Anugerah Hotel Bondowoso — Hotel in Java

We stayed here for 3 nights and went to Ijen in the transport organised through the hotel, shared between 4 of us. The room is very clean, the toilet basic but again clean, TV with lots of english speaking channels and staff that are extremely friendly which was a breath of fresh air after quite challenging travel through Java. Wifi is good and available but need to sit near restaurant.||||Owners, Angie and Mike and family are so lovely they make you feel really at home. ||||I am a little confused about previous comments about the transport to Ijen; we paid the correct entrance fee to the driver who managed to get to the front of the queue of many many tourists on our behalf to pay the officials. He then scooted us to the trail entrance where we were waved through and we skipped off ahead of everybody else and had a great view of blue fire leaving the crowds far behind us. We had no ticket though and at the time we thought no more about it until reading this review. We were just really chuffed about our front row seat and just thought of it as really helpful. I think perhaps it is up the individual how the situation is interpreted and your own personal stance on this. The driver does not push this onto you so you do have the choice to queue up yourself if this really bothers you.||||The driver was there in the morning waiting for us. We had so much time to explore as we wished and a guide really is not necessary. Sharing between four is cheaper than public transport, saves spending a night in sempal which would have been more expensive and was packed out ; people were camping due to lack of accommodation. The driver drove safely in the nicest vehicle i have seen in a while. ||||He stopped at a waterfall on the way back, which we looked at for about 30 seconds before getting back into the car as we were all so tired. He did not ask for any money for this and we declined any further stops realising that these stops were probably not included in what we had paid already. No money was requested. ||||In addition, when deciding whether to do Ijen independently or with arranged transport, Angie was very helpful in providing information about different options including how to do it independently and then allowing us to make our own decision without being pushy. Also, as we missed breakfast, we were given a pack up to take with us for the morning. They really cannot do enough for you. || ||The issue of the transport and Ijen aside, this hotel is fantastic value for money, very welcoming and felt very safe and secure. Would certainly recommend a stay here however you...

Our room was kinda okay, but in bad shape (for instance the fan of our 'fanroom' didn't work and wasn't repaired). Cleaning staff was friendly, though. But what killed our experience was the following:||||Staff at the counter seemed friendly and, although we usually don't do organized trips, we were convinced to go for their (for us expensive) 'blue fire' trip to Mt. Ijen. We caught our driver (arranged by the hotel) in conspiring with the local officials, and keeping our entrance fees to themselves. We noticed other people having a ticket while we didn't have to show anything for some reason. After confronting him and everyone around, he finally admitted. This is truly horrible, especially regarding the fact that this same mountain is full of local miners who get nothing more than 900 idr per kilo sulfur they drag down from the top!||||Upon confronting the hotel, they turned their heads, didn't want to offer a compensation, and eventually hung up the phone during conversation. They never picked up anymore afterwards. This behavior says it all.||||Above all, they sell it as a 'trip', while in fact it's only a transport with nothing included at all - no entrance fee, no guide, no masks. So for us it ended up being extremely expensive for what it was. ||||In retrospect the trip is easily arranged by yourself: Simply find out which bus (minivan) to take, or find someone to take you. Once there, it's just following the only road there is (it's not a path, it's a road) to the top, and that's it. Remember that you won't be by yourself.||||Please don't stay at a hotel that bluntly stimulates this kind of behaviour, and is making serious money out of it that should end up with honest locals....

We stayed at Anugerah hotel and restaurant for 2 nights in a standard double room with fan for 125.000Rp + tax (137.500Rp) per night. |The room was nice and clean and had a TV with a lot of different channels (international). The bathroom was Indonesia style, so standing, but for the price we payed we couldn't complain. If you want a western style toilet I think you get that in their VIP room for 300.000Rp (ask in the reception). The room wasn't too sound proof so you could hear most of everything going on outside and in your neighbors room.||The hotel was about 5 min away from the bus terminal in a bike taxi (we paid 10.000 Rp for one bike). There was a lot of bikes in front of the bus terminal so it shouldn't be a problem getting transport to the hotel. |The hotel has a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner which was nice and cheap, but you can also find other options in the area. ||The staff was really friendly, and the owner was great! Super nice and helped us with transport to the ijen plateau. And she made sure we had a packed breakfast since we left so early. In fact our car was delayed maybe 30 min but she gave us a discount even though is wasn't her fault - truly exceptional. ||The hotel has simple and cheap rooms but you can also upgrade according to your demands. But you should stay here because of the service - the best we experienced in a long time. Definitely...