Pasar Baru Hotels. Grand G7 vs Yuan Garden
I'm deciding between the Grand G7 and Yuan Garden hotels in Pasar Baru to stay close to the action at Hotel Classic. Any recommendation about these hotels, Heef, or any other hotel in Pasar Baru?
Merlynn Park Hotel Jakarta
Merlynn Park Hotel Jakarta, Someone know this hotel? Any info about their quality? I found a good price online, about 50 euro but I don't know if this hotel is good or not.
Sparks Life Hotel on Mangga Bessar
This hotel is kind of a mixed bag of sorts. While there were some aspects of the hotel that I did enjoy, overall I feel like the hotel was overpriced and not a great value for the money it costs.
First of all I was trying to book it online on their website while I was still in the Philippines a few days before my arrival to Indonesia but their website would not accept either one of my debit cards. I even joined their little artotel club with my email and still couldn't book the reservation on their website.
Fastforward a few day later I arrive to Jakarta from Manila around midnight and arrive via grab to the hotel at about 2 am. I explain to the gentleman at check in counter that I tried to made a reservation but couldn't get the website to accept my payment. I told him that I had joined the artotel club with my email address and I showed him on my phone the website showing the standard room priced at 420 k rupiah and asked if you could pay cash.
He then made me a whole new reservation and told me that unfortunately the rooms that cost 420 k he didn't have any available and he could put in a non smoking room for 900 k or a smoking room for 550 k. He failed to mention that the 550 k included a free breakfast which I normally would have declined to save money. He only mentioned it after he took my 550 k that "there is a free breakfast from 6 am to 10 am" the following day when I went to pay for another night I asked if I could just pay for the room and not the breakfast and the lady said yes and changed it to 500 k instead of 550 k. I believe this is an unethical business practice because I pulled up their website and it showed rooms available for 420 k and they are lying and saying they aren't available, if that was truly the case then the website should also reflect that they aren't available. Also the shit he pulled which charging me extra for the free breakfast without asking me if I wanted the free breakfast was dishonest as well.
Now to the rooms. As soon as I step off from the elevator there is a strong chemical smell in the hallway like windex or some kind of heavy cleaning spray. It literally smells like cleaning chemicals throughout the entire hallway. One I get into the room and turn on the AC it causes me to start sneaking profusely and causes me to have a runny nose and itchy face like a histamine attack or something. It did subside however by the 2nd day.
The room also didn't have any towels but I didn't notice until after I had got in the shower so when I got out of the shower I had no way to dry off and I had to use one of my t-shirts as a towel. I complained about the towels the next morning and then they brought 3 towels, one for the floor and two for drying off and each day they brought new towels when they cleaned the room.
The TV was not a smart TV and didn't have any American News channels. Even the $9 a day airbnb I have now relocated too has a hisense smart TV with fox new app and thank God I was able to watch Trump win the election, in fact they litterally called it for Trump right after I got into my new place and got the TV up and running.
Anyways back to the Sparks Life Hotel. That first morning eventhough I hadn't slept until 5 am due to my late arrival, my first session, and the horrible sneezing, I still forced myself to wake up at 9:30 sm so I wouldn't miss out on the breakfast since they had already charged me for it.
The breakfast was actually pretty good. They had coffee and juices and fresh fruits like papaya watermelon and honeydew melon. Different soups and broths to choose from and on the far side they had a whole bunch of Indonesian dishes some kind of chicken in a big pot and various different rice dishes and more soups. For only being 50 k extra, the breakfast is a good value.
The swimming pool was also something I enjoyed about the hotel. The water felt as though it was heated and it had steps to sit on inside the pool with water jets to massage your back.
Speaking of massage they have an on-site masajista woman who comes up to your room to provide massages. There's a placard in the room with the breakdown of prices and types of massage and time limit. Since June Fly had mentioned in his report of this hotel that the massage was just mediocre, I only opted for the cheapest one, the 60 minute relaxation massage. I called on the land-line telephone in the room to the reception by pressing 0 and then asked for massage. 20 minutes later this attractive but older woman shows up to my room. She isn't like the girls at classic she's more like upper 20's or lower 30's in age but still an attractive MILF I suppose.
I didn't attempt to grope her or ask for any extras I just kept it professional and had her give me the massage. Much like how June Fly reported earlier the massage was mediocre. I've had much better massages in Thailand. She didn't even Crack my back or any of my knuckles on my fingers or toes in fact I don't think she even massaged my feet at all. She did an okay job massaging my back shoulders and legs but nothing to write home about. It was supposed to be 60 minutes but felt more than 45 then she said finished. I paid her in cash 242 k rupiah and tried out my growing bahasa skills telling her terima kasih and selamat tingga and that was it, she got her tray organized and I opened the door for her and she left.
Another feature of the hotel I enjoyed is the ordering room service from the alacart restaurant menu. I reccomend the chicken steak and the tenderloin steak, but honestly if you're going to be going to classic the Jonisteak ribeye was alot bigger and better and less expensive.
At $32 usd a night I felt this hotel was overpriced, especially when walking down mangga besar you can see there are a number of other hotels at less than half the price, one such hotel that I saw called hotel sumi. Has a big sign showing 220 k rupiah per night.
You live and you learn I guess.
After 4 days I checked out and I'm now at an Airbnb that is a much better value for my money.
Gabacho.
