Pondok SVD Riung: Best place to stay at 17 Islands National Park Flores

Pondok SVD Riung – “Hospitality” of Verbist Priests
Place of respite, rest and shelter on the Indonesian island of Flores

Pondok simply means a convenient place to rest, just like a house or shelter.
The Pondok SVD is a guest house built by a Catholic Priest, a member of the Society of Divine Word (SVD stands for Societas Verbi Divini), for internal purposes. Later on, it began to be patronised by foreign visitors who wanted a much better accommodation in comparison to the already available homestays in Riung.

The rooms are simple, but furnished with a minimum standard of good accommodation. Each room has en-suite bath with shower and running water. Some rooms have air conditioning and a sitting room.
The Pondok SVD provides a simple breakfast— either Nasi Goreng (fried rice) or locally produced breads with jam, marmalade and eggs.

SVD is an abbreviation of the Latin Societas Verbi Divini, translated into English it means Society of the Divine Word and in Polish Zgromadzenie S?owa Bo?ego (Ksi??a Werbi?ci). The Assembly of God’s Word is a member of the International Religious and Missionary Societies, which counts 6,000 members worldwide of different origins, nationalities from different countries, cultures and languages. Verbist Priests are called to live in a community. They are committed to building a new world in which brothers and sisters will live in harmony with God, humans and nature. They work at the crossroads of cultures and ideologies, participate in social life in order to increase values such as education, health, culture, and tourism.

Riung is a seaside village situated to the north of the Indonesian island of Flores (from the Portuguese “island of flowers”) forming part of the archipelago of small Sundanese islands. The place at the 17 Islands National Park is found, is one of the most beautiful places in Flores.
Pondok SVD Riung is shared by Verbists in the development of tourism in Riung. This resort is run by missionaries of the Divine Word who want in a simple way to offer its guests the warmth of Riung and to accept each traveller as a family member. The idea of the holiday home is to ensure guests relax in a clean and convenient location.

Description of the facility
Pondok SVD Riung is located in the center of Riung.
The resort is a short distance from the port, about 500m, where you can hire a boat to sail to the islands. In the port there is a ticket office, where the fees for admission into the National Park 17 islands are payed. On the way to the port are outlets where you can buy water and something to eat.

The holiday home consists of two two-storey buildings. In the larger – is the main reception, dining room, kitchen, guest rooms and a chapel, and to the smaller located approximately 50 meters from the main building are the rooms themselves.
The setting around the center is well maintained, there is a lot of greenery, flowers and shady places where you can hide from the heat.

The area is calm and friendly.
The resort boasts 21 rooms, including two double rooms as standard VIP, one double room with air conditioning (turned on from 6 pm to 6 am), one double room with air conditioning, one twin room with air conditioning, six triple rooms with air conditioning, six double rooms with fan, one triple room with a fan, three single rooms with a fan and a twin room with a fan. Each room has a bathroom with a shower.
In addition to the resort’s complimentary breakfast included with the price of the room, a tasty dinner can be purchased for an additional fee.

Prices at Pondok SVD Riung from 2011 / 2012
Price includes cost of breakfast, tax and cleaning.

Type of room	single	double room	twin room	triple room
VIP Room	Rp 350.000,-	Rp 400.000,-	-	-
AC Room (air conditioning)	Rp 300.000,-	Rp 350.000,-	Rp 300.000,-	Rp 400.000,-
Standard Fan (fan)	Rp 250.000,-	Rp 300.000,-	Rp 300.000,-	Rp 375.000,-

1$ = Rp. 10.000,-