Surya Hotel & Cottages: Convenience At The Heart Of Tretes Village, Prigen

Hotel’s facade with ancient look

Upon its entrance, you will notice ‘Candi’ (Indonesian ancient temple) structures with some statues. You might wonder why such structures were built. In the 13th century, Prigen was the worship center of Hinduism and ‘Jawi’ Temple (Candi Jawi) was built as a place of worship. It is unclear if the hotel owner is a Hindu devotee, but he must have been inspired by the Jawi Temple that is located less than 10 km away. The hotel’s facade has 2 statues of Dewa Surya (God of the Sun) with his soldiers, similar to the ones within Jawi Temple. Also, the name ‘Surya’ Hotel & Cottages surely comes from the statue of the Sun god.

Well-maintained hotel with a view of Mount Arjuna

Upon entering the hotel, you’ll realize that this is quite an old but well-maintained hotel. Don’t be mistaken by its outer appearance, as this is the most visited hotel in Tretes! It’s also one of the affordable hotels at 48 USD per night (for deluxe room). Rooms and the private bathrooms are decent and you can expect all the amenities a three-star hotel has to offer (free Wi-Fi, 32-inch plasma TV, bathroom supplies, a fridge, etc.). Also, the balcony view is amazing as you can see mount Arjuna from here.

Relax and have fun with the hotel's facilities!

Although Tretes is a small village on a hill with the nearest tourist attraction (Safari Park) being 15 minutes away, the cool climate and laidback atmosphere may induce lethargy! Don’t worry if you decide to stay in the hotel throughout your stay. The fun is just several steps out of your room.

If you’re looking for physical activities, you can consider working out in the fitness center or playing tennis at the tennis court. The hotel also has a nice and clean swimming pool for you and your family to swim. There is a shallow pool for kids as well. Everybody can have fun.

Street food paradise at the hotel’s doorstep

Right in front of the hotel, there are a lot of stalls selling Indonesian food. It’s fairly crowded, but very convenient with sitting area within each stall. You can order the food from other stalls as long as you buy something from the stall where you are sitting.

One of the food that everybody seeks to eat here is chicken and rabbit satay. Rabbit satay? Well, it might be a bit cruel to eat the meat of such a cute animal, but once you taste it, you’ll change your mind. It’s absolutely delicious! Satay is barbecued meat on bamboo skewers with sweet peanut gravy and among several ‘nameless’ satay stalls, the one right across from hotel Surya is the most crowded one, giving you a signal that this is the stall that sells the best satay in Tretes.

Another one worth mentioning is the ‘angsle’ stall. This is a traditional drink containing white and green sticky sweet fermented rice, plain bread, ginger, and coconut milk. It’s served hot, so this is great for the cold weather. Go for the stall with the white table, just next to the satay stall mentioned above, which sells grilled corn as well. That’s the best angsle in Tretes!