Surabaya Nightlife: Best Nightclubs, Bars and Spas

I have always enjoyed Surabaya nightlife even though the options for nightclubs and bars are limited and somewhat provincial.

3 million people live there, making it the second largest city in Indonesia. Compared to Jakarta, it still feels laid-back and unsophisticated. The streets are rather clean, you can walk on the sidewalks and the traffic is not horrible. There are several modern malls, but none of them as chic as Plaza Indonesia or even Grand Indonesia.

Few expats live in Surabaya and even fewer tourists visit it. As a result, you may get more attention than usual from the people. If you are a single guy, it is nice to see girls smiling at you in the streets or in the malls. On Tinder and other dating apps, expect to become quite popular.

Meeting a normal girl is fairly easy in certain clubs and bars like Desperados, Jimmy's, Eclectic or Colors Pub. In other venues, you may have either a lot of "lady companions" or just younger girls who are partying in groups.

I've written dozens of reviews about Surabaya already, you can read them here: Surabaya Nightclubs, Surabaya Bars, Surabaya Spas and Massage Parlours and Surabaya Live Music.

Surabaya is a huge city without an obvious city center. The most interest nightlife venues are near Tunjungan Plaza (Jalan Basuki Rahmat) or near Surabaya Town Square (Jalan MayJen Sungkono). I created a map of all venues that you can see here: Surabaya Nightlife Map (also visible at the bottom of this article).

My hotel recommendations to enjoy Surabaya nightlife are the following:

Luxury and 5-star hotels:
JW Marriott and Shangri La both have expat bars within their walls, respectively Jimmy's and Desperados. Shangri La is the most expensive and nicest one.

The Sheraton is located within the new Tunjungan Plaza Mall extension, walking distance from the famous Coyote Top 10 Club.

Hotel Ciputra World is also within a luxury mall and it is brand new. The location is not as central but you have a few bars and clubs around like Capital Lounge and M1.

Hotel Majapahit is often considered the best hotel in Surabaya. It is near Tunjungan Plaza and it is perfect for a romantic weekend.

4-star hotels
TS Suites is located within the Surabaya Town Square. It is the best 4-star hotel in the city.

Aria Centra is a brand new hotel near Tunjungan Plaza. You still can get great opening prices (under 50$).

Mid-range
Midtown Hotel and Swiss Belinn Tunjungan are both walking distance from Tunjungan Plaza. They offer the best compromise between comfort and price.

Budget
If your budget is under 25$ per night, you can try Favehotel Mex, Citihub Sudirman and Citihub Tunjungan.

Hotels with spas inside
The 4-star Rich Palace Hotel (where Veneno Club is located) has a men's spa. 

Most nightclubs in Surabaya are targeting a local crowd. The most popular are male-oriented, with lady companions or GROs available. People usually stay around a table and order bottles of alcohol. If people dance, it is between friends and not on the dancefloor.

Top 10 Coyote Bar and Karaoke
Part of the Top 10 Group (also behind 360 and Station), this small club is one of the most happening in Surabaya. Easy to access in Plaza Tunjungan, it features DJs and sexy dancers all night long (including girls from Thailand). No nude striptease, at best they'll wear a bikini. Most of the crowd is Indochinese, Singaporean and Malaysian.

It is the most expensive venue in Surabaya with a first drink charge of Rp200,000 on most nights.

Read a full review here: Coyote (Ten Club and Karaoke)

Foreplay
Located just above Eclectic Bar in Surabaya Town Square (Sutos), Foreplay is a popular nightclub with a young student crowd. Contrary to other venues in the city, there are no prostitutes or escorts.

It has events every night of the week and it is recommended on Mondays (Campus Night), Wednesdays (Ladies Night) and on weekends.

Read a full review here: Foreplay Surabaya

M-One Nightclub
M-One (or M1) is a more recent addition to Surabaya nightlife. It has an older crowd compared with Foreplay, but the concept is similar. The music is EDM or hip-hop depending on the night.

Read my full review: M-One Surabaya

Club 360
Owned by the same group behind Coyote, Club 360 is a large, round-shaped nightclub located in Royal Plaza Mall. It is part of a complex featuring a sexy spa (Celsius) and a karaoke. Club 360 is not so busy during the week unless there is a special event. Most girls inside are either escorts (lady companions) or part of a larger groups of friends (thus difficult to approach).

More information: Club 360 Surabaya

Penthouse Club and KTC
Penthouse is similar to 360 and Coyote. There are quite many girls but almost all of them are working as lady companions in the huge 56-room karaoke.

If you are ready to pay for company, it is a fun place. The club is quite busy any day of the week with all kinds of events: Guest DJs (usually sexy FDJs, sexy dancers, fashion shows, live bands, etc). Check their website: Penthouse International Business Club.

Veneno Nightclub
This is a new, small club located in the basement of the Rich Palace Hotel. It is not really busy until now.

See my review: Veneno Nightclub

Local Nightclubs
There are also several very local nightclubs that I don't think you would enjoy as a foreigner. If you are curious and looking for seedy spots with prostitutes and drugs, you may want to go to Kowloon, LCC, Station and Club Deluxe.

Jimmy's
Jimmy's is the bar of the JW Marriott Hotel (which used to be Vertical Six). It has live bands every night, with a DJ mixing during breaks. There may be a few working girls, but most of the crowd is normal.

Read a full review: Jimmy's Surabaya

Colors Pub
This bar is similar to Jimmy's: It features live bands, DJs or special shows every night. It is not as crowded as it used to be. Decent pub food available.

Read my article about it: Colors Surabaya

Eclectic Bar
Eclectic Bar is almost always busy, probably because of its location in the entrance of the popular Surabaya Town Square mall. If you need to have a drink during the week, this would be my first recommendation as you can be sure you won't be alone. Near Eclectic are several other bars and cafés like RUI lounge, Stonehead and Tiga Tuan.

More information: Eclectic Bar

Desperados
Desperados is the sports bar of the Shangri La Hotel. This is where you'll find the highest concentration of expats and foreigners in the city, mostly guys above 40. Some girls go there to find a boyfriend (and others to find money). Live music every evening.

Full review: Desperados Shangri La

Buro
Part of the Society Complex on Jalan Sumatra (walking distance from Colors Pub), this is the hipster bar of Surabaya. It is the kind of bar you wouldn't be surprised to find in SCBD or Senopati in Jakarta.

I went there twice and had two very different experiences. The first time was during the week and it was completely empty. The second time was during an event and it was packed with upper class Indonesians.

My advice would be to check their Instagram for events before going there. There is also a restaurant and a coffee shop.

Best Spas and Massage Parlours in Surabaya
If you are looking for the best spas in the city, please read my individual reviews here: Spas and Massage Parlours in Surabaya.

Surabaya Nightlife Map
To get a better idea of where are the nightclubs, bars, KTVs and spas in Surabaya, you can look at the map below: