Four Seasons Jakarta (Indonesia)

Thank goodness for our experience at the mediocre Alila Jakarta (read the REVIEW) we moved to the once-again, well-proven, time-tested luxurious and comfortable Four Seasons Hotel, this one located in Jakarta.

The unassuming façade and entrance of this former Regent Hotel belies the understated elegance within. Lacking from the lobby area is the decadence found in some Asian hotels. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recalled that the former Regent Hotel was owned by, among others, Adrian Zecha, the founder of the Amanresorts brand.

When we requested for a room away from the elevator and preferably a room at the end of the hallway (a corner room), by golly, we got it on both accounts (unlike our Alila experience). In the US, the Four Seasons room tend to be on the small side, but here at the Jakarta location, our room was quite spacious. There was plenty of space between the bed and the desk/TV armoire area and plenty of closet space. Four panels of French windows, equipped with wooden blinds, open out to a balcony, facing the Four Seasons Residence across the street.

When we reached the gym area, we saw a floor-to-ceiling wood carving, reminiscent of the decor at the lobby area of Amanusa (Nusa Dua, Bali), perhaps another proof of Mr. Zecha's vision. The gym, located by the pool, is well equipped and staffed. Just like the Four Seasons in Shanghai, the staff anticipates one's every need (towels, bottled water, etc.). The ozone pool (read: ultra clear down under) is great for lap swimming and is surrounded by the usual chaise-longues by the pair; one end of the pool is buttressed by an unpolished stonewall with falls.

The two-floor SPA is the gem of this hotel: each treatment room looks different and is equipped with different facilities as well: some has rain forest shower, some has bathtubs. The locker room with steam, sauna, and hot + cold dipping pool is a great place to unwind after a day's work (well, there is no need for any reasons). Cold towels and a jar of cold water with sliced oranges are available, a great respite from the dehydration that results from the use of the steam and sauna.


Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta
Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said
Jakarta 12920
Indonesia

Tel: +62 (21) 252-3456
Fax: +62 (21) 252-4480

Alila Jakarta (Indonesia)

A few years ago a couple of friends were heading for Bali and asked for recommendations on hotels. I gave them the Amanresorts, which had three properties in Bali (Amanusa in Nusa Dua, Amankila in Candi Dasa, and Amandari in Ubud), but eventually they settled for a hotel chain that at that time I was not aware of: Alila. There were two in Bali: Alila Manggis (close to the Amankila in Candi Dasa) and Alila Ubud (near the Amandari).

Fastforward to 2005 when I found myself taken by my cousins to the lobby and the lounge of Alila Jakarta after dinner elsewhere. At that time the hotel seemed to have just been opened: minimalist in its approach, but with a certain je ne sais quoi that was a bit off. Two years later, 2007, I finally found out what that je-ne-sais-quoi was . . .

Located in the one of the older sections of central Jakarta known as Pasar Baru, Alila Jakarta actually occupies a good site. From the hotel room one can see both the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral in the not-so-far a distance. The Presidential Palace is not too far away, as is the National Monument. Late at night, after the shops in front of the hotels are closed for business, food vendors set up their shops and cooked their specialties for diners.

Entering the lobby area to check in, one turns to the left and chooses one of the three counters. The set up is done nicely, but the wood or finish looks rather cheap. The majority of the rooms is dedicated for smokers, and non-smokers are confined to 3-4 floors scattered in this high-rise hotels. Smokers rejoice; you have found an ally in this hotel (although in actuality, a lot of Indonesian hotels are still this way, perhaps, just like the Sheraton in Surabaya that only allocated 3-4 floors in its property, too). Check-in hits a snag only because they put the reservation under my first name. A week prior, I have informed them to put the reservation under my last name; I have asked for them to send an e-mail reservation confirmation; and I have requested a room away from the elevator, but as I would find out, none of those requests seemed to have been honored.

We were given the first room closest to the elevator. When I asked for a replacement, I was asked to wait for a long time and then reassigned to the second room closest of the elevator. All rooms had the same small size, but there were two different packages, one of which included a 24-hr Internet. King-size bedrooms appear to have been on the lower floors while the Double-size bedrooms are in the higher floors. Floor 14 seemed to be the highest non-smoking level there was (there was almost 30 floors to the hotel, I believe).

While waiting for the room reassignment, we ate at buzz, the restaurant cum coffee shop located at the lobby area. For a review of the restaurant, click HERE.

The pool would have been suffice to do laps, but unfortunately I did not get to use it. The gym seemed to be all right in terms of equipment, although we did not get to use any; instead, we did use the steam room and sauna room (both quite small, but functional) and took advantage of the Spa offering. My therapist had runny nose and I did not detect this early enough. While treating me, her right hand kept missing from my back to wipe her runny nose: yuck (more on this later). The massage room was tranquil with a separate shower area. Massage was just average.

We actually booked for four nights at the hotel but after one look at the room, we started browsing the Net for other hotels and eventually checked out after only one night. At check out time, a girl who was clearly sick handled my affairs. She was constantly coughing and wiping her nose (the hotel really should have a policy not to put sick people in charge of anything; remember the masseuse with the runny nose?). In addition, while processing my check-out, other clients who she happened to know well kept interrupting her work and bumping me from left and right. I was more than happy to leave the hotel and hopefully never to return.

Alila Jakarta attempts to fall within the likes of boutique hotels, which are usually minimalist in its approach and unique in its outlook, but minimalist does not mean skimming on the quality of furnishings. Minimalist also does not necessarily mean leaving areas empty for the sake of not cluttering them. At least Alila Jakarta has enough taste in not actually calling itself the Boutique Hotel Alila (on our way from the airport to Alila, we actually spotted one hotel whose name was Boutique Hotel something...). According to the hotel's website, Alila is Sanskrit for "surprise"; I could not have been more surprised to find how the hotel really was.


Alila Jakarta
Jalan Pecenongan Kav 7-17
Jakarta 10120
Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 231 6008
Fax: +62 21 231 6007
E-mail: jakarta@alilahotels.com

Grand Hyatt Jakarta (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Grand Hyatt Jakarta occupies one of the most coveted locations in the city. From the 70s and probably slightly before then, the M. H. Thamrin Boulevard is a major artery and an example of what a civilized city Jakarta could be. It has less to do with the luxury hotels and shopping malls that line the boulevard than with the discipline that is enforced when it comes to vehicular traffic. During rush hours, there is a mandatory 3-person rule for the main road, except for taxis.

The hotel sits atop one of the more glamorous shopping complex that is Plaza Indonesia, anchored by the Japanese Sogo department store. The lobby looks grand with white marbles and colossal columns, joined by trickling water and vegetation placed in cascading levels. Entering the lobby and immediately looking back and up, one could find a piano lounge, where people wind down or conduct informal business. The echo of jazz music in a grand lobby like this reminded me of old-style colonial hotels from the 60s and 70s (all right, I am way too young to talk about the 60s).

I requested an end-of-the-corridor room and got my wish, with the Fountain on the M. H. Thamrin as my view. The "Selamat Datang" (welcome) sculpture has been a fixture since my childhood days when my family would stay at the Hotel Indonesia or the President Hotel (now the Nikko Hotel Jakarta). Unfortunately, I stayed at the hotel near the Islamic New Year, Lebaran. On that Islamic New Year's Eve, there was a round-the-clock procession of people chanting and praying, joined by honking cars and cursing motorists trapped in the traffic jam.

The room, not a suite, is pleasing to the eyes. The Grand Hyatt brand has really streamlined their designs, or at least, that has been my observation while staying at the various Grand Hyatt hotels. The rooms may not be immediately identifiable the way most Ritz-Carlton rooms are from one location to another, but there certainly is a common thread between the Grand Hyatt rooms: the type of wood, the look of the bed, and the layout of the work area. The bathroom is fairly standard: bathtub, shower stall and a basin countertop. The walk in closet is located across the bath area.

The gym offers plenty to do, and the locker and relaxation areas are sufficiently staffed. There are steam and sauna rooms facing each other, separated by a cold dipping pool. Four to five chaise longues are placed nearby. The shower stalls are equipped with multiple showerheads that attack your body from different angles.

The coffee shop offers "buffet" dinners: such buffet offerings are very common in Asian hotels. They are extremely popular because they offer limitless trips to the counters, and they give a break to the restaurant staff. Usually when one wants to order à la carte, one is encouraged to get a buffet instead. Most of the time, the price of each entrée is such that it only makes sense to order the buffet, instead.

What makes the Grand Hyatt Jakarta more desirable is the fact that it sits atop the Plaza Indonesia and is adjacent to an annex called FX. This gives one the option to eat outside of the hotel without leaving the compound. On rainy or extremely hot and humid days (which is the majority of the time in Jakarta), this becomes a convenient solution.


Grand Hyatt Jakarta
Jalan M H Thamrin
Kav 28-30
Jakarta 10230
Indonesia
Tel: +62 (21) 390-1234
Fax: +62 (21) 3193-4321

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