Natour Hotel, Tretes, East Java, Indonesia

http://www.eastjava.com/hotel/natourtretes/index.html

Tretes may not be a well known destination in the West, but this beautiful small mountain village about 45 mins south of Indonesia's second city Surabaya is home to around 50 small brothels. There is one up market and many cheap places to stay in Tretes but the easiest place is probably the 3 star Natour which charged a more than reasonable Rp75,000 per night (USD 8)- the official price on the internet is $60, but if you just show up you should get the far lower local rate. Very few foreigners show up in this part of the world and if you do so, you can expect excited personal attention from the duty manager. Tretes is a million miles away from any anti Western Indonesian hotheads that you might come across on CNN pictures of Jakarta so expect charmiong and ultra friendly service. The swimming pool of this hotel has some of the most beautiful fresh water in the world as it is piped directly in from a nearby waterfall.

Tretes main raison d' etre is to be a place where Surabaya's buinessmen can get away from the heat of the city for a day or two. As such after dinner, guests typically set off the 5 mins uphill to the main part of the village. As a foreigner, the manager is likely to be concerned that you do not know the ropes, and is therefore likely to instruct one of the waiters to act as guide/translater. (who I guess will pick up a 10% commission on any transaction). This is a long long froom those hotels where taking guests to the room is a big hassle or requires bribes etc.

The village essentially consists of a labyrinth of houses around a third of which have women available (usually a selection of 3-8). If you have ever wondered where all those 1960's L shaped corner sofas got to I can reveal all : Tretes. The girls are of a high standard 18-28 with most in their early 20s most scoring 6-9 on the looks front. You are lead into each room where the girls will be sitting around and smiling. If you want to take one (or more )of them you or your translater needs to start negotiating with the boss man. For a local, the going rate for an all night session is I think around Rp150,000-180,000 (USD15-18), however no self respecting pimp is going to let a foreigner get away without a fat premium, so expect to have to do some serious bargaining to get down to say Rp250,000-300,000 per night. If you take two girls, you should be able to negotiate a small discount. This is quite expensive compared with somewhere like dolly St in Surabaya, where attractive girls can be had for Rp50,000 per hour on site in small and quite dingy rooms. However the big advantage is that you get to take them back to a nice hotel room for the night. As part of the negotiations make sure to insist on a reasonably late morning departure eg 10 am (as most locals will make an earlier start so the girls are used to leaving at say 8am. (Remember this is not BKK, and you will probably be heading off to the hotel with your girl at 9pm).

Once back at the hotel, what you get up to depends very much on the individual and the girl(s) you have selected, if you have any unusual requirements, it would be as well to clarify these before choosing the girl with the help of your hotel translater. nobody seems to worry too much about secrity, I guess because its a small village where everyone know everyone else.

Anyhow if you are looking for a wild night out Tretes isn't really the place, but if you want some great sex with a beautiful girl or two for very reasonable prices in a beautiful mountainside location, give it a try.

Bagus, terima makasih!

Thanks for the info. I plan on visiting Indo to celebrate my big 50 and sounds like the perfect place to be.

WT-- Sounds like a nice place, was wondering if you had some pics you could post, anxouis to see what these Indonesian babes look like. Thanks!!

a short update on tretes
the village has moved along from a sleepy village i remember it in 1994 to a bustling town boasting a kareoke bar and a 4 star hotel that charges from $50usd upwards and countless "villas" that rent out cheap apartments all be it with bucket showers at 200k RP per night.
the town doesnt lokk much but the locals claim that it has some 30,000 girls.
i had a local guide who showed me the local scene and i agreed to pay him a set 100K rp for his services for the day. i had my own car and he tagged along showing me the houses and compunds.
the quality of ladies ranges depending on how much you are willing to pay but costs are from 250k rp to 750k rp for long time. i did not ask for short time. unfortunatly due to a small loss my trip was without a camera so you have to excuse me for not having photos.
i recommend tretes, and also a trip to bromo. you must remember taht indonesia is a muslim country so you must be more discrete in whatever you do. good luck if you do go. i enjoyed my trip to indonesia and tretest and hope you do too....

Motown,

Thanks for the update. I am really interested in doing a Surabaya/Tretes trip. Could be a nice urban/rural combo. Anyway right now I am in Jakarta and I absolutely love the place. Also, as someone who also lost the use of a camera in the midst of a trip I can sympathize with you.

But, I hear that Surabaya is pretty dangerous, in terms of getting robbed?

Any pertinent info about that and Surabaya?

I was in Surabaya a few months ago. I went to Dolly´s every night. In all, out of about 14 women only 2 were duds, and both of those were 18 yr olds.
I am generally not a big fan of Asian pussy, but I look forward to returning to Surabaya just for these women! Sometimes I got Brazilian quality enthusiasm.
The city itself has no charm. I hung out in the malls during the day and went whoring at night, though I think Dolly provides daytime action. One night I walked from Dolly back to my hotel, maybe 4km. Not for the faint of heart.
I went to Tretes and was disappointed. Couldn´t get the price below US$25, and she was a dud: would not let me touch her (what did she think I was paying for?) and cried when I called her on it. I had another one pull this on me in Dolly, same exact routine (and thus the story of the two duds). Didn´t bother with any more hobbying in Tretes after that, saved my energy for Dolly.
Also Surabaya doesn´t have good cheap western-style hotels, you´ll be paying upwards of US$40, otherwise you have to stay in these guesthouse hotels which are a little too clubby for me.

well i hope you will enjoy surabaya when you get there mongerx/sf4dfish
petty crime and serious crime is rife all over indonesia and you have to be really carefull. so far i have learned that surabaya is home to the remaining ethnic minority (medurians??)that were massacared and kicked out of their home some years ago apparently these people.. so the locals belive have no morals and will resort to anything to satisfy their needs. mostof them are animist some nature worshiping religion and will readily kill for the smallest excuse! having said that i have never had any one commit commit a crime against me. i take small precautions like i keep most valuables in hotel safe in an envelope which is sealed and signed by myself and the person accepting it. i take their names down and carry enough cash for what i need plus some for emergency. (bribe the local cop etc)
keep small notes in your front shirt pocket so when you pull out the money no one sees a big wallet of cash or dollars!
as for what to do in surabaya i must say that i havent been out on the town there for a long time but i hear there are loads of places to go to. i went there for a short business trip and a longer tretes stay as the climate is great up in the "village"
i guess an ideal itenary would be perhaps a 4 to 6 nights ( hot and humid) in surabaya than a few 2 or 3 nights in tretes (cool and breezy) than on to bromo for 2 night ( take a jumper enjoy the fresh vegetables and views! oh and take your girl with you..) there is an good hotel ( the only one that has hot water) and they will charge you 400K in the off season for a big room with two double beds. i will upload a photo i have of bromo although not a new photo nonetheless the mountain hasnt changed in appearence!

Anyone have information on the best way to get to Tretes from Surabaya (and back)?