Smiley's Homestay

Location was good, near good warung and walking distance.

There were no toiletries amenities given and worst of all no hot water to shower so end up not having to freshen up in early morning. Rooms were dusty as they were renovating and street quite noisy and having hard time to sleep.

Smiley and Secilia are very welcoming! The breakfast is amazing, we had something different every morning (we couldn’t choose) and it was all very good. They helped us with transportation to the airport and gave us very good tips to explore Berastagi and surroundings. We could rent a scooter as well.

Hot water.

The room is in an other building, 50m away from the house, so like many others, it's not a "homestay". In front of the street and very noisy. No communication except the first message which list their services. No answer to questions, still waiting the wifi, if there is one. Overpriced services, 200K for scooter. Overpriced place in general. The owner didn't even show up, letting her kids doing the job. Just go to the place right in front of the house, it seems way better, and cheaper.

gracious and generous hosts, big room with comfy bed, the best breakfast ever (with fresh baked bread and cake, fresh fruits…), tours very well organized, our stay was great

Good location for the local markets and parks. Cecilia and Smiley are a great team and they are what made our stay exceptional. We had an incredible day trip to the Sibayak Volcano with Smiley and he also took us to the hot springs on the way down. A more knowledgeable and passionate guide would be hard to find and he was great company keeping us entertained with many interesting stories about his Batak family history and his travels as well as offering us knowledgeable advice on travel to other areas in Sumatra. We arrived in the afternoon and requested dinner for that evening, Cecilia prepared an evening meal for us of five different dishes, all of them were delicious and her buffet breakfasts were the nicest that we have had so far in Sumatra with a good selection of choice. They also arranged a private car on to Lake Toba which stopped at Dokan and Sipiso Piso waterfall.

Nothing it had everything we needed.

We had a great couple of nights here. The location is perfect as its only a short walk away from the town. The room is basic but is what you need for a short stay. Smiley, Cecelia, his assistant and sons were all incredibly friendly. We went on a trek with them and were well looked after. We were taken to the hot springs after and made a lovely breakfast! They were able to sort our transport too! Thank you for a lovely stay!

Very nice stay, the owners are super friendly and helpful, sunrise hike to Sibayak was excellent, the guide gave us enough time to enjoy our tour, thank you very much!!

The room we got was very clean and the bed was really comfortable! We booked the sunrise hike through the homestay when we got there, which was definitely value for money: an amazing view, little morning snack, and hot springs. We got a delicious breakfast at the homestay afterwards prepared by the host. She was also so helpful with our further travels from Berastagi to Lake Toba.

There was nothing about the property I didn’t like!

We were able to leave

We booked this homestay because of the good reviews and expected a warm and friendly atmosphere, but sadly we were pretty disappointed. When we arrived we just got the information, that it would be the reception and not the room, so I was forced to carry 40kg of luggage up the hill by myself. We were brought to a different place and not to the homestay we booked. The new place was directly at a busy road, had a broken faucet and a water storage right above our room, which was filled in the middle of the night and woke us up. Apart from that we had to ask for towels and there was still an old piece of soap from the people before us, which was clearly not from the accommodation (they didn't want to give us soap). The shower was kinda warm, but not hot. And the Wifi was so bad, that we were forced to mostly use our mobile data. The contact was not really friendly and felt more like a money grab. They tried to avoid telling us the prices in advance and demanded so much for everything, that it felt a bit like a rip off. Their breakfast was just some avocado toast, cake and fruits (doesn't matter if you don't like avocado or are allergic to nuts, you can't choose what you get) and was priced 80.000 IDR p.p., which is the price for three meals normally. During the volcano trip they kept trying to convince us how much better it is in Berastagi compared to Bukit Lawang, which just felt sad. The transfers they offered us to the next location were more expensive than everything we saw everywhere else. We definitely regret that we booked this place, because the contact was cold and it seemed to be just about the money. I really don't understand why the place got so many good reviews.