Manado Indonesia – Best Places to Stay in All the Price Ranges

While not surprisingly there are good choices in all price categories, mid-range options tend to be a better value for money due to strong competition. So if you can afford it, it worth investing slightly more into your accommodation to get more perks than any budget place can offer. Another popular choice on Sulawesi is all-in. Probably worth considering if you are ready to spend two or more days just doing nothing and not exiting the grounds of your accommodation.

Budget accommodation

For the backpackers out there, the offerings are really good and there is a wide choice.

Among your options is the Rumah Singgah Manado. The rooms are clean, the Wi-Fi strong, and the food rolling out of the kitchen delicious. Speaking of which, your booking includes a complimentary breakfast. The property is located just a couple of kilometres away from the harbour, and similar distances away from the Mega Mall and Manado Town square. The owners of the establishment are incredibly friendly and are often found socialising with the guests in the shared lounge. They can help you book any tours you want to do or help you get to places you need to. You can grab a bed in a mixed dorm for 100,000 IDR, or get your own room for just 20,000 IDR more.

Slightly less cheap, but a good option for the fact that it is so well located is Manado Green Hostel. Literally just a couple of minutes’ walk away from the Harbour as well as the Mega Mall, you’re right in the centre of the action. You’ll also be just 2 kilometres out from the Town square – a distance easily covered on foot. The hostel offers only beds in dormitories and does not do rooms. The dormitories, and hostel in general, is very basic. However, they do the little things very well. The property is clean, fresh, and feels professional. The staff are well trained and very capable, too. They also throw in a continental breakfast for your 160,000 IDR a night.

Manado Grace Inn offers superb, albeit tiny rooms for you to recuperate in for the night. From top to bottom, the rooms and all the amenities are modern and very clean – whitewashed, and rid any and all clutter. Each room is air-conditioned and comes with an en suite bathroom. You’ll also have your own flat screen TV and free access to reliable in-room Wi-Fi. Indeed, the rooms are supremely comfortable and are a significant step up from the shared bathrooms and rickety ladders of bunk beds in a dormitory. The inn is well located – just a seven minute drive from Manado Town square. Rooms run for a very reasonable 160,000 IDR and are well worth the money, should you need the rest.

Mid-Range

If you’re able to spend a bit more on accommodation each night, or just trade in some of those Western meals for a plate of food at a warung a couple of times a week, you’ll be swimming in pools, looking at palm trees and kicking back in rooms far superior to the offerings of backpackers in the area.

Rooms at the Novotel Manado Golf Resort run for around 900, 000 IDR. Granted, it is a fair bit more than the rates charged by backpackers. However, backpackers can’t offer you a long infinity pools that look onto fields of green and clumps of palm trees, a pool deck and pool bar, a fitness centre, and yes, a high-end breakfast to get your day started on the right foot. If you spend around 200, IDR more you’ll have your own bath and a balcony looking onto nothing but greenness.

Top End

As you would expect, but is not always the case, things only get better when you spend more money. In Manado, your lodging and all the included bells and whistles (or lack thereof) is well correlated to the market value of these things.

For instance, if you’re ready to spend 1,100,000 IDR for a night’s stay, you can be surrounded by luxury, views of points that stretch further than your eyes can see, bathrooms created by some incredibly inspired designer, pool side loungers, afternoon tea and all everything else you could want to feel like you’re on holiday and such a long way from the drudgery on the ordinary. This is life at the Four Points Sheraton Manado. If your budget can spare the inflated price, you’ll find yourself quickly becoming addicted to the high life, possibly questioning the meaning of your life and promptly calling your boss to let him know that you just can’t come back because ‘you’ve changed’.

Those with an inclination for the earthy are well catered for at Tasik Ria Resort. The rooms are wonderfully decorated. Countless shades of brown, accents of wood and tasteful lighting create an ambience of warmth and comfort. However, there is so much more than this. The rooms mostly come with large outdoor baths that are nestled within stones walls, boulders and large green plants. If you can bear to leave the confines of your room, you’ll be rewarded with access to one of three rock pools. These pools only get better as the day goes on and are possibly at the their greatest in the middle of the night when the underwater lighting is in full effect. Be sure to head to sunset bar right on the edge of the private pier when the sun is low in the sky. Grab a couple of cocktails, listen to the sound of the water brush up against the pier and allow yourself to be encapsulated by the colours painted on the sky. So, how much does it cost for this experience? 1,100, 000 IDR – worth every penny.

All-Inclisive

While there are a few really high-end spots lodgings around Manado, you’re better off sticking to the mid-range options. While the options that are offered are by no means shabby, they struggle to compete with the incredible value of the mid-range properties. However, if you’re prepared to pay the much higher rates of these properties, your stay will be ‘all-inclusive’. Ah, the magic of all inclusive stays. Murex Dive Resort is one such property where you can live in luxury. Rooms start at 2,600,000 IDR. Spend your days between the depths of the ocean either snorkelling or diving, your afternoons in the spa, and your evenings on the resort’s private beach. Wake up to an impressive spread for breakfast and do it all again. The rooms are something like standalone bungalows and have been done very well, but do not have the finishing’s that you would expect in this price range. The property is located a few short kilometres from the harbour and around 20 kilometres from the airport.

One other such resort is the Siladen Villas of Tantaa Moon. There is no doubt that this resort is beautiful. Private villas just meters away from the beach front exude an absolute sense of wonder. Wake up to light streaming through billowing curtains and the sound of waves gently crashing on your doorstep. You’ll go wanting for nothing with your all inclusive package, and may actually find it difficult to leave the resort to engage in some sort of activity. This behaviour is normal, and should not berate yourself for such. Much like the offerings of Murex Dive Resort, the package at the Siladen Villas are an attractive one. However, they do not seem worth the starting price of 2,800,000 IDR.