Jakarta

[QUOTE=PStevens999;1736597]Hello Gents--my buddies and I are heading to Indonesia in September--spending 4 or 5 days in Jakarta before a dive trip. Present plan is to make the Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni our headquarters. Very close to Malioboro -- and a short cab ride to either CJ's or BATS-all of which we want to hit. For you Jakarta regulars, does this look like a good choice? Price is cheap enough--about $75/ night.[/QUOTE]Although I have never stayed there, I have passed by numerous times and have heard good things. From what I gather it is a good compromise between luxury and keeping one's budget under control.

As to location, it depends on where you expect to spend most of your time. It is extremely convenient to Marioboro, and reasonably convenient to the North Jakarta places including those at Penjay, Alexis, Travel, Classic and the lower-end massage places near where Stadium used to be. It is a bit of a distance from Bats, but not so much. Although with no traffic one could hit Blok M in perhaps twenty or twenty-five minutes, with traffic it could be much more. But there is no perfect location if one wants to hit all these places and unless one is planning on spending most of one's time in Blok M or at CJ's, one can't argue with the Grand Mercure Harmoni as a base of operations. .

[QUOTE=PStevens999;1736597]Hello Gents--my buddies and I are heading to Indonesia in September--spending 4 or 5 days in Jakarta before a dive trip. Present plan is to make the Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni our headquarters. Very close to Malioboro -- and a short cab ride to either CJ's or BATS-all of which we want to hit. For you Jakarta regulars, does this look like a good choice? Price is cheap enough--about $75/ night.[/QUOTE]Nothing wrong with that hotel. If you are looking to spend a lot of time at Malioboro, it's fantastic (Malioboro gets going at 3 pm). It's not like Mercure is one of the hotels that pops to the top of the list of a hotel search on the various sites, so my guess is that you already have read on this forum about that hotel or you wouldn't be mentioning it. It's a good hotel with a good price. The rooms are about 30 square meters, so they aren't big but not too small, and they are clean and fairly new condition. I find it strange how there are hundreds of hotels in Jakarta, but that one particular hotel gets mentioned over and over on this forum (in the Hotel section of this forum, not the Jakarta section). I'm guessing that is mainly because there are a lot of Malaysians on this site. Not that it matters, but that hotel has mostly Malayasians, Singaporeans and Indonesians staying there. It's a decent hotel, but it's actually in a crap area as far as it's a dirty, heavy traffic area. It's strategically located for sex at Malioboro or some of the other brothels in North Jakarta like Travel or Classic (on their hotel map, they specifically mention that they are right next to Malioboro spa. I find that hilarious, and as far as I know, they are the only hotel in town that even has Malioboro as a landmark at all so obviously one of the main reasons people stay there is to go to Malioboro). If you go to CJs or BATS, that will be at night after the traffic is over with, so going to those places is not an issue, you can get there quickly regardless of where you stay in the city.

I personally enjoy staying more central in a nicer area than North Jakarta. I normally stay at the JW Marriott, but if sticking below $100 a night, there are still many choices. For example, Puri Casablanca Suites Serviced Apartments are only about $75 a night for a 94 square meter 2 bedroom apartment on [URL]agoda.com[/URL]. 2 of you can stay easily in one apartment as you have your own bedrooms and can have sex parties swapping girls back and forth. You can walk across the street to Mal Ambassador (the place the locals go to buy cheap clothes as well as pirate dvd's and local food) and the other new nice shopping mall next to it that has western restaurants like Outback Steakhouse. Also there is another new mall next door to those apartments, I forget the name, but it's a great place with many restaurants. You are also within walking distance of Loewy, and that is the most popular restaurant in town for party chicks to have dinner and drinks. Some of the same girls from Bats and Cjs will be there. It's about 10 minutes to Bats, and maybe 30 minutes to Cjs. It can be between a half hour and 1 hour to get to Malioboro though depending on the time you go (traffic going anywhere during the day is horrible). It's also just down the road from Fortune massage when you can get an actual massage followed by full sex if you negotiate that with the girl in the room.

Hotel Manhattan is across the road from Puri Casabalanca and it's also a good choice for about the same price. Same advantages and drawbacks as Puri, but the rooms are only 30 square meters.

If you stay at Mercure, that will be great. It just depends on whether you want to spend all of your time during the day in the North Jakarta brothels or if you want to spend some time during the day in the shopping malls and restaurants.

As I read some of these recent post regarding P4 P in the west, I wonder which west are the guys here talking about. I think it is important to state which specific country you are referring to. Since this is an American website, when guys state the west, I think of America.

I assume guys are not referring to USA, because no one in their right mind would attempt to compare the P4P situation in America to Indo. Simply stated, in USA, it not legal to pay for sex. With the exception of a small city near Las Vegas, which has old overpriced working girls.

Try paying for sex in Los Angeles, with the vice cops on the lookout. Several well know actors over the years got busted getting bjs in their car, and their name was headline news in USA. One city even post the pictures of regular men busted paying for sex. There is no comparison, none, between the P4 P action in Asian and USA.

America has tons of sexually repressed men, that is why plane loads of men from USA come to Asia. Are plane loads of Asian male sex tourist flying from Asia to USA, of course not.

Yes, there are sex outlets, street hookers, etc., in USA. But, if you try it, you take the chance of going to jail. In Indo, walk into a major MP, Spa, e.g., Alexis, Classic, etc., pick your girl, pay your money and no problems from cops. Thus, no comparison. Also, where in USA can you find a location of 50 to 75 girls that are 18 to 23 of age, no where. But in Jakarta, several MP, Spas have it. Again, no comparison between USA and Indo.

[QUOTE=Undercoverh;1736687]As I read some of these recent post regarding P4 P in the west, I wonder which west are the guys here talking about. I think it is important to state which specific country you are referring to. Since this is an American website, when guys state the west, I think of America.

I assume guys are not referring to USA, because no one in their right mind would attempt to compare the P4P situation in America to Indo. Simply stated, in USA, it not legal to pay for sex. With the exception of a small city near Las Vegas, which has old overpriced working girls.

Try paying for sex in Los Angeles, with the vice cops on the lookout. Several well know actors over the years got busted getting bjs in their car, and their name was headline news in USA. One city even post the pictures of regular men busted paying for sex. There is no comparison, none, between the P4 P action in Asian and USA.

America has tons of sexually repressed men, that is why plane loads of men from USA come to Asia. Are plane loads of Asian male sex tourist flying from Asia to USA, of course not.

Yes, there are sex outlets, street hookers, etc., in USA. But, if you try it, you take the chance of going to jail. In Indo, walk into a major MP, Spa, e.g., Alexis, Classic, etc., pick your girl, pay your money and no problems from cops. Thus, no comparison. Also, where in USA can you find a location of 50 to 75 girls that are 18 to 23 of age, no where. But in Jakarta, several MP, Spas have it. Again, no comparison between USA and Indo.[/QUOTE]Actually, there are a few counties in Nevada where P4 P is available legally, not just in a small city near Las Vegas. But none of it is good. In fact, HBO had a series that was basically a reality TV show that took place in a brothel in Carson City. I believe it is still available on HBO on demand and is titled "Cathouse. ".

Perhaps interestingly, one of the girls who made a brief appearance on that show was someone I met at a festa in Rio where the men were sharing the girls (we all contributed to a common pot to pay for the girls fixed fees for the day). She was basically there to receive some training on the P4 P scene and to get comfortable with it through her participation at the festa. I later heard she was for a time the top earner at the brothel featured on the HBO series. But I must confess, even when she was green and trying to learn the ropes I was totally uninterested in having anything to do with her based on her "American girl obnoxious personality," which was intolerable to me. At that festa I had sex with four Brazilian girls, and there were others I would have considered had we not run out of time. But there is no way I would have wanted to put my dick in the American girl who nevertheless was destined to become a star at a Nevada brothel.

No, I'll take the Asian P4P girls over the American ones.

Also, you seem to have missed Smoothy and my earlier posts on the subject of P4 P in the US which basically said the same thing you posted, and specifically referred to the United States.

It's not just the United States gentlemen, in Sweden and I think several other European countries it is now a criminal act to pay a woman for sex, note; the law has swung from arresting the prostitute to arresting the john. A similar law is under consideration in Ireland if I am not wrong.

The west, which for so long prided itself in saying that what consenting adults do in their own bedroom was no concern of the state has now decided that in fact policemen do have the right to pry into the sexual activities of consenting adults and destroy their lives if they find something the state doesn't approve of. Needless to say if any poor western bloke decides he would like a bit of cop-free nookie with a consenting adult in a somewhat more liberal society overseas he better take very good care about photocopying ID's because of course if the law suspects his choice of partner might not have reached 18 then he's going to chokey.

And yet some people will still insist that Asians are more repressed and conservative about sexual matters than us wonderfully enlightened westerners.

[QUOTE=PStevens999;1736597]Hello Gents--my buddies and I are heading to Indonesia in September--spending 4 or 5 days in Jakarta before a dive trip. Present plan is to make the Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni our headquarters. Very close to Malioboro -- and a short cab ride to either CJ's or BATS-all of which we want to hit. For you Jakarta regulars, does this look like a good choice? Price is cheap enough--about $75/ night.[/QUOTE]IMHO if you are staying purely for mongering purposes then Mercure Kota is a better option. The Hotel is completely geared to handle all your nocturnal activities. Its also close to Harmoni (Malioboro) barely a 10 minute walk. I enjoyed my recent stay there and will definitely stay again if I return to Jakarta.

[QUOTE=IllusionHeart;1736832]IMHO if you are staying purely for mongering purposes then Mercure Kota is a better option. The Hotel is completely geared to handle all your nocturnal activities. Its also close to Harmoni (Malioboro) barely a 10 minute walk. I enjoyed my recent stay there and will definitely stay again if I return to Jakarta.[/QUOTE]Out of curiosity, have you stayed at both Mercures? I haven't, but am under the impression the Grand Mercure Harmoni is in better condition and likely has better and more comfortable rooms. Given they are so close to each other, I'm not sure what your recommendation of the Mercure Kota over the Mercure Harmoni is based on. But let us know as I'm not saying your recommendation of Kota over Harmoni is wrong, just that your post doesn't give enough information to evaluate the basis for it.

Yes we are going to Jakarta purely for mongering. There are three of us so I initially was just thinking of three separate rooms--and since we arrive in Jakarta early afternoon after a long flight from the US, being close to Malioboro made some sense. But Smoothy's suggestion of a 2 BR suite, got me thinking. Have any of you guys ever tried Airbnb? There are some nice looking condos available in the $300/ night range. Only issue would be are they girl friendly. Our preference is to mostly go to CJ's and BATS and bring FL back to the room. Anyway, thanks for all of the good advice.

I just checked out the Mercure Kota on Agoda. The hotel looks real good, BUT I am a little suspicious because the rate quoted - $28 for a deluxe room and $32 for executive room seems very low to me. Usually when something is too good to be true something is wrong, for example, is there any noisy construction / remodeling going on inside the hotel. So has anybody stayed at this hotel recently and paid these unusually low rates? It just seems like a really really good deal for a nice 3. 5 star hotel. Is it too good is all I am asking.

[QUOTE=PStevens999;1736897]Yes we are going to Jakarta purely for mongering. There are three of us so I initially was just thinking of three separate rooms--and since we arrive in Jakarta early afternoon after a long flight from the US, being close to Malioboro made some sense. But Smoothy's suggestion of a 2 BR suite, got me thinking. Have any of you guys ever tried Airbnb? There are some nice looking condos available in the $300/ night range. Only issue would be are they girl friendly. Our preference is to mostly go to CJ's and BATS and bring FL back to the room. Anyway, thanks for all of the good advice.[/QUOTE]Sorry, my mistake. It's not Puri Casablanca that I recommend, it's Somerset Grand Citra Jakarta. Puri Casablanca is ok too and cheaper and also near a mall, but Somerset Grand is the one near Mal Ambassador and I like it better. Puri Casablanca is down the road. You can get a 160 square meter (this is large) 3 bedroom apartment at Somerset Grand for about $200 a night. Almost every place in Jakarta is girl friendly. If you found a very nice condo for $300 a night, that would be cool depending on how many bedrooms and location. A few of us guys stayed at a place called Penthouse Grand Tropic Suites once for a party. It cost about $250 a night, but the place was huge (over 500 square meters). However, it's in Grogol which is almost near the airport so it's a long trip anywhere. It works well when you have the girls arranged to meet you there though.

Mercure can work too though (any hotel can work. Haha), but if you are looking for daytime shagging in the North Jakarta brothels, Mercure is a really good choice due to traffic.

Natty Bumpo-where did you stay on your recent trip to Jakarta?

[QUOTE=Smoothy;1736916]Mercure can work too though (any hotel can work. Haha), but if you are looking for daytime shagging in the North Jakarta brothels, Mercure is a really good choice due to traffic.[/QUOTE]Mercure Harmoni newer (and better) than their other one up the street. More modern and nice gym. Across the street, old mall, with some retail / meal convenience. And close to the action.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;1736912]I just checked out the Mercure Kota on Agoda. The hotel looks real good, BUT I am a little suspicious because the rate quoted - $28 for a deluxe room and $32 for executive room seems very low to me. Usually when something is too good to be true something is wrong, for example, is there any noisy construction / remodeling going on inside the hotel. So has anybody stayed at this hotel recently and paid these unusually low rates? It just seems like a really really good deal for a nice 3. 5 star hotel. Is it too good is all I am asking.[/QUOTE]That does seem a bit low for that hotel; the rates tend to be in the $40 to $60 range based on the few times I checked them. Is it possible you looked at rates during Ramadan (now in progress) and that because of the holiday the rates are lower than normal?

PStevens-

I stayed for 6 nights at the Morrissey upon my arrival in Asia. I booked the loft room which is a 2 story 48 sq meter 1 bedroom suite for $115 before taxes. I liked the hotel. The room was comfortable and clean. The pool was small, but then I was the only guest who made use of it. Breakfast was free and ok. The hotel was friendly and upbeat. The central location was very good in that there were a lot of Indonesian and western restaurants nearby and the big Plaza Indonesia was easy walking distance. Marioboro was a short taxi ride away at 8 pm. Later on at night there was no problem taking a taxi to CJ's, my new favorite international 5* hotel FL bar.

I stayed at the Intercontinental upon my return to Jakarta 7 weeks later. The Intercontinental is a very good hotel. There is no comparison of its quality or standard to that of the Moririssey. I stayed for free using my Priority Club vouchers and accumulated points. I liked the Intercontinental for its quality and appointments, the large swimming pool, and it's excellent restaurant. Huge buffet breakfasts were part of my free voucher package. They killed. The staff was very friendly. It is also very convenient for CJ's and Bats and the girls liked being brought back to elegance. 555. I prefer CJ's by the way.

On my last night in town, I didn't feel like going out because I had a very early flight in the morning back to the USA and my foot was killing me. Somehow a small rock splinter had become lodged under my toenail while I was playing around in Palawan. I was bathing the toe in hydrogen peroxide to keep the infection down to a minimum until I got back home, but my toe hurt. So I had my last meal in Asia in the executive lounge of the Intercontinental for free. The chef prepared freshly made Nasi Goreng with chicken which I devoured along with many tasty complimentary appetizers and a couple glasses of Chianti. I believe the rate at this hotel is normally between $140 and $160.

I have not decided where I will stay on my next visit. I am planning to spend 2 weeks in Jakarta this next time because I really like the girls here. Approximately half my time will be spent at the spas and brothels in the north and the other half of my time will be spent hanging out with FL's from CJ's and Bats and possibly the Blok M bars.

So I wouldn't mind staying at the Morrissey again if the price was right. I like the hotel and its location. I also like the idea of staying at the Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni. A friend highly recommends the Harmoni. I should note that he loves Malio Club and Malioboro and some of the other clubs and spas in that approximate area. Hey, so do I!

I will also have more points and vouchers so I expect to spend another 3 or 4 days gratis at the Intercontinental. And I have a lot of accumulated Marriott points as well. The problem is I really do not like the Jakarta Marriott as much as the Intercontinental. Room for room they are about equal. The Marriott may even have larger rooms, but I hate the location of the Marriott and they have a small pool. So I will probably split my Jakarta visit in two and stay the first part at either the Morrissey or Harmoni and then move up to the Intercontinental or Marriott, stay for free, and enjoy the FL bar scene in the south.

[QUOTE=LAGuy5;1737062]That does seem a bit low for that hotel; the rates tend to be in the $40 to $60 range based on the few times I checked them. Is it possible you looked at rates during Ramadan (now in progress) and that because of the holiday the rates are lower than normal?[/QUOTE]Nope, I was looking at rates in September / October and March 2016. Superior room $28.80 and Executive Deluxe Room $36.60. It looks like a great deal, but I am wary of it. It seems too good.

Update: I have just been informed privately by a board member so I will not mention his name, that some heavy construction was going on behind this hotel recently. This may be the reason for the low rates. Hotel management knowing there is a temporary problem will cut the price of their rooms to increase the demand. If this is the reason for the bargain rates at the Mercure then it is still a very good deal if you don't mind construction noise and plan to get up early. I stayed one time at the Fraser Hotel in BKK while construction was going on across the street. The rate was very cheap and the noise was not too bad although the construction workers always woke me up at 8am. The construction noise impacted the ambiance by the Fraser pool too.