Mama Tia Family Homestay — Hotel in Sulawesi

We stayed here for three nights. What we really missed was the feeling of a true homestay: the experience of being welcomed into someone’s home and connecting with the people who live there. Apart from the guided tour, this personal touch wasn’t there. The building where guests sleep is also separate from the main house and felt more like a hostel than a homestay.

That said, the location is great if you want to explore the beautiful sights of Toraja. Yakub was our guide for two days, and we visited some truly impressive places. The food (breakfast and dinner) was good, and the people were friendly. The bathroom was clean, and the price was reasonable.

There are a few things that could be improved. The bed sheets came off the mattress as soon as we lay down, and there was a dirty carpet on the floor, which made the room feel a bit unclean. The scooters for rent were in poor condition: no lights, which is dangerous at night, and very weak brakes, which is a serious problem on downhill roads.

We also felt that communication with our guide Yakub could be better. During the tour, he made decisions about spending our money (for example, buying things or giving donations) without discussing it with us first. We would have preferred to be consulted. In one case, he changed the pickup time with the driver without telling us the real reason. A bit more honesty and openness would have made a big difference.

In short: a good place to start your Toraja trip, but with some room for improvement, especially if you’re looking for a real...

Wow, where should I start? Yansen and his family have created a backpacker's dream in this wonderful region. The homestay is basic but everything, including food, guiding, talking, and helping, is done with so much love. The plans for the little garden sound lovely. We definitely have to come back!

The service began even before I arrived. Yansen always replied to my messages, answered every question, and had a solution for every "emergency," both before and during our stay. He even picked us up early in the morning when we arrived on a night bus. The homestay has a few rooms, and we were provided with fresh towels and bedsheets. We also made plans with him to book him as a tour guide, which I highly recommend because he loves his job and his region! He is such a lovely person and an excellent guide. We had three fantastic and fabulous days and nights exploring Rantepao!

There were three types of breakfast available, but we mainly tried the lovely pancakes and the egg breakfast. We also had two days of guided tours around Rantepao, visiting a funeral and the graves, exploring the market, and touring the village. Additionally, we went hiking through the rice fields. Just be aware that it can get muddy and slippery, but it's also very nice!

Overall, our experience at Yansen's homestay was amazing. The hospitality, service, and guided tours provided made our stay truly memorable. We highly recommend staying here for an authentic and unforgettable experience in this...

We had a disappointing stay at Mama Tia. We'd organised with the son to come for 3 nights and he said he would take us out as a tour guide.

When we got there the shared car didn't know where it was so dropped in the town. Then two ojek drivers also didn't know where it was. We called the homestay for information and asked how much the ojek should be and got "don't know" as an answer leading to us being severely overcharged by the drivers.

An itinary was put together for two days tour costing 1.7m for two people by one motorbike which seemed quite steep for us, but Jacob had good reviews as a guide so we agreed. Unfortunately we were palmed off the next morning to a random guide who struggled with english and didn't stick to the itinary. Jacob was off leading other groups every morning so we couldn't complain to him.

On our 2nd day we were joined by a third guest during the tour which wasn't great, and they struggled on the bike meaning the day was cut shorter than expected. When we discussed a discount because we had to share the tour it was awkward as they didn't want to give anything and ended up just 100k total cheaper (less than 5% discount).

Also the homestay is 30 mins outside of the town. This would be fine as they cook food, but the week we were there we got told they weren't cooking for guests and we had to walk every evening which is along...