Jakarta - Hotels

[QUOTE=Blacka0;1823738]The nearest is grand Mercure it 10 minutes from classic.[/QUOTE]That would be the perfect hotel for me, but the pool really does not look like it is 20 meters long on any of the pictures I can find. Can you confirm that it is?

[QUOTE=Cucumber;1823940]That would be the perfect hotel for me, but the pool really does not look like it is 20 meters long on any of the pictures I can find. Can you confirm that it is?[/QUOTE]Further away, but the Atlet Century Park has a full size pool. Its used by a lot as a training pool due to the number of athletes that stay at the hotel and its proximity to the Stadium (the real one not the disco!) and sports ovals across the road.

[QUOTE=Cucumber;1823940]That would be the perfect hotel for me, but the pool really does not look like it is 20 meters long on any of the pictures I can find. Can you confirm that it is?[/QUOTE]The grand mercure is a great location, it's pool may well be 20 m. The gym is quite good as it overlooks the street, canal and terminal which is fun to watch from. The Spa is good, clean and obviously part of the stay.

Biggest pool in North Jakarta is the Novotel Mangga Dua. It refers to itself as "olympic size" but from memory is about 40 x 30.

Tambora.

[QUOTE=UsPete;1823970]The grand mercure is a great location, it's pool may well be 20 m. The gym is quite good as it overlooks the street, canal and terminal which is fun to watch from. The Spa is good, clean and obviously part of the stay.

Biggest pool in North Jakarta is the Novotel Mangga Dua. It refers to itself as "olympic size" but from memory is about 40 x 30.[/QUOTE]Thanks for your suggestions gentlemen. I called Grand Mercure Harmoni, and their pool is definitely way less than 20 meters (I think they said 8). At Grand Mercure Kemayoran they couldn't give me an answer, but it looks small on the internet. Novotel Mangga Dua is too far north for my purposes. At the moment Redtop is the most promising, right by Classic. They wrote to me that their pool is 30 meters long and gave other very detailed measurements so I am assuming the information is correct. My only concern is that many reviews say Redtop has lousy wifi, which is also important for me. In the past I have stayed at the Borobodur near Monument Nasional, which has a fantastic pool set in its own park, but also weak wifi in the room. I will continue the research.

[QUOTE=Cucumber;1825132]Thanks for your suggestions gentlemen. I called Grand Mercure Harmoni, and their pool is definitely way less than 20 meters (I think they said 8). At Grand Mercure Kemayoran they couldn't give me an answer, but it looks small on the internet. Novotel Mangga Dua is too far north for my purposes. At the moment Redtop is the most promising, right by Classic. They wrote to me that their pool is 30 meters long and gave other very detailed measurements so I am assuming the information is correct. My only concern is that many reviews say Redtop has lousy wifi, which is also important for me. In the past I have stayed at the Borobodur near Monument Nasional, which has a fantastic pool set in its own park, but also weak wifi in the room. I will continue the research.[/QUOTE]If you like the Borobodur. I don't think you will find better (north of Monas) - maybe you can ask for a room with top WiFi?

Here's a couple other suggestions. But you should research them.

- SariPan at Sarinah, I can't remember the pool size, but you can see it from the resto, its rectangle and maybe big enough?

- Aryaduta, again pool out the back on about the 5th floor, can't remember the size, but I recall its a big rectangle one? Both close to the Borobudor.

- The Media hotel in Kemayoran, was busted last year for allowing high school kids to organise an after school bikini party. They also hold regular (localised) events for pool parties, maybe worth a look? Never seen it myself.

- Frazer residence and Hotel in Cikini (menteng) has a long lap pool. Its close to the Aryaduta, but starting to get too far from Classic if that's your objective.

So I ended up trying the Redtop Hotel.

Its big advantage is that it is just a 5 minute walk from Classic. Emporium is directly across the street from Redtop, but I have not actually tried Emporium yet as it seems expensive.

The WiFi in my (Executive) room was excellent. Automatic logon without ID or password, high speed. ISG and some other sites are banned (though not all porn sites), but I could easily access them via free web-based proxy).

The pool is about 30 meters long and good for doing laps. It is curvy on one long side, but straight on the other and the tiles are at right angles to the sides so it is easy to swim straight.

When I looked closely (e. G. At dust under the bed), the cleaning in my room was not fantastic, but it didn't bother me. The bathroom needs refurbishing and smells a bit. Which did bother me.

They seem to have quite a lot of buffet lunches and dinners in the lobby restaurant, which is convenient if you want to eat quickly and choose freely.

There is some noise from the Mosques, but not too bad.

There are some interesting places to eat and street life in the area.

I did not bring in any girls but my guess is that that would be entirely unproblematic.

Stayed at two hotels in Jakarta this time around, Novotel Gaja Madah and Holiday Inn Sarinah. The Novotel is still a good hotel not too run down as yet, carpets seem old but the room, facilities are still operational. Only problem and it is existing is the female front desk staff avoid them at all cost unless you are Caucasian, if you are not expect poor service and to be treated as a criminal. The gym is small but has a good range of machines and free weights with cardio machines that still actually work. Worth the stay if you get a members special.

Holiday Inn Sarinah is brand new so the hotel is clean and comfortable, wide assortment of TV channels, no pool, small (really small) fitness room with cardio machines and no weight machines, some dumbbells (10 kg max) are available. Once again a good choice if you get a special.

The staff polite and friendly except for one idiot in housekeeping, that refused me extra towels. But at the front desk there are two absolutely beautiful staff working there, I k now Jakarta has a lot of beautiful, sexy women, that's why I go there. But these are the first front desk staff that I have seen (and I have stayed at a lot of hotels) that can take your breath away.

[QUOTE=Bkk212;1829691]But these are the first front desk staff that I have seen (and I have stayed at a lot of hotels) that can take your breath away.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the advice. I will stop in this week and see if I can get lucky.

Gents:

Grand Mercure Harmoni: Am I correct that this is nicest hotel in reasonable striking distance of the north-central action (Alexis, Central, Malioboro, etc)? I know the hotel is well positioned, my question is: is there a better class of hotel with reasonable location? Looks like all the five-star hotels are in south-central which makes them too far, correct?

Cheers.

[QUOTE=SteelBaton;1860833]Gents:

Grand Mercure Harmoni: Am I correct that this is nicest hotel in reasonable striking distance of the north-central action (Alexis, Central, Malioboro, etc)? I know the hotel is well positioned, my question is: is there a better class of hotel with reasonable location? Looks like all the five-star hotels are in south-central which makes them too far, correct?

Cheers.[/QUOTE]Grand Mercure is the best hotel within range of classic only 5 minutes by taxi or Alexis only 20 minutes its in the middle of all places and its a 5 star hotel with big clean rooms. I always stay this hotel it also has a good price. If you want a.

Lower price hotel you can opt for all seasons Gajah Mada that's almost across the street next to Gajah Mada plaza. Or if you want really cheap ass hotel but only 3 stars ahhaha you can choos ibis next to Grande Mercure but I wouldn't recommend you that maybe for fucking the street hookers along Gajah Mada hahahah.

[QUOTE=SteelBaton;1860833]Gents:

Grand Mercure Harmoni: Am I correct that this is nicest hotel in reasonable striking distance of the north-central action (Alexis, Central, Malioboro, etc)? I know the hotel is well positioned, my question is: is there a better class of hotel with reasonable location? Looks like all the five-star hotels are in south-central which makes them too far, correct?

Cheers.[/QUOTE]You can try Hotel Borobudur. That is close to action area and is a better class hotel.

[QUOTE=SteelBaton;1860833]Gents:

Grand Mercure Harmoni: Am I correct that this is nicest hotel in reasonable striking distance of the north-central action (Alexis, Central, Malioboro, etc)? I know the hotel is well positioned, my question is: is there a better class of hotel with reasonable location? Looks like all the five-star hotels are in south-central which makes them too far, correct?

Cheers.[/QUOTE]Personally, I don't think that the Kempinski is all that far from Grand Mercure Harmoni. It's about 30 minutes at the most from Kempinski to Grand Mercure Harmoni by taxi. The Kempinski is connected to the Grand Indonesia Mall and is in a helluva lot nicer area and a helluva lot nicer hotel than that Grand Mercure Harmoni. If you are getting the hotel paid for by company, and the Kempinski isn't out of their budget (Kempinski is about 220 usd a night, while Mercure is only about 65 a night), I'd stay there. The Grand Mercure Harmoni is mostly Chinese and locals, you won't find many westerners staying there. If you are working in South Jakarta, you have to pass the Kempinski to get to that Grand Mercure on your way home anyway.

Grand Mercure Harmoni is great if you are on a sex holiday on a budget. It's in a close proximity to the brothels of North Jakarta. It's a clean and fairly new hotel, but is in no way one of the nicer hotels in the city.

I see John is suggesting Borobudur, that is also a higher quality hotel than Grand Mercure (although not as new). It's a bit further from places like Classic and Malioboro, but closer than Kempinski. Borobudur is one of the oldest hotels in town and at one point many years ago I considered it the best hotel in town. I would think Borobudur is around 110 usd a night now.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;1861497]I see John is suggesting Borobudur, that is also a higher quality hotel than Grand Mercure (although not as new). It's a bit further from places like Classic and Malioboro, but closer than Kempinski. Borobudur is one of the oldest hotels in town and at one point many years ago I considered it the best hotel in town. I would think Borobudur is around 110 usd a night now.[/QUOTE]Thank you Smoothy and John, I'll check both of those out. Money isn't a problem since the boss is paying but I do hate sitting in traffic. Cheers.

[QUOTE=GringooFuk;1863383]Well,

My great dilemma for Peru holiday or Jakarta.

I am thinking Jakarta now and hope you can help with good budget hotel list near Hotel Classic?

What kind of prices are we talking for 2 weeks?[/QUOTE]Favehotel and G7 Hotel are very cheap hotels right next to Classic (I think they are 20 or 30 usd a night), or RedTop hotel is about a 5 minute walk to Classic (around 50 a night).

A Peru Holiday is very different from a Jakarta holiday if hotel classic is your venue of choice. There are no big nice brothels like hotel classic in Lima. Lima is great for free lancers.