claustrophobic, the dorm at Huize Jon Hostel enjoys the best of both worlds—each curtained pod is outfitted with a small window with a view to either outside or the internal stairwell providing the enclosed bed with a sense of space and openness. The hostel bags a terrific central city location between the Tugu monument and Alun-Alun... Read our full review of Huize Jon Hostel.
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You’ll find the friendly Merbabu Guest House just to the north of Hutan Kota Malabar and across from Merbabu Family Park, and while it just looks like a typical house from the street, there are excellent rooms within. As with many of the smaller guesthouses in Malang, Merbabu has a large atrium dominated by a decorative pond, fountain and garden. The dining area sits along the edge of this... Read our full review of Merbabu Guest House.
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In the heart of Malang’s Chinatown area, The Alimar offers a range of business-style rooms plus a rather unusual capsule dorm in a contemporary multi-storey block wrapping a beautifully restored Dutch heritage building which houses the reception and restaurant. A red skybridge connects the opposing sides of the white U-shaped modern hotel and accommodates the larger family rooms. Air-con... Read our full review of The Alimar.
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Helped on by a friendly and welcoming young staff, Buring Homestay delivers good, if not the most imaginative, flashpacker rooms in one of Malang’s more leafy areas. Set across two floors in a retro, almost Thunderbirds-style house, the tile-floored air-con rooms are of a good size, with plenty of room for cat swinging. Furniture is Ikea-style, with a desk, chair and cupboard along with a... Read our full review of Buring Homestay.
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We couldn’t pass Hotel Gajah Mada Graha’s Gothic facade without taking a gander (or quietly humming the theme song to The Addams Family, click-click). Located one kilometre north of Malang Station, this palatial flight-of-fancy houses once grand, but somewhat tired midrange rooms, nevertheless they offer decent comfort and a good value deal. Front desk staff were extremely friendly and... Read our full review of Hotel Gajah Mada Graha.
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This social “tourist village” is not to be found in some side lane like a regular city kampung, but Kampong Tourist snares an unusual rooftop location above Helios Hotel, 700 metres north of Malang Station. On offer are three private bamboo and thatch gazebos that can each sleep up to three with shared facilities, and a huge mixed fan-cooled dorm also constructed from bamboo with beds... Read our full review of Kampong Tourist.
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Tucked away on a (not so quiet) back street off a busy road in the north of the city, Palmyra Homestay gives the impression of a grand colonial hotel, with grassy lawn and palm trees fronting the impressive double-storey white building. But don’t expect doormen or five-star service, this is a simple, but good value hostel offering basic dorms and decent no-frills private rooms along with a... Read our full review of Palmyra Homestay.
( Read more on Booking.com )
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