Jakarta - Hotels

For my 3 nights stay, after some research and an e-mail to make sure it was girlfriendly, I opted for hotel [B]Aryaduta Jakarta[/B], just South-East of Monumen Nasional, which I felt was quite strategically placed relative to the brothels, bars and restaurants I meant to visit.
I was proven right, since despite the horrific city traffic it took me a relatively short time to get everywhere.
Also, the wi-fi was reliable and the staff polite and helpful.
To top it off, for those who like me want to get a local sim card, a Telkomsel center is right behind the corner.
I would repeat.

[URL]http://www.aryaduta.com/jakarta/default-en.html[/URL]

[QUOTE=RyoSaeba;2084788]For my 3 nights stay, after some research and an e-mail to make sure it was girlfriendly, I opted for hotel [B]Aryaduta Jakarta[/B], just South-East of Monumen Nasional, which I felt was quite strategically placed relative to the brothels, bars and restaurants I meant to visit.
I was proven right, since despite the horrific city traffic it took me a relatively short time to get everywhere.
Also, the wi-fi was reliable and the staff polite and helpful.
To top it off, for those who like me want to get a local sim card, a Telkomsel center is right behind the corner.
I would repeat.

[URL]http://www.aryaduta.com/jakarta/default-en.html[/URL][/QUOTE]FWIW, quite some time ago it was a Hyatt but no longer. I have heard stories about it having quite a scene in its basement bar back then but that is unfortunately history.

[QUOTE=RyoSaeba;2084788]For my 3 nights stay, after some research and an e-mail to make sure it was girlfriendly, I opted for hotel [B]Aryaduta Jakarta[/B], just South-East of Monumen Nasional, which I felt was quite strategically placed relative to the brothels, bars and restaurants I meant to visit.
I was proven right, since despite the horrific city traffic it took me a relatively short time to get everywhere.
Also, the wi-fi was reliable and the staff polite and helpful.
To top it off, for those who like me want to get a local sim card, a Telkomsel center is right behind the corner.
I would repeat.

[URL]http://www.aryaduta.com/jakarta/default-en.html[/URL][/QUOTE]I loved that hotel bar back in the day when free lancers were rife in Jakarta. When I first arrived in Jakarta in the late 90's, the Aryaduta had one of the best bars in Jakarta downstairs in The Tavern. Although they also had pop bands, they had a rock band there that played stuff like Deep Purple that was awesome. We used to go there special just to see them (And to bring home a nice lady for the night). The guys in that rock band were older guys even back then, so I seriously doubt they are still playing around town, but that's the best true rock cover band I've seen in Jakarta. The bar was always packed with female talent similar to what you find these days at BATS. I have many good memories with the girls from Tavern. Although I will say that Tavern was part of the "rotation". You would see the same girls from BATS, Le Meridien, CJs, etc at The Tavern back then. We definitely had some fun nights there. During Oktoberfest, they used to have a special week for that and the place was packed with Germans and a had a German band wearing Lederhosen and playing instruments like the Tuba. It was good fun. The hot stone steak there was a unique dish that never failed to be quite tasty.

Although I believe that bar is still open, I don't think girls go there anymore, so it's basically dead (similar to the disco at LE Meridien which used to be the number one free lance spot in Jakarta but is now dead). Back then, the Aryaduta Tavern, Hard Rock Cafe at Sarinah (now replaced in Sarinah by a worthless restaurant, and the Hard Rock moved to Pacific Place now and became a family restaurant rather than a wild pick up spot), Green Pub (Amigos restaurant) at Sarinah (now a Pizza Hut), Tanamur disco (now closed) and JJ's disco (now closed) were some of the absolute hot spots in town. They all had lots of available free lancers and they were all quite near each other so you didn't need to travel too far to hit a good number of great free lance night spots in one night. Now, not one of those places is still a hot spot. And they were NOT replaced around town by other places with free lancers, so the free lance scene is basically crap these days. Places like BATS and CJs were around back then as well, and they were popular, but there were so many other places back then.

Back in those days, Blok M free lance bars were also thriving with lots of sexy girls and was far superior to now. You could go from Top Gun starting at 6 pm, to Oscars by 11, then to Lintas Melawai late at night and it was never disappointing at any of those places. I can't recall ever going home alone without a hot little chica as company. Now, if I go to the blok, the chances of finding a hotty are quite low and I am more than likely to leave there without a girl in tow. I still think it's because of the exit of a good majority of in town working western expats and the shift toward local and Chinese tastes as well as sex tourists interested in brothels. Places such as the nicer brothels like Hotel Classic and the various sex massage spots are popular now rather than free lance spots. We had the down market brothels like Bintang Mawar, Today's Country, Kartika, Kota Indah, Medika, etc back then (places I rarely visited because the free lance scene rocked), but the free lance scene did seem to die out when Hotel Classic and the various upscale massage places opened.

However, I don't think it's any coincidence that the fact that the number of expats working in Jakarta also drastically decreased around the time that the free lance scene died out. When I first came to Jakarta, there was a huge number of expats working in the oil and gas industry. That's not the case anymore. Back in those days, you rarely met someone visiting Jakarta for a sex vacation. It was pretty much all guys there for work. Back then, we always used to say that Jakarta was the world's best kept secret. But the internet changed that and it's not true anymore. Then again, although it's not a secret anymore, it's nowhere close to as good as it was back in those days for free lance fun.

Enough reminiscing about the good old days. Although there are no good free lance places anywhere near there anymore, yes, the Aryaduta is a decent location to stay if you are hitting the brothels up north. The Aryaduta is somewhat worn down these days and not as nice as it used to be, however, it used to be much more expensive to stay there as well. So it's much more economically feasible as a moderately priced hotel option these days.

A good recounting of days gone by Smoothy. I wish I had visited Jakarta and Phnom Penh back in the early to mid 90's, but I was having my fun back then in Rio, Sao Paulo, Medelln, Bogota & BKK. I don't know of any place that is better now than it used to be 20 years ago. The internet has fucked things up. But things are still pretty good in BKK and Jakarta if you ask me. I hate to think where the trend lines are pointing 15 to 20 years from now, but by then I will probably need a cane to get around and the aid of one or two sexy 30 something Asian girls to look after me and pour me drinks, so I won't care. 555.

In April I returned late one night to the Grand Hyatt. I was hungry, but all the hotel restaurants were closed, so I wandered up to the top level of the lobby where the Hyatt Bar is located. I forget the name. No food there either and the bar was in the process of closing, but I met 3 FL's sitting on a leather couch directly opposite the bar. They looked to be somewhere in their 30's, but one of them was very thin and tall with a sexy, exotic smile, so I stopped and chatted with the girls. They were very friendly. They were older than what I usually go for, but nicely coiffed and well dressed. Good atititudes. The tall thin one was more than ready and willing to go upstairs with me and little Natty was tempted, but reason prevailed and I said good night to the girls after taking the taller one's cell number. Ha Ha. But I never called her. I only mention this little interlude because 1) this is the hotel thread and 2) by way of a comparison to your description of the Tavern Bar in the old Hyatt. The times have changed.

Hi all,

Any one know of options in the ibis range and girl friendly? I would like it at the border of north and south Jakarta.

Thanks in advance.

OS.

[QUOTE=OldSnake;2088586]Hi all,

Any one know of options in the ibis range and girl friendly? I would like it at the border of north and south Jakarta.

Thanks in advance.

OS.[/QUOTE]It is not that north and south Jakarta are bordering each other. In between is Jakarta pusat (centre). I would opt for Ibis Tamarin and others nearby. (Google it).

[QUOTE=OldSnake;2088586]Hi all,

Any one know of options in the ibis range and girl friendly? I would like it at the border of north and south Jakarta.

Thanks in advance.

OS.[/QUOTE]You obviously didn't spend 5 minutes reading the forum because it's stated over and over and over again here that all hotels in Jakarta are girl friendly. So a RTFF comment is in order. You may still want to do that. However, since the honorable Mr. Menteng was nice enough to reply with a very fine suggestion, I will offer up another alternative. Indian guys normally prefer bigger women with whiter skin and bigger noses, so you may want to check out the girls at DeLeila in FX Sudirman 8th floor. The women there are exactly the type of girls Indian and Arabic men go for. Especially if you like Moroccan women. If you stay at Harris Suites FX Sudirman, you can walk there in 2 minutes. It's closer to South Jakarta than North Jakarta, but you will likely fall in love the first night at DeLeila and not need to travel elsewhere.

[QUOTE=Smoothy;2088713]You obviously didn't spend 5 minutes reading the forum because it's stated over and over and over again here that all hotels in Jakarta are girl friendly. So a RTFF comment is in order. You may still want to do that. However, since the honorable Mr. Menteng was nice enough to reply with a very fine suggestion, I will offer up another alternative. Indian guys normally prefer bigger women with whiter skin and bigger noses, so you may want to check out the girls at DeLeila in FX Sudirman 8th floor. The women there are exactly the type of girls Indian and Arabic men go for. Especially if you like Moroccan women. If you stay at Harris Suites FX Sudirman, you can walk there in 2 minutes. It's closer to South Jakarta than North Jakarta, but you will likely fall in love the first night at DeLeila and not need to travel elsewhere.[/QUOTE]If it's still there, Tiga Kuda bar at Hotel Menteng 2, could be a destination for him too. BTW, I still can't get used to seeing two guys dancing with each other in a place where ISG members would go.

Hey guys,

I'm planning to visit Jakarta at the end of November I would Like to know if Mercure hotel Simatupang allows me to bring guest to the room.

[QUOTE=HairyPussLover;2099607]Hey guys,

I'm planning to visit Jakarta at the end of November I would Like to know if Mercure hotel Simatupang allows me to bring guest to the room.[/QUOTE]Yes. In saying that you're quite far from any action and the area is notorious for traffic, so I would re-think your hotel choice if you have any control over it.

[QUOTE=Menteng;2089011]If it's still there, Tiga Kuda bar at Hotel Menteng 2, could be a destination for him too. BTW, I still can't get used to seeing two guys dancing with each other in a place where ISG members would go.[/QUOTE]Is that the former Hotmen Bar? Long ago (1991) that was a great pick up place but a few years later it was taken over by the gay scene and I haven't been there since.

[QUOTE=KoperenKlaas;2100269]Is that the former Hotmen Bar? Long ago (1991) that was a great pick up place but a few years later it was taken over by the gay scene and I haven't been there since.[/QUOTE]Actually they were not gay. In their Gulf countries, I think, it is not allowed for women to dance in public. So they dance with other males.

[QUOTE=Menteng;2100452]Actually they were not gay. In their Gulf countries, I think, it is not allowed for women to dance in public. So they dance with other males.[/QUOTE]Around 1994 the men I saw congregating there were all Indonesians and the amount of girls was declining at a great rate. That's why I stopped going to the Hotmen Bar.

[QUOTE=HihiSter;2100091]Yes. In saying that you're quite far from any action and the area is notorious for traffic, so I would re-think your hotel choice if you have any control over it.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the feedback,.

[QUOTE=Menteng;2100452]Actually they were not gay. In their Gulf countries, I think, it is not allowed for women to dance in public. So they dance with other males.[/QUOTE]Guys dancing with other guys in a bar called "Hot-Men"? It sounds like that one is to be avoided regardless of whether those guys have come out of the closet or not.