Couple months ago, we had a short escape to Bandung in a weekend. It will be our first weekend getaway as a family. Me, my husband, and 2 kids, 5- and 8-years old.  

As we knew, Bandung always crowded on weekend. However, that’s only time we had to match schools and office’s schedule. We wanted to stay at our usual hotel, but sadly there was high price due to weekend.

Then, I look for another option. One of our family suggested this guest house, Rumah Cimandiri at Jl. Hayam Wuruk No. 24 Citarum. It is behind Gedung Sate. I think Citarum, Cimanuk, Riau, and surrounding area are a golden area in Bandung.

There are many cafes, restaurants, historical building, park, museum, in those area. Every place can be reached on foot. It was perfect area for us who like to explore culinary, historical building, and hang out.

It was my first time to stay at guest house. Actually, I am curious about the differences between hotel and guest house. Why mostly guest houses are more affordable than hotels?

The main differences are the facility. Hotels are usually equipped with facilities such as gym, pool, bar, room service, etc. On the other hand, guest house has a comfortable but basic facility. Sometimes they have shared bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen.

As a mother with two children, the benefit of staying in a guest house is I can cook while we traveling. It was really saving holiday expense. Furthermore, if we stay for long time.

In Rumah Cimandiri there was a shared kitchen. However, if choosing family room, you will have private kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. It’s like rent a two-bedroom apartment.

We chose a single room with private bathroom. There was at the third floor and no elevator. Therefore, we should take a stair to go up. The room was clean and spacious. There was a king size bed, a big closet, table, chair. The most important thing is a big television with Netflix! I was amaze with the facility because not every hotel has Netflix.

Rumah Cimandiri also give two free breakfasts for single room. The breakfast will serve in Ettan Habitat, a café in the first floor. This building actually divided into two division. First floor is café, second and third floor was the room. Main entrance to guest house room was a stair beside café’s kitchen.

There is an option for breakfast, fried rice or toast. Since we only had two breakfast and there was for my children, they choose toast absolutely. And it was not disappointed. The toast coming with egg and sausages. It was really satisfying my children tummy.

We tried their coffee latte and it was good also. I and my husband ordered breakfast from outside. We can use tableware from the shared kitchen. Though, do not forget to wash it and put it back in the place.

Since the staff is difference between café and guest house, it is a little bit confused if you came earlier just like us. You can not early check in here because the guest house staff has not arrived yet. You should wait until 2 pm for check in. Consider this if you want to come early. However, you can wait on the café and there is a discount if you order from their menu.

I think staying at guest house is like staying at a home but with different circumstance. It could be an alternative if you bored staying at hotel.

Photo by: private doc and google