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

The Four Seasons Shanghai (China)

After four mediocre nights at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, the Four Seasons Hotel in the same city restored my faith in high-class hotels. The most basic room in an excellent hotel must still reflect comfort and luxury, and in this case, the Four Seasons Shanghai really excels.

Starting with the reception area that was bathed in light, the hotel set a good tone for the rest of my two-night stay. Staff members were positioned in different areas of the lobby to greet guests as they proceeded to check in. My room was tucked in one corner of the 22nd floor (in the 36-floor hotel). I thought mine would have windows on two sides, but only one side provided the room with natural lighting. Another room was next to mine, but there was not a neighbor across my room. The room, albeit small, was designed really well, and the furnishings were excellent. The plush King-sized bed was topped with four King-sized pillows, all of them soft but very supportive to my back and neck. The lighting made everything glow, including my tired face. All of the light fixtures were equipped with dimmers. The accompanying image is taken from the Four Seasons website, but it resembles closely to my room. Basically WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) and then some!

The bathroom was as big as the bed area. It reminded me of how a standard Ritz-Carlton bathroom usually would be (except the Portman R-C in Shanghai): a wide bathtub with chrome fixtures and an adjoining shower stall with glass windows; marble floor with plush white mat for the sink area. To complete this luxurious bath area were the amenities that were provided by the French company L’Occitane.

The work area consisted of a small desk with an extendable Ethernet cable and a small drawer that flipped to expose different adapters for many countries’ electrical plugs; very convenient, indeed! Open another drawer and one will find yet another universal adapter just in case one wants to work elsewhere in the room. Unlike at the Portman the Ritz-Carlton where I had to keep logging into the Internet once I disconnected, the Four Seasons’ Internet recognized my system for the next 24 hours. If I cleared off my desk in the morning and then started working again in the evening, I did not have to log in again. All I had to do was to plug in the Ethernet cable and to start working. If I had owned an AirPort Express, it would even be very convenient as I could work wirelessly in the room.

In addition, once I logged in, I got a code that would allow me to get wireless connection from other areas in the hotel for the next 24 hours. One disadvantage of this 24-hour contract was that you would be locked into this fee no matter how much connection you used in that period. The Portman R-C charged something like Y1.60/minute, or Y96.60 per 24 hours. If one goes by the minute but reaches the maximum of Y96.60, then one will be charged that maximum price for the entire 24-hours; the R-C option worked well for those who knew they would not be using the Internet for an extended period of time.

Completing the desk was the elegantly designed thick guest information book in the form of a binder. An armoire stood next to the desk, hiding a television set and a DVD player; the safety box; and drawers with Japanese Yukattas or room robes.

Not too long after entering my room, I heard a knock on my door. I must have forgotten to sign something, I thought, but it turned out that I found a gentleman on the other side of the door, carrying a small tray of teapot with two Chinese teacups and two small desserts. He placed the tray on the work desk, poured the tea into the two cups, and then excused himself after making sure that I did not want anything else.

What really distinguished this place from the other regular hotels in and out of Shanghai was how most of the staff had anticipated my every need and how each of them had met my expectation. At the gym, when my mind was thinking of grabbing a towel, someone had approached me with one. On my way to the elliptical machine, another staff presented me with a cold bottle of water and offered me a headphone with the listening device covered in thick white cloth. I was alone when I arrived at the pool area, but when I emerged from the pool, I saw that someone had already put a foot mat by my chaise longue plus bottled water and a glass on the table.

The gym was spacious and had plenty of aerobic machines (treadmills, stair-masters, and stationery bikes). A steam room and hot jacuzzi were located near the shower area, and adjacent to this area was a soothing, relaxing room with chaise-longue and selection of magazines or music to choose.

The massages I had were performed in the room at no extra charge (there was an option of having it done at the spa by the gym.) Those light dimmers came in handy as we dimmed the entire room to set a relaxing mood. The masseur arrived at the appointed time and delivered the deep tissue massage as advertised, which was rare. Some massage places that advertised deep tissue or acupressure massage usually ended up giving me a soft Swedish massage. The set-up and the clean up were very promptly done. Five minutes after the massage, he was already out of the door.

At the Si Ji Xuan Chinese restaurant on the second floor, the maitre d' and one wait staff gave their full attention to me, without being asked. It felt as if each table got its own private server. I was reading the newspaper and a book throughout one brunch, and every time I lifted up my head, my teacup was already refilled, and the pot replenished with hot water. The wait staff worked so efficiently and so flowingly that it seemed like a dance performance.

The morning room cleaning and the evening turndown service made me want to stay there forever. The room always looked very orderly and sparkling new every time I stepped in after a few hours away. And, oh yes, this was also the only hotel in a long time whose housekeeper wrote me a thank-you note for the tips I had left behind on the sink. I have always done this as a habit, but out of the many times I had stayed in hotels around the world, this marked only the second time that someone had scribbled a hand-written note thanking me for it. I left the money at the sink for some time, but it was never taken. Only after the fourth clean up did someone take it.

This hotel, located not entirely in a great area (the Portman Ritz-Carlton had the advantage of being in a more orderly and established area), made me feel as if I were in a resort, not in a hotel in a big city. Despite the location, I would love to return to this hotel when I will be in Shanghai again. In my opinion, this was one hotel whose services approached the level of perfection that I had found thus far only at the Amanresorts in Indonesia.

The Four Seasons Shanghai
500 Weihai Road
Shanghai 200041, China
Tel: +86 (21) 6256-8888
Fax: +86 (21) 6256-5678
http://fourseasons.com/shanghai/