There is (at least there was, in February) a ´resort´ on the outskirts of Belawan, seemed like the only one in town that had some sort of decent rooms. We looked up 2-3 places before that, and they were disgusting ratholes. None of these were particularly cheap, so the low-end places were remarkably overpriced, wouldnt have wanted to stay in any of them for any price, they were that bad.

Medan is only 30 kms away, though, there must be plenty of options where to stay.

We also used Cakra Shipping from Penang, seemed to be the only option that worked fine at the time. We met several travellers, who had used them, and can also recommend them based on our own experience. No problems whatsoever with the customs, etc., and I later heard of travellers stuck with their vehicles at various ports/airports around Indonesia, not allowed entry, even though they had all paperwork, including carnet, and customs asking them some ridiculous things, like a recommendation letter from the UN!! I know things can and will change quickly in Indonesia, but at the time this route (Penang-Belawan) seemed like the only reasonable option.

In fact an Italian guy, who lives in Bali, and had had his Harley stuck at Surabaya port for 4-5 weeks, said after we met and discussed how we got our bike in, that he´s going to ship it to Singapore, and try doing it this same way. That´s one hell of a detour through Malaysia peninsula, and then Sumatra and Java, but may gives you some idea, how complicated it can be around there. He also had the carnet like we did.

Still Indonesia is a great experience, if you can get your bike in.