Hotel Pison
Jalan Pongtiku II no. 8,, Rantepao, Rantepao, Indonesia, 91831 - See map
Get your trip off to a great start with a stay at this property, which offers free Wi-Fi in all rooms. Conveniently situated in the Rantepao part of Rantepao, this property puts you close to attractions and interesting dining options. Massage and restaurant are among the special facilities that will enhance your stay with on-site convenience.
Highlights
Facilities
Pets allowed
Car park
Free Wi-Fi in all rooms!
Front desk [24-hour]
Luggage storage
Restaurants
Room service [24-hour]
Coffee shop
A humble refuge”
The eight to ten hour night bus ride from the skeevy city that is Makassar to the highlands of Rantepao is not for the queasy. My sage advice: take a motion sickness pill and travel stoned. Ginger will not cut it. I sure wished I had taken my advice. I didn't. I arrived in Tana Toraja, the Land of the Dead, half-dead and my crisp new white shirt streaked with vomit. Blinded by the early morning light I staggered into the lobby of the Hotel Pison. Elifas, the manager, summarily reviewed this shaking and poorly rendered apparition that trembled before him and immediately ordered up a ginger tea. Check-in formalities were put aside and I was led to my room where I collapsed and remained for the next six days. Influenza took full advantage of my weakened state. The rooms here are minimally appointed but spacious. Bear in mind that this is Sulawesi and a minimally priced hotel: but sweet lord, there is ample hot water, a generous supply of fluffy towels and the sheets were fresh. The only intrusion of wildlife was a colony of ants in the bathroom. No big deal for me. The real plus is the large dining room that also served as my office and reading study. If I wanted tea or a beer I need only sing out and it was brought to me with a genuine smile. There is free wifi but the modem can be temperamental. I suspect it is due to the neighbors attaching themselves to the signal for a free ride. The restaurant menu selection is small. Which is a good thing. Everything is cooked fresh and to order. Expect your dinner to take an hour to arrive. Considering that the chicken you just ordered was flitting about the courtyard that afternoon an hour is pretty good timing. Note: be sure to ask when a fresh pig is to be delivered. The Torajan specialty pork in bamboo is a wonderfully spicy treat. Goes great with a Bintang or two.
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Great value for a stay in Tana Toraja”
Our stay at Hotel Pison was lovely. We had take the overnight bus from Makassar and arrived to the hotel at 8:30am, they let us check in right away and without any hassle. As we got into our room, we were asked what we would like as our welcome drink and we picked coffee. Within 10 minutes we had a French Press with fresh coffee at our door. We decided to have our coffee on the in-room balcony where the views were of the mountains as well as the big cross up on the hill. From our balcony we could hear church bells and this was perfect as it was Christmas Day. The shower in the room did not have too much pressure, but this was ok as the water was hot and that's all we really needed. The bed was fairly comfortable and the linens and towels were freshly laundered. We asked the reception if they had any guides for a tour around Tana Toraja and they immediately called one for us who came to the hotel within 10 minutes. We were able to sort out everything right away and without any time wasted. The hotel is right across from Poppies and is about a 1-minute walk from the main road. We frequented a restaurant by the name of Rimiko, which is a IDR 10,000, 7 minute Bemo ride away from the hotel. We stayed for 2 full days and enjoyed our stay at Hotel Pison! The staff were very sweet and we definitely felt that the photos of the hotel on Agoda are terrible in comparison to how much nicer it actually is in person. We would definitely stay at Hotel Pison upon our return to Toraja!
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Everything was perfect ”
Prime location for Makassar-Tana Toraja buses as it is just off the main road on the way into Rantepao. I was dropped off and picked up (the guy from the bus even came onto the hotel to get me) which made that part hassle free. This applied to the bus company Litha & Co., but it wouldn't surprise me if it applied to all the bus companies. Also hassle free was getting a tour guide. A fellow named Erwin was there to meet my bus as it pulled up. There was no hard sales pitch. I settled into my hotel room and then we sat down in the hotel's restaurant to discuss options and a price. He was great! Very, very knowledgeable. Friendly. I got the VIP treatment at a funeral. And then on top of that the hotel was charming, the food good and the staff courteous, as well as available and proficient in English, both shortcomings mentioned by previous reviewers but not at all my experience.
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Toraja - beautiful for experienced travelers”
Hotel Pison wasn't our first choice (we would have prefered Homestay Wisma Maria), but it was high season. In the end we were happy with the Hotel. The staff is very friendly and helpful, the room was big and the location away from the noisy mainstreet. People shouldn't expect a western standart, when they travel in Toraja. It is simply good Indonesian standart. Which means that there might me no warm water or the bath / room is not well equiped (no TV, low water pressure etc.), but it's basically clean and comfortable for a low prize. Santai santai (chill out) as the Indonesians say. :)
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Friendly service in reasonable price”
Despite it's a budget bed&breakfast, they offer a really friendly services and helpful information during our stay. The hotel located up town Rantepao, near the bus stop from Makassar (only using 'bentor'), not far from the market, etc. The hotel will help us in finding a tour guide, motorbike/car rent, food, event info, and even teach you Torajan language!
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Nature, culture, trekking”
We traveled by Kijang from Terminal Daya in Makassar to Rantepao. Kijang dropped us at the main road and Pison Hotel just 5 min walk from main road. Best of all, Bintang Prima 9pm sleeper bus picked us at the main road just outside Pison Hotel. Location is the best. Arranged our 2 days of car rental and tour guide from here. Tana Toraja is really scenic !!!
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Nice and affordable”
The Hotel was located right as you come in to Rantepao - it was easy walking distance to restaurants and a supermarket, next to a Church so there was a lot of choir singing on Sunday which we enjoyed. Also a lot of kids around and one night there was a lot of noise from locals outside which made it difficult to sleep. The door to our terrace stopped working after the first day as well (wouldn't unlock). Staff were friendly and helpful though their English was not good - even when communicating in Indonesian sometimes they did not give the info we wanted. They were often difficult to find as well, and many times we were served by children. The food was generally very good at dinner, breakfast not included but good (espresso style) coffee was a plus. The hotel was quiet with few other travellers which we didn't mind. Shower had very low water pressure so it took forever to wash our hair and the sheets on the bed were poorly fitted and came off during sleep which was annoying. They rent motorbikes for 80,000 a day and there are always guides lurking around trying to convince you to go on a tour. We did a one day tour including a funeral ceremony with one of the guides there (I don't think he's affiliated with the hotel but he was there every day) - would not recommend him, and every day after he hassled us to do another tour with him. They arranged for a bus back to Makassar for us which was 150,000 and was terrible but this isn't the hotel's fault as they merely went through the bus companies to find us 2 available seats. All in all we enjoyed our stay - it was clean, good aircon, nice location and good food.
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Family-Run Hotel”
The hotel is located not in the center of Rantepao but it's easy enough to go there by "Bentor" for IDR 5000. You will be easily greeted by the other occupants there, so this hotel provide the family-meeting kind of vibe. When I was there, it was so full due to the gathering of governors from all over Indonesia, so every night it was full of chats and laughters. If you're into knowing people during your trip, this is one of the best option. The room is standard, the water heater is working properly but the bathroom has some clogged drainage and the toilet handle is broken as well, but other than that, I have no complaint.
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general opinion”
Rooms are very simple but comfortable. Personal is very kind. Although the breakfast is not included is worth having breakfast in the hotel, black coffee and the pancakes are excellent. Is also worth having dinner in pia's poppies (just in front pison), quality of the food is excellent!
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Very friendly people”
It is the best place to stay in Rantepao. Hotel staff is really very helpful. Early check-in (6:00 AM) and late checkout is possible on request.
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A nice hotel for backpacker or solo traveler”
I enjoy my stay in Hotel Pison Rantepao, Tana Toraja. It is close to tourism attractions. Many travel guides in front of the hotel so that you can use their service to take you around Tana Toraja.
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Be Realistic w/ Budget Options in Toraja”
The rooms on Agoda are with hot water & you can get a cheaper room booked directly with them or by emailing them. The trouble with emailing them is that it took weeks to get any response from someone & the rate I was quoted was IDR 150k (I assume this is w/o hot water BUT the email did not mention there would be no hot water). I saw IDR 200k on a price list at reception for rooms w/ hot water BUT that rate does not include breakfast. Also & when they calculated my final food bill, they did not include the pancakes I ordered for breakfast for IDR 20k every morning. My Agoda voucher says breakfast is included, but it’s not clear how that worked as there were a number of items on the menu w/ different prices. Wifi worked ok when I was there plus rooms & their bathrooms are clean BUT a little run down for the price BUT you don’t really have many good budget options in Toraja beyond this place + Poppies across the road. Both a bit of a hike to the town center + nearest ATM. The restaurant has about 5 Torajan cuisine options (IDR 55k) along with the usual (boring) stuff that foreign or Indonesian tourists will like. They serve breakfast + dinner only. Poppies probably has a more extensive menu, but their prices are higher + their restaurant was closed for the Saturday/Sunday when I was there (expect a 1 hour wait minimum). For touring, I used a local guide named Irwin who was in the lobby when I arrived & while I definitely overpaid for 3 days (back of the motorbike), I had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER with him as he studied hospitality in Bali + had lived in Papua/Semerang as a kid b/c his father worked for a bank. There were some Brit backpacker types at the hotel doing their usually moaning about guides (their English, their reliability etc) & they were planning to trek on their own (good luck w/ that!) BUT they were obviously too cheap & too clueless about the need to pay properly for a decent guide (as it might impact their booze budgets).
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Very pleasant stay.”
I had a good stay at Pison. The hotel is a little basic but clean and homey. Very friendly staff, especially Elifas. Will not hesistate to return.
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Relaxed and friendly in a good location”
I took Bintang Prima bus (Rs140k for Scania super delux and worth it especially overnight) who dropped off outside hotel, rather taking me to station. Check in was quick friendly and within 30 minutes was enjoying dinner. Room was huge basic but clean. HC water AC. Restaurant served good food for reasonable price. In a quiet side street with big sign 15 minute walk to town if you need to go. Arranged guides here Rs300k per day with my favourite places being Batutmonga (stopping at coffee kiosk at Deri on the edge of valley), Bebe and roads east of Palawa (dont take the main road from Marante).
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Very pleasant stay. ”
I had a good stay at Pison. The hotel is a little basic but clean and homey. Very friendly staff, especially Elifas. Will not hesistate to return.
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I would love to come again!”
I really like this hotel very much, it feels like home and very family oriented. All the staff were really friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our stay very much, met many other backpackers over there as well. Thank you so much for the nice hospitality, would recommend this to others alot.
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Good central,inexpensive hotel”
Within minutes of being met off the bus we had a 3 day tour arranged by people affiliated to the Hotel (Yohanis) at a reasonable price. 3 days is more than enough to see everything which is incredible. The Hotel is the perfect base from which to do this.
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Nature, culture, rice terraces”
Good choice to stay in Rantepao for tours, transport, information,
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nice stay but”
The Pison Hotel could use a little upgrading and maintenance. The bathrooms were in poor condition and need to be tended to. Other then that the hotel is ok with nice views from the balcony. It is just on the outskirts of town and a small ride to some ok restaurants. The front desk staff is very nice and speaks good english.
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4 nights in Toraja”
Hotel Pison is in a good location. You can take bemos going to different areas right when you walked by the main road. I did DIY Ketekesu, Batutumonga, and Londa! Staff is also nice but most of the time there is no one in the reception. Restaurant food is very very slow but also very gooD! Awesome coffee place in the back of the hotel. Also there is an information center you can go to just across the hotel. :) Will stay here again.
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