Hotel Ambhara Jakarta, Jakarta

I stayed at this 4-star hotel for 6 nights when I was training in Jakarta in 2005. Even though this is not a review about Jakarta itself, I'll start with a little bit of Jakarta which I believe is important for you when deciding to go there.

'''What and where is Jakarta?'''

Jakarta is the capitol city of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), the world's largest archipelagic state, located in Southeast ...
...all.

'''The hotel location'''

The Hotel is located in the south of Jakarta, which is called 'blok M', near the main bus station of the 'blok M' which I could find shop with good-bargain price in its basement and buses and coaches to travel to many places in Jakarta, including the famous TransJakarta (a bus rapid transit system - opened on 2004). I am quite happy to lived near the TransJakarta station so I could travel ... more

I stayed at this 4-star hotel for 6 nights when I was training in Jakarta in 2005. Even though this is not a review about Jakarta itself, I'll start with a little bit of Jakarta which I believe is important for you when deciding to go there.

What and where is Jakarta?

Jakarta is the capitol city of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), the world's largest archipelagic state, located in Southeast Asia, a country on the ring of fire. The whole country consists of more than 15,000 islands (around 6,000 are inhabited) lying along the equator, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and has more than 200 millions of population, the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation. Jakarta is located on the northwest coast of the Java Island, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River on a Bay which bears the same name as the city. The northern part of Jakarta is constituted on a plain land but the southern part is constituted on 13 hills.

Climate of Jakarta - Do you love hot climate?

There is not much to say about Jakarta's climate since it is located next to the equator. Jakarta has a hot and humid equatorial/tropical climate (Af) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. The city is humid throughout the year with daily temperature range of 25°C to 38°C; Absolute maximum is 43.8°C and absolute minimum is 21.5°C.

Since I was born and raised in the hot Climate of Bangkok, I do not fancy hot and humid climate of Jakarta at all.

The hotel location

The Hotel is located in the south of Jakarta, which is called 'blok M', near the main bus station of the 'blok M' which I could find shop with good-bargain price in its basement and buses and coaches to travel to many places in Jakarta, including the famous TransJakarta (a bus rapid transit system - opened on 2004). I am quite happy to lived near the TransJakarta station so I could travel to and fro much more reliable and cheaper than taxi.

On the other side of the road, it is one of the biggest shopping mall in Jakarta named 'Pasaraya Grande'. In this huge 2-wing building, you can find many stairs filled with stuffs to buy, including 1st floor of native products, this is a perfectly place to find souvenirs. It took me 1 hour and a half to travel from Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport, which is located north of Jakarta, to the hotel by taxi.

Personally, I am the kind of person who happy to try public transportation in different countries. So, the location of this hotel is really serving my need as I can find a lot of public transportation in the 'blok M' station. This is the main advantage of this hotel in my thought.

However, the hotel is located in the Southern part of the city. It took me too long to travel north to tourist attractions.

Score: 7 out of 10

The hotel room

The hotel offers 4 room types: Deluxe, Junior Suite, Business Suite, and Executive Suite. I will not include the room rate here since it can be changed from time to time.

I was stayed in deluxe room and found these in the room; a Queen Bed, TV, telephones (in bedroom and bathroom), water boiler (for coffee / tea), Bath tub, bathroom amenities, hair drier, internet connection (pay per use), writing desk, mini bar, refrigerator and safe box, all of them are in fine condition except the bed which I found too soft. I have got back pain throughout the week.

Actually, I do not prefer a room that is decorated in classic fashion because it is usually too dim to do things, especially when attending a training event which I need to do assignments, but this room is fine for me. The room was well lit and I could adjust the brightness of the room by turning on and off some lights. The hotel also provided a writing desk with a desk lamp, which was enough for me to do my assignments.

Score: 6 out of 10

Other facilities and services

The hotel has a swimming pool and fitness centre but I did not use them because of the lacking of the information provided by the organiser of the training. One big mistake I have found from hotel service is that the hotel staffs could not provide visitors with the map of Jakarta; they have only the map of surrounding areas. For me, a map is vital for visiting a town or city. Since I could not get one from the airport, I looked forward to ask for one from the hotel, and I was very disappointed.

In addition to the map issue, my classmate found a used map left in his room. It was a fine map with a lot details and proved very worthy but it meant that the housekeeping was not doing their job good enough. I also found this problem throughout the week. When I was checked-in, the room was in its best condition, everything was tidy. But after a day or two, I found out that the housekeeping usually forgot something. One day, they failed to provide towel in the bathroom. Another day, they forgot to add complimentary bottles of water. And so on. So, I was quite frustrated of the housekeeping service of this hotel.

The service mind of the staff is quite impressive. Even though their English were not that good, they tried to ask and response to what I need. I found some frustration on the service provided by the hotel but not the staff, they are friendly.

Score: 6 out of 10

Environment around the hotel

Since the hotel located near one of the crowded area in south Jakarta, the environment was quite unfriendly. People are crowed, a lot of traffic congestion, and air smell is quite bad. I found the area very crowded... too crowded. I believe it is a developing zone... a lot of mixture between traditional poor buildings and modern department stores.

I also found that the department stores within the walking distant from the hotel are strictly guarded. All of them are surrounded with high fence and very difficult to enter or exit. Visitors are asked to open their luggage. Cars' doors are opened for observation. Even though, I understand that these measures are to ensure the safety of visitors inside but it made me feel uncomfortable. It also referred to me that it was not safe in the area.

Score: 4 out of 10

Wrapping up

All in all, my experiences of the hotel are mixed with positive and negative things. I will recommend this hotel for those who choose not to stay in the centre part of Jakarta because the hotel is okay and located near the public transportation service. But I think 4-star is over rated.

Overall score: 6 out of 10

Thanks for reading
©PY106 2008

**Note on the score: The rate is not for 4-star hotel but in my scoring system, a 4-star hotel should have around 8 out of 10 

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