Surabaya: On a recent trip across Indonesia's main island of Java, I finally fulfilled a long-held wish: to stay in the stately Hotel Majapahit, in the country's second largest city, Surabaya.

After 12 years of travelling and working as a journalist, at a rough estimate, I've slept in about 100 hotels and other forms of accommodation around the world – from a Holiday Inn in New York City to a heavily-guarded Park Hyatt in Hamburg, which had once accommodated Vladimir Putin; as well as an $8-per-night family-run affair in Mae Sai and sleeping under the stars with refugees from the Palu earthquake and tsunami.

A view of one of the hotel’s courtyards from the second storey balcony of the presidential suite.Credit:James Massola

But nowhere even comes close to the 109-year-old Majapahit, which combines charming Dutch colonial architecture, verdant gardens, modern conveniences and a fascinating, and at times dark, history.

Entering the hotel is like stepping into a time machine. Period details abound: elegant stained-glass windows, teak wood panels, sweeping stair cases and gorgeous marble and tiles. By modern standards, the rooms are enormous, with generous sitting areas and well-appointed bathrooms, even in the smallest rooms (such as mine), and the prices are very competitive – from about $100 per night.

The five-star hotel is set over two hectares and offers 143 rooms, including an 800-square-metre presidential suite, which goes for 30 million rupiah (about $3000) per night. Megawati Soekarnoputri, president from 2001 to 2004, is the only Indonesian leader who has actually availed herself of the accommodation.

A sitting room at the Majapahit, originally served as the hotel lobby before a 1923 expansion. The period pieces have been lovingly preserved, offering glimpses of colonial life in Surabaya more than 100 years ago. Credit:James Massola

The original hotel was built in 1910, in just a single year, at the behest of Lucas Martin Sarkies, who was ethnically Armenian but born in Tehran, Iran.

Sarkies' cousins, Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak are also famous for building a series of luxury hotels in south-east Asia, including Raffles in Singapore (in 1887), the Eastern and Orient in Penang, Malaysia, in 1884, and The Strand, in Rangoon, Myanmar in 1901.

The master bedroom in the presidential suite. Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri would stay in this 800 square metre, two storey suite when she visited Surabaya. Credit:James Massola

Sarkies originally named his hotel the Oranje, a reference to the Dutch royal family – who at that time counted the Dutch East Indies among their territorial possessions.

But in 1942, the occupying Japanese forces renamed it Hotel Yamato, and used it as their base of operations in East Java. Though few (if any) reminders of this period remain, Dutch prisoners were held in the grounds too and to this day some believe the hotel is haunted by the ghosts of people who died while incarcerated.

I saw no evidence of ghosts, but many locals are convinced they are there.

The courtyards of the Hotel Majapahit are immaculately maintained. Credit:James Massola

After the war, the Dutch returned and attempted to re-assert colonial hegemony. They occupied the hotel as their base of operations and used room 33 (which had a special trap door installed, so the Dutch commanders could escape if attacked). Their English allies, who had temporarily taken possession of Indonesia after Japan's defeat, were also based here.

The British and British Indian troops were drawn into fighting the bloody Battle of Surabaya in the last few months of 1945 against Indonesian nationalists, and although the Indonesians lost the fight, the battle helped galvanise support for the nascent independence movement.

One of the flash points leading up to the battle of Surabaya was the so-called "flag incident" in September 1945.

The Dutch colonial flag had been raised over the hotel, and this infuriated Indonesian supporters of independence. They stormed the building and tore away the Dutch blue portion of the flag – leaving the red and white of the Indonesian flag. The hotel was promptly renamed Hotel Merdeka (Independence).

The Indonesian flag flies over the Hotel Majapahit. In 1945, when Dutch colonists raised the colonial red, white and blue flag here, Indonesian nationalists stormed the hotel and tore the blue off the flag. Credit:James Massola

A year later the Sarkies family was allowed to return to run the property. They renamed it the LMS, after founder Lucas Martin Sarkies. In the outside world, the move to Indonesian independence was becoming inevitable.

The name stayed until 1969, when the family sold the business to a wealthy Indonesian and it was renamed the Majapahit, referring to a Hindu kingdom that ruled large swathes of Indonesia and south-east Asia for more than 200 years from the end of the 13th century.

Over the years, the hotel has been expanded and renovated several times. Famous visitors have included Belgium Crown Prince Leopold III, movie star Charlie Chaplin and novelist Joseph Conrad, who featured the hotel in his book Victory, though he renamed it Hotel Netherlands.

One of the corridors that lead to guest rooms at the Majapahit Hotel.Credit:James Massola

Though not all of the history has been preserved, the Majapahit has witnessed some of extraordinary moments in Indonesia's history – from colonialism to occupation to independence, through to being run by a global hotel chain.

It's an absolute must-visit for history buffs. And it's also a very, very nice place to stay.

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