Hotel Review: The Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

The Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo is a luxury hotel in the Indonesian city Surakarta. The hotel belongs to the MGallery Collection by Accorhotels and sure is a special hotel in many regards.

There are two MGallery Hotels on the island of Java, one is the Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta, the other one is the Royal Surakarta Heritage hotel, which is located about one and a half hours away from Yogyakarta in Surakarta, a city mainly important for domestic business.

• Classification: Five Stars
• Room Category: Junior Suite
• Month of Stay: August

The price level of the hotel is incredibly low and you can book a night at this five star property for about 30 US-Dollar, which is insane. Thus, the value for the money sure is great.

So is the location in the heart of Surakata, a city that doesn’t have a lot to offer for tourists though.

Junior Suite at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

As there was not much of a price difference, I ended up booking a higher room category at the Royal Surakarta Heritage and was further upgraded to a Junior Suite thanks to my Le Club Accor Gold Status.

The suite definitely isn’t modern, but rather has a lot of historic touches. However, it doesn’t feel run down or anything, it’s just a really unique style.

The main part of the room is dominated by the King Bed, which comes with two nightstands.

Right next to the bed, there’s a somewhat odd working desk with a “side desk” of sorts and a somewhat uncomfortable chair next to it.

This area is seperated from a living room of sorts, which mainly comes with a historic couch.

On the other side, there are also two chairs, which are placed somewhat randomly next to the wall.

There’s also a drawer, which has a coffee machine and a kettle on it. Plenty of water bottles are available as well.

The bathroom is located in the entrance area of the room and feels spacious enough.

There’s just a single sink, but sufficient space to put things.

Aside from the toilet, there’s also a large soaking tub in case you are looking to enjoy a bath.

There’s also a walk-in shower with a rain shower head.

All in all, the junior suite at The Royal Surakarta Heritage Hotel felt spacious and comfortable, while not per se modern or stylish. I wouldn’t say that I loved the design, but it was at least unique. What I didn’t like so is that the room wasn’t particular sound proof and the street noise was quite strong, so sleeping was difficult.

Breakfast at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

The breakfast spread at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo is another very special affair as it is the most non-Western spread I’ve ever seen. There are various hot dishes, but you are wrong to expect something like scrambled eggs or even more classic Asian dishes like fried rice.

Furthermore, there are several other stations with local specialties, ranging from hot to cold food, but there’s really hardly anything you’d expect on a breakfast buffet as a Westener.

The only exception of this rule is some yogurt, a few fruits and some sort of bread rolls, but the rest of the spread is very local. There’s also an omelette station though, but there are no ingredients at all, so all you can get is a plain omelet.

I’m all for local breakfast, but if you are not from Indonesia, breakfast at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo sure is a special experience.

Dinner at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

While not any Western either, dinner is a little more doable for the Western tounge as there are more classic Asian dishes served here, including various fried meats with rice.

I tried one of the dishes and it was really (and cheap at about 4 US-Dollar), but the food was incredibly hot (despite being ordered non-spicy), so you should definitely be aware of that!

Pool & Gym at the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

The facilities of the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo are decent enough without being amazing. There’s a gym with equipment for cardio and strength training, but it’s a bit full and the equipment isn’t the newest. Nevertheless, a full workout is possible here without issue.

There’s also a pool right next to the gym, which comes with some loungers and is semi-outdoors. You can even order drinks here (in theory), but the atmosphere isn’t the greatest with lots of street noise.

Anyways, the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo offers all you would expect in a city hotel.

Overall impressions of the Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo

The Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo definitely isn’t a hotel I’d return to in a heartbeat as the whole property feels a little tired, but the value for the money is really incredible. While everything is focused on locals, the food quality is good, the service is friendly and the facilities are alright. For such a low price tag, the Royal Surakarta Heritage definitely isn’t an incredible deal and a great option for staying in Surakata!

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