I had to overnight in Siantar only because the Siantar Ekspres travels the route once a day in each direction, with the next train back to Medan only departing the next day. As such, it wasn’t really a choice destination to visit but a “compulsory” visit if I wanted to try the return Siantar Ekspres journey back to Medan. The overnighting choices in Siantar weren’t exactly many too, with just 2 hotels on agoda reasonably close to Siantar Railway Station. As such, I settled for the cheaper of the 2, which is Arya Inn.
Arya Inn is located at Jalan Sutomo Komp. SBC No. B20-21, Pahlawan, Siantar Tim, Pematangsiantar City Center, Pematangsiantar, Indonesia 21132 in a shophouse of a commercial area near Ramayana Departmental Store, about 1.4km away from Siantar Railway Station and less than 10 minutes by Grab.
Arya Inn is also integrated with Library Cafe on the ground floor, collectively known as Arya Inn Hotel & Library Cafe on Google Maps. The front desk of Arya Inn is also the cashier of Library Cafe.
I booked a Standard Double Room as the cheaper Single Room with Bathroom was sold out on my date of stay.
While simple, the Standard Double Room offers enough amenities for this short overnight stay.
The side table has 2 bottles of mineral water provided, as well as tissues and 2 Indonesian 2-pin power sockets.
Bedroom slippers are also provided, with towels and toiletries placed on the bed.
Soaps and toothbrush kits are presented on the towels.
The toilet has a sort of split/combined toilet and shower. While no curtains are in place separating the two, allowing water to splash throughout the toilet, there is a little step on the shower area for water to flow into the drain slightly more effectively.
A small sink is also present.
The towel rack seems to be in the way of the shower, so be careful when hanging out your clothes on it during the shower. It’s best to roll it in a corner away from the shower part.
While breakfast was included in the rate, I didn’t get to try it out with my early departure, checking out at around 5.30am to catch the Siantar Ekspres, while breakfast started at 7am – long after my train would have departed from Siantar. Nevertheless, it was still quite affordable at Rp.300,000 (~S$28.64) for the night even without having the breakfast.
Overall, a pleasant short stay in Siantar just for the Siantar Ekspres. Not sure if I will ever come back to Siantar again, but if I do, I’ll probably stay here again.