One of the hotels in Kebumen, Central Java presents a unique sensation for guests. Not only staying overnight, they can enjoy an all-coconut menu to a walking tour to enjoy the historical hotel building built by the Dutch East Indies Government in 1851.

Mexolie Hotel, Kebumen on Jl Station No 8, Panjer Village, Kebumen District which offers uniqueness that other hotels do not have. Standing on 5 hectares of land, this hotel is a cultural heritage building that has high historical value because it was built by the Dutch East Indies Government in 1851.
 

In addition, this location was also used as the center of government at that time. After World War II was completed, the building became a vegetable juice coconut oil factory.

"The historical value was originally here as a palm oil processing plant. After independence, assets were nationalized under the Central Java Provincial Government, and now it is the pride of Kebumen," said GM of Mexolie Hotel, Imam Mustofa when met by detikJateng, Friday (30/9/2022) evening.

Imam further explained the history of the establishment of the historic building. During the Diponegoro War in 1825-1830, Prince Diponegoro who was pressed managed to escape to the capital of Kebumen at that time, namely Panjer in 1828. However, the Dutch then attacked Panjer on June 1, 1828. Diponegoro managed to get out of the way to the northern Panjer until it was successfully fished out of Panjer to Menoreh on February 17, 1830.

"The capital of Panjer was then scorched and moved to the north in 1832 and the name Panjer was changed to Kebumen," he continued.

In 1851 the former capital city of Panjer was made into a coconut oil factory under the name NV Oliefabieken Insulinde until 1923 it changed its name to NV Mexolie. In the early days of independence, the factory was used as the headquarters of the III Battalion and was later regained control by the Dutch on 19 December 1948.

"Based on existing references, then on June 3, 1951 Mexolie resumed operations under the Dutch Government and was nationalized in 1958 led by Major Soejono who also served as the first director. In 1980 Mexolie changed its name to Nabatiyasa since it was managed by Perusda Jateng and then Nabatiyasa changed its name to Sari Nabati," he explained.

"The plant went bankrupt in 1985. Starting in 2012, the former Sari Nabati area was used as a hotel known as Mexolie Hotel," he continued.

To continue to provide a unique sensation and maintain its historical value, the hotel also held a Chef Showdown event or dexterity in cooking with all coconut ingredients. Various foods such as glutinous rice shavings to chocolate coconut nuts (cangklacok) are served by the cooks.

"So the cooked ones are all coconut-based. Why coconut because this coconut has a special history, where Mexolie used to be a palm oil management mill. So we want to lift ingredients from coconut that have historical value, therefore we process various variations ranging from maincourse to dessert," he explained.

All guests who come will not only feel the comfort of staying in a hotel room, but can enjoy all-coconut cuisine to explore historical buildings. Although there are several new buildings, the hotel, which has 84 rooms of various classes, also still retains the Dutch colonial heritage building.

"So what we offer is not only staying but also being able to enjoy unique culinary offerings of coconut that requires history as well as historical tours. History connoisseurs who have a passion for it can explore The original building still exists because in the cultural reserve we do not do restoration, but we add new buildings. Until now, there are still colonial-era architectural buildings that are preserved," he added.

He hopes that this 4-star hotel can still exist and be useful for Kebumen Regency. In addition, maximum service is also expected to be felt by all guests who come.

"Hopefully, Mexolie can still exist to make a contribution, especially for Kebumen and can provide maximum service for all guests who come," he concluded.