Losmanos Hostel: Yogyakarta’s Coolest Backpacker Accommodation

“I have heard these pancakes are awesome”, I told Lola as she prepared my breakfast. She laughed and handed me the plate. I sat on one of the bean bags in Losmanos Hostel’s common area overlooking the pool and wondered about my plan for the day.

I had arrived in Yogyakarta, in Central Java, two nights back after taking a train from Jakarta. Having arrived after dark, I barely had a chance to take a look at the property I had checked in to. The next morning I had left for the Borobudur Temple at dawn and only returned after dinner. So it wasn’t until this moment that I actually got a chance to marvel at the beautiful property and location I was staying in for 3 nights. I took a quick look around and several facets of the property told me that this was one of the coolest hostels I had stayed at till date. 

Losmanos Hostel- Location:

The hostel is located about 3 kms from the train stations and the popular Malioboro Street. You need to turn into a small alley and go about 100 metres to reach the property. It’s not a multi-storey modern building. It seamlessly blends into the old architecture and design of the entire city of Yogyakarta. The main road is a 5-minute walk from the property and hosts a plethora of restaurants and bars serving all kinds of food- local and multi-cuisine. I didn’t get a chance to explore the nightlife of the area during my 3 day stay but from what I heard, the bars have a good vibe and are open till late hours. I also got my money exchanged at a nearby shop. The Alun Alun Kidul (popular for the two Banyan trees and cycle-cars) and the Sultan’s Palace (Kraton) can all be explored walking.

Losmanos Hostel- Design:

What struck my eyes immediately on entering Losmanos Hostel was its incredible design. There is the front of a van that serves as the reception. Sides of two cars and drums make bulk of the bar seating area. Hammocks hang next to the pool. Dinosaur sculptures are caged instead of live birds. While you relax or have a beer, you cannot imagine you are in the middle of a large city. The hostel brings the countryside vibe into Yogyakarta and that makes it awesome.

Adding to this is the fact that almost all the material used in the design of the hostel, the common area and even the washrooms seemed to be recycled and reused material. I was impressed and actually marvelled at all the creativity.

Losmanos Hostel- Facilities:

The hostel has AC and non-AC dormitories in addition to a few private rooms. I was in the 6-bed AC dormitory and got an upper bunk for the first night. On request the wonderful staff did move me to a lower bunk the next day. The beds were comfortable and had a reading light and several power sockets next to them (Going by the number of devices I have to put on charging at the end of each day, this was a huge blessing). The lockers are in the common area and can easily fit your valuables.

The other dormitory had single beds and huge mosquito nets hanging from the top. Although I did hear some of the residents talk about mosquitoes, I personally didn’t face any issues. (Keep an insect-repellant cream if you are travelling in Indonesia). 

The washrooms were some of the coolest I have ever seen. The one located next to the dormitory had several posters adorning the walls. There were three more near the pool, one of which had an open-air shower. They have hot water all through the day if you require. The hostel can accommodate 15-20 people at a time and the number of washrooms seemed good enough.

You can also book all kind of tours and rent a scooter through the hostel.

Losmanos Hostel- Vibe:

The common area was where I spent most of my time in the hostel each day if I wasn’t sightseeing or sleeping. You can order a variety of food items, coffee or beer all through the day and the staff happily gets it ready for you. The place was never noisy during my stay although the evenings had a full-house almost every day. I used to sit here and have long conversations with other backpackers every evening. The hostel staff including Ayu, Bill, Emi and Lola used to join in amidst their work.

During my stay at Losmanos, I actually got enough information to plan out my next few days in Java and Bali from other hostellers. Manoek and Yqueme, two Dutch backpackers, gave me several money saving tips for the volcano hike I had planned to go for next. Eelco, another Dutch traveller, and I almost decided to travel together for the hike but our dates didn’t work out. Rajan, a fellow Indian, was staying at the hostel and learning Bahasa at the local university. It was good fun to sit and chat with him in Hindi in the midst of all the foreign languages. The hostel staff helped me out in every way they could to ensure I was able to go for the Jomblang Cave adventure in the absence of a co-traveller and in the limited time I had. There were so many more conversations, fun banters, and even serious (drunk) discussions I had sitting on those bean bags with people from so many different countries. 

These conversations and connections with other travellers is what I travel for and Losmanos hostel had one of the best vibes for it. (Apart from the awesome wifi). More than anything else, this is why I would recommend the place for a stay if you are visiting Yogyakarta.

Check out Lola’s pancake and take a virtual tour of Losmanos hostel in this vlog with me:

I was hosted at Losmanos Hostel in September 2018. All views and opinions in the post are completely personal.

Now read: 

1. A 25 day blind date across Malaysia & Indonesia
2. Why you should choose Mad Monkey Hostels for your stay in Cambodia
3. The Hideout- Comfortable Budget Stay in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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