Westin Metropolitan Detroit Airport (Michigan, USA)

Too bad that I did not get the pictures of the lobby of this spartan hotel; otherwise, I could convince you even more to stay here when you need the quickest access to the Detroit Wayne Airport. A few days ago, to avoid traffic at a highway that was undergoing a construction work, we spent the last night in Michigan at the Westin Hotel at the Detroit Wayne Airport. We did not expect much, really, because hotels by the airport are usually less appealing than their counterpart in the center of town. Boy, were we in for a surprise when we stepped inside this hotel!

The 3-year-old, 7-floor hotel is attached to the newest terminal of the Detroit Wayne Airport, occupied exclusively by the Northwest Airlines and its partners. This was the first time we saw the new terminal since we were last here in 2003. The entrance to the hotel is very low-key and no-nonsense, but the minimalist look foretold what lay ahead deep inside. The only thing visible when guest enters the front door was the valet desk; afterwards, a long corridor that ended up in a set of escalators.

It is at this point that guests will be greeted by the top of a tall (but fake) bamboo trees. The ride down is as long as the trees, and by the time one reaches to the base of the tree, one arrives at the lobby floor. There is a huge, shallow pool by the "open air" restaurant, in front of the cluster of those bamboo trees. Line for registration or check out may be long but the wait is short because of the staff's efficiency. Not too far from the check-in counter are two self-check-in counters for Northwest/KLM; quite convenient indeed. I wish American Airlines would have such offering. American Airlines' partner, British Airways, houses its First Class and Club Lounge at the same floor of the hotel lobby.

The hotel rooms start on the second floor and go all the way up to the 8th floor. The room is typical of a boutique-cum-business hotel that has been popular in the past decade, with the color palette of olive green, beige, black and white. The king-size bed is aptly named "Heavenly Bed" as it is amazingly comfortable, stocked with two standard pillows, two smaller pillows, and a long support pillow; good variety. There is an armchair sofa with an ottoman, as well as a chaise longue by the window that overlooks the indoor court lobby/restaurant area.

The shower has a two-head showerhead, which is supposed to be convenient for two people showering at the same time, each aimed at one person, but in practice, it does not amount to such a great an idea. The showerhead does not really point to the other person well. The curtain rod is slightly curved in the middle, lending the appearance of more space but it does indeed give more "elbow room" while showering.

Other facilities include a gym with quite a good selection of cardiovascular machines, as well as a small pool, which unfortunately is too short for lap-swimming. It is, however, enough for business people to get their fill of work out during their travels.

Even if one does not fly Northwest and has to travel to the other dowdy-looking terminals, there is the convenience of the terminal-to-terminal shuttle that stops right in front of the hotel to whisk you to your destination. Travel to the American Airlines terminal takes less than 15 minutes as the shuttle makes several stops on the way there. What seems to be the only disadvantage of this new terminal (and thus the hotel) is that it was built on marsh. Some people informed us that as it was, the parking garage had been sinking slowly since its opening.

Back in January 2000, I stayed at the other Starwood Group's Sheraton Hotel at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. That experience was just all right, and therefore I did not expect much when I booked a night at this DTW Westin Hotel, but this turned out to be a delightful experience. Make no mistake; this is not a luxurious hotel, but rather, a nicely done business-type boutique hotel.

The Westin Detroit Metropolitan Airport
2501 Worldgateway Place
Detroit, MI 48242
USA
Phone (734) 942-6500
Fax (734) 942-6600
www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=1415

The Dharmawangsa (Jakarta, Indonesia)

The Dharmawangsa’s location in a tranquil, residential neighborhood of south Jakarta, its setting amidst a thick lush of greens, and its low-rise architecture (it was only 5-floors high) were qualities that proved to be appealing. A visit to their website and the ease of online reservation made it even easier to book a room in this posh hotel in the capital of Indonesia.

The treatment started at the Sukarno-Hatta International Airport, where, as advertised, someone was stationed at the arrival gate, not only to greet us but also to aid us in the immigration process. We still had to obtain the foreigner’s visas-on-arrival ourselves, but beyond that point, he took over the passports and asked us to proceed to the baggage concourse. We did not have to stay in queue for the immigration; instead, he would deal with this on his own (which begged the question of how safe an immigration entrance policy this country exercised).

The same greeter took care of our luggage and brought us to the curb, where the transportation that we had ordered came to meet us. The hotel provided 5 types of transportation: a regular metered taxi (the Silver Bird taxi company), a BMW-series 3, series 5, series 7, or a Bentley. We chose the BMW-7 and were pleased with the space and cleanliness of the interior. A couple of newspapers, bottled water and candies were provided.

Like at the Amanresorts, check-in was done in the comfort of our room. Because we ordered a suite, a butler was provided for us around the clock. Upon entering the room, one was reminded of the layout of the suite at the Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok, with the exception that the Sukhothai’s suite floor plan was more spacious with a bathroom area almost the same square-footage of the bedroom; here at the Dharmawangsa Rosewood Suite, however, the living room is bigger than the Sukhothai.

At the foyer, a small kitchen (that included a refrigerator and a small sink) was located across the guest’s powder room. The room then opened to the living room with a study desk, a television set and a sofa in front of it. The hotel provided a small box of butter cookies as well as a plate of fresh fruits. There was no immediate Internet connection; the hotel was actually in the midst of upgrading the system when we arrived.

The new system necessitated each guest to buy a voucher to log on, not too terribly new a concept as this was practiced elsewhere in different hotels. The option was to get a 4-hourly voucher at $5 or a 24-hour access at $15. Unfortunately, the hotel’s IT department should come up with a system to record a guest’s initial log in. We logged in fine at the beginning, but then we shut down and went out. Upon returning, way before our “4 hours” were supposed to expire, I had trouble signing in. I summoned the butler, who summoned another butler, who then called the IT department to deal with this. Every one of them explained to us that the 4 hours were continuous hours, which we understood from the very beginning. Still, the system shut us out faster than the 4 hours allowed us. They did not seem to grasp the idea that 4 hours were 4 hours: we signed on at 10:30, then we should have access until 14:30, even if we logged off in the middle of it. We asked them to check when we first logged on, and they did not have a record of it. We advised them to have a better system. As a courtesy, they provided with a round-the-clock internet for the rest of our stay for free.

But enough about the Internet! After all, we came here to R&R, correct? My partner, who loved beaches and sunny resorts, never imagined in his life that he would end up in Jakarta for a resort-like vacation, but thus far, he was impressed. Again, the location and the setting of the hotel provided a resort-like atmosphere that was conducive to our rest and relaxation.

The swimming pool, in a fat U-shape, was beautifully designed. A local tree called the “Dada Merah” (literally “Red Breast” for it produced red flowers) and the Kamboja (Frangipani flowering trees) were planted along the legs of the “U” shape. The canopying effect proved a beautiful accent to the blue-green tiled pool. The low bending trees acted as if they wanted to touch the surface of the water. During the less attended hours, lap swimming was possible in two directions (along one of the U legs or along the bottom of the U shape). The pool was shared with residents from the adjacent Dharmawangsa residential tower.

The Bimasena Spa, located on the 3rd floor of a 4-story building behind the pool, offered the usual fares of facial, nail care and body scrubs, along with different massage offerings. It also had a jet-streamed warm pool, a dry sauna and a steam room. The steam room could use some cleaning and a makeover as mold appeared on the walls, and the paint of the ceiling was peeling off.

The gym, located on the top floor, offered a limited number of treadmill, stair-masters, and elliptical machines, along with some Nautilus weight machines. A spacious area was provided for stretching and possibly yoga. An indoor pool was available in another part of this 4th floor facility. The area could have been better designed, as this spot seemed to be less inviting to the eyes. There were tables put along the pool, but blocked by the high platform that accommodated the pool.

Finally, the service: it has been disappointingly below par. For a hotel that strived to be very accommodating (i.e., the butler), the Dharmawangsa could fare better in preparing the staff. The concierge was not as efficient as I wished it to be: I left a package with my name and the name of the recipient on top of it in big bold letters. When the person picked it up, the concierge said that there was no guest by that name (my name).

This name business was another source of irritation: I made the reservation on my partner’s name, but e-mailed the hotel to let them know that I would be a guest as well. At the Amanresorts, this would not be a problem, but here, I felt like a vestigial appendage, as every single day the different butlers would greet my partner by name, but would not say anything to me. My name was not even in the system (a reason why the concierge concluded I was non-existent, despite the fact that I had put my name on that package and someone had logged it on the book).

For an Indonesian standard, such a hotel may be a novelty (its website boasts “Uniquely Indonesian”); thus, a lot of people said that it was a great and unique hotel, but in terms of excellence, Dharmawangsa still has a lot of catching up to do. I am not sure if it aims to reach a standard as high as an Amanresort, but that would not be such bad an aspiration now, would it?

The Dharmawangsa
Jalan Brawijaya Raya No. 26
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel: (62-21) 725-8181
Fax: (62-21) 725-8383

Mark Hopkins (San Francisco, USA)

Mark Hopkins Room 1238
Originally uploaded by bloompy.

During my recent stay at the Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental Hotel in San Francisco, I asked to be moved from a room near the elevator to another room elsewhere in the floor. They gave me a room at one end of the hallway, right next to the emergency stairwell. When I entered room 1238, I was more than happy to accept this new assignment.

Upon entering, one will find a foyer or a mini hallway. With the door wide open, no one standing at the door could see the bed, desk, bathroom, and windows: privacy is guaranteed. At the end of that foyer, one will come into a room that has three windows: two windows in the bedroom area and one window in the bathroom. This is the beauty of the room: a source of natural light from the big window in the bathroom that allows one to have a wonderful view of the outside, day and night! The only flaw the bathroom had was the noisy toilet flush (in both rooms the flush caused a horrible noise).

The location (at the corner of California and Mason Streets) is only 5-6 blocks away from the Union Square, the heart of downtown San Francisco, and the city being a walking city, it is not a bad distance at all, except that it includes some of the steeper hills of San Francisco.

The room service leaves much to be desired: the California cuisine the City is known for does not seem to reach anywhere close to the vicinity of the hotel's kitchen. The lobby level restaurant is, I hope, in the middle of a renovation; otherwise, what I saw was a poor layout and a bad interior design.

The internet was not too reliable. In both rooms, at times I had to re-sign-in, causing double or triple billing (which the reception desk staff kindly took off once he knew what had been going on). According to him, the current internet system was just installed a couple of weeks before (my stay started on March 16, 2005).

Mark Hopkins was once a luxurious hotel. My parents stayed there decades ago, but not I. As a result, I do not know whether the Inter-Continental chain had improved it or bring it down a notch. Overall, I enjoyed my stay there, but if you want to run errands in the Union Square area and want to be at the utmost convenience, get a hotel right there (the Grand Hyatt, the Westin St. Francis, the Triton hotel, the Campton Place, etc.)


Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel San Francisco
Number One Nob Hill
999 California Street
San Francisco
California 94108
USA
Tel: (415) 392-3434
Fax: (415) 421-3302