Owner Family
We are a Swiss-Bataknese family and run a unique boutique hotel on Samosir island. The hotel was named after Zoé, our daughter, because in Batakland is common for a family business to be named after the first child.
Zoé's Paradise Waterfront Hotel opened its doors in July 2017. Despite initial construction challenges and resistance from local accommodations, our hotel has established itself as the island's first sustainably-managed boutique hotel. The Swiss owner, Mama Zoé, has deep affection for her quaint yet exquisite hotel, which she lovingly regards as a unique “fruit” among the diverse island accommodations.
Zoé Deborah Hämmerli br Siallagan has been going to school in Switzerland since August 2019. Mama Zoé br Samosir is currently staying with her daughter in Switzerland, but is in daily contact with the management team.
Our Story
Mama Zoé tells the story:
From Bali to Batakland
I came to Sumatra for the first time in 2006 to look for a new destination for my travel company. My travel company was specialized in cultural trips and in sustainable tourism.
Together with local organizations, I helped fund a health center in Gianyar district to offer free therapy treatments to poor local people suffering from chronic diseases. At that time there was no Government insurance and many Balinese distanced themselves from conventional medicine anyway. That gave me the idea of employing local therapists to treat these people and I financed this project with my cultural trips.
Sumatra
Months later .....
I was planning an individual Bali trip for a tour group. A few days before leaving, I saw an advertisement for a perfume called "Sumatra Rain" on television: There was a handsome man with long hair in the tropical rainforest and he told: "At some point you will rediscover yourself!" and I couldn't get this message out of my head and that was the beginning of everything that later happened in Sumatra ... Some call it fate, others a coincidence.....
Together with my sister, a nurse, we traveled from Bali to Sumatra and also to Batakland. In the village named Tuktuk I met a Sumatran man with long hair.... It was the son of the chief of the lunisolar calendar (named Porhalaan), and with him began a new chapter in life. I continued with the cultural trips with my guests from Switzerland. I found Sumatra refreshing and natural. Bali, on the other hand, was getting more and more crowded, which noticeably bothered me. I found the Batakland a good destination to promote sustainable tourism. It was time to rediscover myself... (and a few years later I was adopted with an adoption ceremony as a new social member into the clan called Samosir. So now I have many Batak sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles...)
Zoé Deborah, our 'princess', was born in June 2009. She always accompanied me on my travels and we shuttled back and forth. The tour group didn't mind at all that Zoé was always with us, because she was a very pleasant baby. We even enjoyed special privileges when visiting high priests. But the time came, that Zoé had to go to school.... So I decided to give up my travel company in Switzerland and to settle down in Batakland, as Zoé always felt very happy there! But it is impossible to survive without money, so we looked for a way to make a living.
A little piece of land on the shore
I bought a small but very good piece of land in a prime lake location and built our boutique hotel, which we opened on July 1, 2017. Zoé often said: "Our little Batak castle" and she felt like a princess.
Zoé spent the kindergarten and the first years of school in Tuktuk.
She felt very comfortable in Batakland and had a really happy time. Zoé loved the water and enjoyed swimming extensively every day. She also identified herself with the hotel and always wanted to be involved in the processes and the hotel business. It was her home that she really loved. Her paradise that bears her name!
Switzerland: At 10, Zoé longed to revisit Switzerland, missing her Swiss family and the country itself. Her wish materialized when I, due to an infection, needed treatment outside Indonesia, prompting our return in summer 2019. Initially planned for a year, aligning with my therapy duration, Zoé seamlessly integrated into fourth grade in Switzerland, while I underwent weekly therapy.
Then the unexpected occurred: the Corona pandemic! Yet, Zoé remained unfazed, enjoying school life in Switzerland, contrasting with the closure of Samosir schools. During this time, I managed to commute between Switzerland and Sumatra, balancing therapy and overseeing our hotel.
Zoé’s educational journey in Switzerland flourished, embracing sustainability, environmental awareness, and new technologies, showcasing her adaptability to the Swiss school system. Given Zoé's bright future and the new German management, we are hopeful that the hotel will be in good hands while Zoé and I are in Switzerland