Meruorah Komodo Labuan Bajo — Hotel in Flores

This hotel is a a scammer! According to the problem of room no: 2003 during period July 4-6, 2024. After check-in, around 4pm when I entered the room, I found out that the sliding door couldn’t be locked. So, I called the reception to send someone to fix it. So, they sent the mechanic to fix it. After finishing, I just found out that the sliding door cannot closed tightly. Since the room no: 2003 is on the second floor, which face to the roadside at that time I smelled smoke from the outside come in to my room via the gap of the sliding door, so I looked from the sliding door seeing someone smoking. If the sliding door is closed tightly like the other rooms, there shouldn’t have smoke coming from outside. Moreover, the insects, bugs, mosquitoes can easily get into the room via the gap of sliding door. So, I informed the receptionist at 5 pm to send someone to fix it, but it seemed that the receptionist didn’t pay much attention to it. So, I asked them to change to a new room instead, but they refused by giving an excuse that today the rooms all full. When I returned to my room around 7pm. The sliding door still had the gap. So, I came to inform the receptionist, they just said they would send the mechanic to fix it as soon as possible and asked me to inspect with them. So, I refused to enter the room to inspect with them because I already informed them since 5 pm to fix, and I’m a guest to come to stay for leisure, not coming for inspection since it’s the hotel’s problem that provides not good condition room to me. So, I asked the receptionist to see the manager, but they insisted that manager is already go home. Around 7:30pm, someone claimed that he is a supervisor came to inform me that the sliding door could not be fixed, but the smoke wouldn’t come into the room because nobody was there, he said that he couldn’t guaranteed that there will be mosquitoes in your room. Then the supervisor is gone. So, I came to check the room, the sliding door still has a gap, which cannot close tightly. They just keep me waiting from 5pm till 8 pm by closing the curtain and sprayed mosquito repellent all over the room, which makes no one can stay in the room. So, I decided to checkout. While, I’m carrying my luggage’s to the elevator, the supervisor came with another men, who is claimed that he is a manager. So, I took them to the room no: 2003. The manager inspected the sliding door can’t be closed tightly and smelled sprayed mosquito repellent. He just gave my an apology, so I asked him just changed the room, but he still insisted that all rooms are fully booked. So, I asks the manager that since he seen the room’s problem and can’t be changed to another room. I asked the manager at the night shift on July 4, 2024 that so, I just check out and the hotel just give me a full refund and I will find another hotel at 8 pm instead. The manager agreed on my offer. So, I called Agoda to tell the solution, at that time the Agoda agency had talked to the manager, but Agoda said that the manager refused to give the refund. After hung up the phone, I asked the manager why he told the Agoda that you would not give the refund, since the manager agreed to give a full refund to me. The manager answered that the hotel cannot give any refund to me since I have booked the room via Agoda, so I have to deal with Agoda and the full amount of refund will refund. I asked both manager and supervisor 3 times, they insisted that I would get full refund for sure. Around 8:30 pm, the hotel also offered a free ride from Meruorah Komodo Labuan Bajo Hotel to another hotel.

However, on July 6, 2024, Agoda informed me that they cannot get a full refund to me because the hotel claimed that the booking cannot be refunded by claiming that the property are non-smoking and maintained a strict on this matter, which is not relevant since the problem is that the room isn’t in a good condition that leads smoke from outside and may have mosquitoes comes into the room. Moreover, the night shift manager is accept to refund by contacting Agoda to get...

Disappointing Experience at Meruorah Hotel. The hotel's customer service really fell short for a five star hotel. If you're looking for a nice hotel that would offer peace of mind in case unexpected situations happen, I’d look elsewhere (keep in mind you're gonna be in a small town with barely any facilities). I had a much better experience with another five star resort that honestly is not way more expensive, not to mention also has a better facilities, restaurants, and view than this (I've been to Labuan Bajo twice before this happened).

I was supposed to stay there on Nov 10 2024. Unfortunately, on the day of, my flight was canceled because the Labuan Bajo airport was closed due to a volcanic eruption and it was impossible for me to get there. I called the hotel asking if it's possible to get a refund or any hotel credit for a future stay as this is an unforeseen circumstance due to a natural disaster. In general they seemed unconcerned and unprepared to handle unexpected situations. They just told me they can't do anything and to call the reservation team instead.

I tried calling the reservation teams with the number they gave me four times over the course of two hours and no one ever answered. At this point I decided to try again later as it was a Sunday, so I thought maybe their office was closed. I tried calling again the next day and still no answer.

Finally, I emailed the hotel on Tuesday, explaining everything and recapping my attempt to contact them. Again, they were very unsympathetic and not helpful. They told me because they were not informed before the check-in date that I was no longer coming, I was marked as a no-show in the system and they were not able to do anything for me.

To that: 1) There was no way for me to know the airport was gonna be closed. 2) I had called the hotel on the day of to inform them that the airport was closed (which they already should have been aware, to be honest) 3) I tried to call their reservations team five times with no luck.

For comparison, the liveaboard operator and the other resort I had planned for this trip both offered to rebook me for next year. It's ironic because my reservation for Meruorah was supposed to be refundable up until a certain date, while both the liveaboard and the other resort were non-refundable and non-changeable, but they were still much more understanding of the situation and accommodating. Even the hotel I ended up booking in Bali for that night upgraded me to a better room after they heard about what had happened.

Now if you really don't care about customer service and you're 100% sure nothing unexpected is going to happen during your trip, the property itself is not bad. My first stay there was alright as nothing unexpected happened which is also why I thought I would stay there one more time before my liveaboard trip. However, as I mentioned before, I've stayed at two different properties before in Labuan Bajo. Meruroah is a nice hotel but nothing to write home about. It has a nice view especially during sunset but so do most other hotels in Labuan Bajo. Some will even have better views as Meruorah is located at sea level while some other ones are located higher. I'd probably give them four stars if it's not because of this entire experience but I can't recommend them anymore after what happened.

Side note: I'm not entirely sure why, I emailed them in English and for some reason they responded to me in Indonesian. Fortunately, I do speak Indonesian fluently, but I was surprised when I got the response. Just a heads up for those who might not...

We chose Meruorah Hotel mainly for its central location, and in that regard, it did not disappoint. Being right in the heart of Labuan Bajo made it easy to access restaurants, shops, and the harbor. As expected in such a busy area, some outside noise was inevitable and generally acceptable. However, what we didn’t anticipate was how poorly the hotel handled that noise.

The rooms had very little sound insulation, so noise from the hallway and the road was clearly audible at all hours. The early morning call to prayer from the nearby mosque was especially loud, and unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t seem to have taken adequate steps to mitigate the impact. They do offer earplugs, but only if you request them, and even then, what’s provided is cheap and uncomfortable, more of a gesture than a solution. Judging by other reviews, this is a long-standing issue, yet the hotel continues to rely on apologies rather than addressing it meaningfully.

Our stay started on the wrong foot with the airport transfer, which was listed as benefit but was initially going to be charged. After we brought it up, they did arrange it free of charge. But the fact that it had to be corrected at all was frustrating. Things didn’t get better at check-in. We arrived to find no running water in the sink or toilet. Thankfully, this was fixed quickly, but it should have been checked before our arrival.

Throughout our stay, we were disturbed by construction noise from upper floors, which continued daily. We tried to be understanding, but on our third morning, loud banging started before 7 AM, which was impossible to ignore. When I raised the issue at the front desk, the staff apologized and offered to move us. However, since it was already our last night, the offer felt too late to be of any help. What’s most disappointing is that they knowingly placed us in a room affected by ongoing construction, without any prior notice or attempt to prevent the inconvenience.

That same morning brought further disruption: two power outages and a drop in water pressure made it a stressful and unpleasant start to the day. These basic utility issues should not be happening in a hotel that claims a five-star rating.

There were no hand or face towels in our room, and when we requested them, the ones provided were heavily worn and in poor condition, certainly not up to the standard expected at this price point.

While most of the staff we interacted with were polite and courteous, we did feel the receptionist seemed disinterested and disengaged. That kind of attitude only added to the sense that the hotel is not invested in its guests’ comfort or satisfaction.

In the end, while the location is excellent, the experience as a whole was disappointing. The constant noise, poor maintenance, unreliable utilities, and lack of attention to detail do not reflect a true five-star property. We left feeling let down and will not be returning. I would recommend considering other accommodations...