Jakarta Hotel Reviews

The hotel is near the National Museum which is very informative about the Indonesian history, also for shopping Plaza Indonesia is just 5 minutes away by car. But of course you need to be careful, not to forget to lock the car anywhere you go as crime rate is quite high in Jakarta.

Would recommend Lana thai restaurant in CBD near Mandarin Oriential and Cafe Batavia on Kota, both good food and atmosphere.

The Hotel is very well centralized and within walking distance to the Sportsman''s Bar (Wester Pub and Restaurant) and many other places to eat and entertainments. The Pasaraya Mall is located accross the street for shopping, banking and eating facilities.

Ibis Kemayoran is close to the central banking complex (Bank Indonesia) and a very short taxi ride to a reasonable shopping complex and food court. It is also close to one of the cities clothing and computer shopping areas (manga dua). A favourite trick by taxi drivers is to say the road ahead is traffic jam and then proceed to travel around which will take longer (and more costly) then the "normal" direct route.

The Hotel is across the street from the Pasaraya Shopping Mall where you can walk and buy anything and get any service desired. The Pub is also very good and offers western food if desired. The night club has a different band playing different types of music.

Waterworld is just a few minutes drive by taxi. There''s also mangga dua mall next door for your electronics needs. Food court on 5th level. Minimart on 4th. Mangga dua SQUARE is just 5 mins by Bajai (scooter). Taxis will insist on min charge, or take the opp route to delay time. This has carrefour, shops (clothes,handbags), and food court with great ambience. The in place for this area.<br> <br> Bluebird cabs are generally reliable. The doors will lock as soon as you leave hotel compound. Don''t panic, This is for your own safety. Night street stalls sell cheap stuff outside main road. Just be wary of pickpockets. Not my scene. For good indonesian food, drop by Pondok Laguna (at lunch/dinner time only). It''s located on jalan batu ceper/ batu tulis. Ask taxis if they know where it is first, else just get the hell out. Once you get there, sample their in house specials. Gurame goreng, tahu sumbat, sayur asem, ayam bakar and list goes on. Great food! Make sure you find a bluebird cab to hitch a ride home. Head to Pasar Baru if you are into more shopping. You can find oil painting there too.

FJ Bistro & Restaurant in Kemang Timor for cool atmosphere, good food and amazing teas.

Antiques both new and old can be found at Jalan Surabaya where keen haggling skills are needed to get a good price. Restaurants to try include Koi Gallery (wide variety), Hazaras (Indian), Porta Venizia (Italian), and Styx (beef). Navigating Jakarta is tricky and it helps a lot to know how to get there if it is anything other than a top hotel, mall, or restaurant. The Silver Bird taxis are knowledgeable, but never a sure thing. Don''t worry if the driver needs to ask for directions a few times.<br> <br> If you are new to Asia, try the Executive theaters at Plaza Indonesia for a luxury movie experience. Large number of excellent golf courses within 90 minutes of Jakarta. One of the nicest is Bogoria in Bogor. Jakarta is an exciting destination but it takes new visitors a while to get the rhythm of the place.

Visited Plaza Indonesia, Ancol Dreamland, ITC Mangga Dua and ITC Kuningan. Can get taxi very easily from the hotel but again the traffic is quite bad esp. during peak hours. Enjoy shopping at Kuningan, Mangga Dua and also Soga (Plaza Indonesia).

For shopping, I would recommend you to go to Tanabang, Mangga Dua, Pasar Senen, Pasar Baroe and Sarinah Store. The price is cheap and unbelievable. If you love history and heritage, don''t miss to visit Gaja Mada National Museum and Monas.

I was on a business trip, I rent a car and drive. It''s okay if you have the guts, but hey, I use to live there for 3 years, so I''m alright with Jakarta driving experience. If you want to go anywhere on Thamrin/sudirman stretch, I''d recommend the Buslane Bus... it''s by far the fastest way to reach anywhere from Mangga Besar to Blok m, and there''s a bus stop just in front of the hotel....

This was a business trip, so I cannot comment on tourist sites. As for transport, I would recommend to stick to taxis from the Bluebird Group, as they are still the most reliable and least hassle. For phone bookings, Putra Taxis, also clean and no hassle, are better, as the minimum payment is less than with Bluebird. The Transjakarta bus (Busway) is very good if one wants to travel between North and South Jakarta.

I used Gray line for their tours...they were well informed and friendly. The hotel is very close to Gambir rail station...handy for day trips to Bandung.

This hotel is located in Jakarta Utara, close to Ancol recreational park but a little bit far from block M area, where you can find many interesting Indonesian items. Mangga Dua is suitable for people looking for clothing, electronics but not recommended for tourist. Always insist for blue bird taxi, quite reliable and very friendly.

Cafe Batavia, Oasis and Hasara are awesome restaurants - both for food and for atmosphere.

If shopping is on your to-do list, Plaza Indonesia is a very pleasant place to visit. Not crowded with a great selection of stores. CGK is a good airport to travel from, but it helps to have lounge access when your flight is early in the morning. The Premier Lounge (available to eligible passengers of CX and SQ) was a good place to relax while waiting for my flight to board.

Shopping centres you should visit is Semanggil (Jl Sudirman), Plaza Indonesia (Hyatt Hotel) and Pasaraya Gran (Jl Kabayoran) where you can get most of what you''re looking for. Restaurants are average everywhere.

We arrived 2 days after the Jakarta bomb at the Australian Embassy, and local people seemed surprised that we (Australians) were still game to visit, and pleased that we were there. We got around by taxis which were quite cheap but on average they were reluctant to use their meters and we had to insist. No problem with Bluebird cabs, but imitators were abundant. We visited Ancol complex and walked around the beach. Good food and drink, not many tourists (indo or australian).<br> <br> Mangga Dua shopping mall was not far from the hotel, and well worth a visit - clean and bright and modern, with good prices on consumer goods, and there are lots of rumah makans and padang restaurants nearby which do a roaring trade. Also visited Pasar Raya shopping mall a little south of the city, better than Mangga Dua and a favourite of ours. Only about Rp 15,000 by taxi. The market around the mall was a hassle.<br> <br> Sunda Kelapa harbour was interesting, watched boats being laden with timber bound for Sumatra and outlying islands, but the bearers loading the timber only get paid Rp 25,000 per day, a pity. Went to Cafe Batavia on Fatahillah Square. Despite it being lunchtime on a Saturday, it was very quiet. Beautiful ambience, old colonial features, ceiling fans, dark wood, linen table cloths etc - very Raffles. Also very overpriced - we had a modest 2 course lunch which cost Rp 425,000 for 2 people including 2 beers - still stinging from that bill. Visited Istiqlal Mosque, the biggest in SE Asia, which was beautiful - 5 storeys high and very vast and cool inside. We were made very welcome and given a tour by the guide/guard who advised us that he "normally gets Rp 20,000 from each person" for the tour. We gave him only Rp 20,000 total and he seemed ok with that.<br> <br> Also visited the fleamarket on Jl Surabaya which was very interesting - well kept, neat, orderly, little tiny shops in a row filled with bric a brac, "antiques", bits of porcelain, coins, brassware, and assorted interesting bits and pieces - worth a visit. We did struggle to fill 3 days in Jakarta and were happy to be leaving at the end, and feel we won''t return unless it''s necessary to pass thru on the way to another destination. Having said that, we have visited in the past and stayed a beautiful villa in Pondok Indah with swimming pool and cook, and were chauffered around by drivers - if that had been the case again, I''m sure we would feel very differently than having to find our own way around in dodgy taxis in uncertain areas.

I didn''t take any tours cos I was there for business but Hardrocks good, not very far from the hotel. Laguna is a restaurant to go and if you''re travelling by cab make sure you take the BlueBird cabs, they go by the meter. If you choose not to travel at night, then the Hotel''s Tiga Puluh Bar will be the best place to relax and have some fun. As for shopping, Mangga Dua (2) should be the best place to shop.

Best and safest way to go around in Jakarta at the moment is by SILVER BIRD. Avoid traffic if you can. Stay inside shopping malls!!