25 July 2007
I'd have to describe the Dusun Jogja Village Inn as "pleasantly funky". I'm sure there are some to whom the charms of this place won't appeal, but I found it to be a quite pleasant change from the bland corporate hotels I usually end up at on my travels. Fortunately, the owners of the Dusun have generally avoided using the word "boutique" to describe their property. There's few pretensions here.
The hotel consists of just around 20 rooms and is located just south of the old royal palace, the Kraton. The lobby and standard rooms are housed in a small building right on the narrow side street of the hotel. The deluxe rooms are in two story blocks on the other side of a large courtyard behind the lobby. The courtyard holds a swimming pool that's rather large for such a small hotel. Beside the pool is the hotel's restaurant, housed in a traditional open air "joglo" Javanese style pavilion.
My deluxe room at the Dusun Jogja Village Inn
My second floor deluxe room is good-sized, not huge but very comfortable to move around in. The design and decoration are early twentieth century, with tile floors and rough plaster walls. Most of the furniture is made of wood, except for the bed frame, which is wrought iron. The bed sports a canopy and mosquito net, which may come in handy. A pair of sliding doors lets onto a large balcony with a built in sofa, table and chair. Although there is a ceiling fan, which may be quite adequate in the cool season, the room also has air conditioning. Other modern conveniences include a mini-bar, but, there is no television in the room. There is a 'movie room' in the lobby, with a selection of discs on offer. The bathroom is quite large, although the fixtures are rather basic. There's just a bathtub with shower, toilet and vanity. The menu at the restaurant is somewhat limited, but both meals I ate there were very good. The breakfast buffet didn't offer too many things, but the juices were fresh squeezed, the croissants fresh baked, and everything else was equally good quality.
The hotel also has a small spa offering massages, scrubs and manicures. There's a small shop in the lobby, as well as a tour desk and Internet corner. On checking in, I received a coupon for a complementary 10 minute massage as well as one for an evening tea.
Hotel facilities include swimming pool, meeting room, movie room, spa and restaurant.
Rooms feature air conditioning, fan, hot and cold water, mini-bars and IDD telephones.
Pluses: Very good restaurant. Large pool. Friendly and very helpful staff.
Minuses: Although many of Yogya's sights are not far away, the location itself if a bit isolated, with not much within walking distance.
Rooms at the Dusun Jogja Village Inn may be booked through Agoda or you can use Hotels Combined to compare rates for the hotel from dozens of booking sites.