Bulakan Beach House Carita

Recently, I had the chance to stay in Carita overnight with my team from work as part of a team building exercise. We travelled down from Jakarta on a Saturday afternoon and then got to the Beach houses around 5.30pm.
There were 29 of us and the ground floor of a villa had been book for all of us to sleep and wash in with the food provided outside next to the beach.

Bulakan beach is opposite the volcano of Kracatoa and we could see in the evening but not in the morning.

The actual resort if you can call it that comprised of a 2 main buildings for sleeping and staying, an outside seating and play area, its own private beach sort of and also a pier that went into the sea and you could sit and watch the sea and the waves. There was also a small swimming pool which I never ventured into as it was always full of kids and adults.

Near to the resort were very tiny shops that sold this and that and if you needed beer then it was 23,000 a can. 2km down the road heading into Carita there was an indomaret which was good. But never sold beer.

The room I was in was shared between 5 of us so I slept on a mattress on the floor, The ceiling leaked and there was one one plug socket so getting phones charged was a hassle.
The bathroom was OK but nothing special. Cold water shower and a western toilets. Bedding, towels, pillows were not included.

 The welcome sign on your way in

 The Pier from the resort

 Food was served for just us and under another tent for other people staying

 A view of the beach from the pier

 The grounds

 The room

 Seating area and assorted westerners

 Our building but we were on the ground floor

 Thats as close as I got to the pool

 The pier

The entrance to our building

For a quick weekend away for a change and a chance to be by the beach then it was perfect. However if you are not going with 28 others then perhaps try the hotels along Anyer instead. But if you want cheap and cheerful and to spend your time with a large group then it is idea. Bring some gang leads and a towel and a jacket for the evening as it does chill down.

Here is the link: http://www.bulakanbeach.com/gallery.html

Aston Hotel and Resort Bogor

I stayed that the Aston Hotel and Resort for work because I was attending a conference for my conference. The Aston is tucked away in a brand new complex alledgedly 5 minutes from the center of Bogor (maybe at 3am) and 45 minutes from Jakarta (thats pretty accurate if you drive at 130kph or more).
Like most newly developed places the roads in and out have not been thought about at all and so the last 30 minutes from the toll to the hotel was a very bumpy ride.

The hotel itself is huge. There are 3 towers for the rooms, several conference centers and swimming pools. 2 Bars and a couple of dining areas. Service was quick and smooth.

The room I was in was a twin share condo. It was in tower 3 and about a short walk to reception using escalators, bridges and walkways. However because it was raining so much the walk ways were wet and dangerous due to the slipping hazard and the escalators were not always switched on so they were quite simply just stairs. There were lifts but I am not that lazy. So I walked.

Back to the room. The room was small but comfortable and had 2 TV's. One in the bedroom and one in the small living area. There was a microwave and fridge and plenty of free water. The TV channels were good but the reception was not that great.
The beds were very narrow and the pillows far too big to sleep comfortably. But the room was warm compared to the coolness of the area. There was a balcony which was very nice to sit out in the evening and first thing in the morning although that did seem to attract misquitos.

The shower was powerful and had plenty of hot water to use.

One of the drawbacks of the place was the fact it was far from anywhere. There is a Lawsons, Indomart and a billards room next to it so getting snacks etc was easy and also ATMS. Pizza hut was a way from the hotel but I am sure you could negoiate with someone to take you there.
The bar in the hotel was ok if not a little pricey and the conference did manage to drink them dry.  However the room service menu and speed was great and they took either cash or credit card and the food was big and filling.

On top of which was the free wifi which was fast, simple and available throughout the whole resort which in my opinion was the best wifi I have experienced in a hotel in Indonesia so far.

As someone who attended a conference it was a great place to stay but I dont thinks I would stay there otherwise as without a car you could be stuck if you needed to get anywhere. There are no taxis in Bogor. Just motorbikes and minibuses, none of which stop at the resort or close by.

Click here for more details:

http://www.aston-international.com/ourhotels_overview.php?id=NDg=

View of one of the pools from one of the restaurants

A river runs through the resort, at speed when I took this!

The living area Kitchenette

Bathroom

Living area and fellow Conference attendee James

Small bedroom, big pillows

Seating area outside

Millennium Hotel Jakarta

The Millennium Hotel is located in Sirih which is behind Thamrim, very close to EX, Grand Indonesia, McDonalds and is a mid town priced hotel.

It has 15 floors and the most popular appears to be the 13th floor. All the rooms have great views over the city and are fairly big.
The bed is comfy and the TV is excellent with a good range of channels. The room itself is not the biggest I have stayed in nor the smallest but for the 2 nights I was here, it was very relaxing and quiet. My room was facing out to the east so the think lined curtains needed to be drawn for the sun rise.

The bathroom was fairly small as was the bathtub but it did have a bathtub and plenty of hot water as well which was great, however the shower was not great with limited pressure.

The towels were changed daily and the room made up. There was even a call by someone to see if I needed any laundry done, which I never.

No free Internet access in the room that I could discover. The telephone signal was good however and the 3g was no problem. The AC works far too well and it did get cold at night if you did not change the settings to warm it up a little.

I paid 600,000 rupiah a night through Agoda and there was no fuss at all with the checking in or out.

The breakfast time is between 6 and 10 and there is a good range of breads, fruit, Indonesia and Japanese food. Limited western options but still enough choice to fill you up. The coffee was slow to be refilled but it did arrive.

So overall the hotel is good to stay at and once they have finished the renovations I am sure it will be even better. I would consider staying here again because of the views, the ease of getting to places and the peace and quiet.

links

www.agoda.com
http://www.millenniumhotels.com/

Hotel Mulia Signature room

Luxury Hotels

Choosing which hotel to stay at in Jakarta, is never an easy choice as there are so many to choose from. Depending on your budget there is something for everyone from 50,000 a night flea holes around Jalan Jaksa  to 5 million or more at the biggest and poshest hotels in the city. 

The discount hotel website Agoda.com has 256 listed hotels for Jakarta alone so I guess if you are staying in the city then you need to think carefully about where to stay. Not easy if you have never been to Jakarta before or do not fully understand the traffic and vastness of the place and the time it takes to go from say, Kuninghan to Kemang or Blok M to Glodok on a Friday night in the rain....

However, for once the choice was made for me and luckily, happily and most enjoyably I just spent the night in the Hotel Mulia, Senayan. A top range 5 star hotel with more people opening car doors at the lobby than I have seen anywhere else in the world.

The Mulia is just down from Plaza Senayan and Senayan City and it is famous for its luxury rooms and the nightclub CJ's for other more infamous reasons. 

The wife and I were staying in a corner room in the Mulia Signature room which is huge. A King size bed, a sofa bed which could pass as another king size bed, a desk, the forementioned sofa, 2 views (it was a corner room) one out to The west and you could see Taman Angrek, Puri, and beyond and one of the city heading north and you could see the Monas, Istiqlal mosque and beyond as well. We were on the 10th floor and the views were great. The room was deathly quiet and there was little noise from anywhere during the stay. 

The views (panoramic)

The mini bar was well stocked but the prices come with 21% added tax on top of silly prices already, so we stayed away from the room service and brought what we needed with us.

The room style we were in starts at 2 million without breakfast and with breakfast takes it up to 3. 3 million is well spent don't get me wrong but for 3 million I would rather fly to Bali and stay 4 nights there!!!

However, it is quite clear that the hotel caters for more arabic and oriental people and so there were many TV channels for both and not a hint of Premier league soccer anywhere. Not that I really care, its just I remember when I stayed in the Ibis, there was!!!  (Ibis 400k a night, Mulia 2 million).

It was a great weekend way from the house and better than the last time we stayed there as the room was far far bigger and it was fantastic.

I am now waiting for the opportunity to stay at their new Bali resort. 

Links

www.hotelmulia.com

www,agoda.com

www.ibis.com/jakarta