Raffles Hotel, Jakarta

It’s just like “love at first sight”, I took one stay at the gorgeous Raffles Hotel in Jakarta one year ago, and then… there was just no turning back.

I first stayed at Raffles Hotel on June 2015, on a leisure Jakarta visit during its first months opening. The decision to have a one-night stay was primarily induced by my curiosity for art installations which articulate subjects from a celebrated Indonesian artist, Hendra Gunawan, implemented throughout the hotel.

Two of his famous works are rendered as large scale mosaics crafted with tens of thousands of tiny shimmering glass tiles, at the lobby and poolside veranda.

I fell in love with fluidity of movement and use of colours which can be found in the daring palettes and design used throughout the lobby, the restaurant, the rooms and the suites, the spa and the gym. I love how every single detail have been really thought out well.

Elegant Indonesian aesthetic design combines with modern technology and supreme comfort are being offered by this hotel’s 173 rooms and suites,

– 68 Raffles Rooms
– 40 Raffles Garden View Rooms
– 21 Signature Rooms
– 22 Artist Suites
– 11 Gallery Suites
– 10 Garden View Suites
– 1 Raffles Suite

My first stay was in a Signature Room, which was tastefully furnished with everything one could possibly dream of for a comfortable and luxurious stay. This room with two snuggly queen-sized bed provided the feel of a junior suite, with sliding panels concealing the bedroom for extra privacy. The bathroom has generous proportions and adjoins a separate dressing area with a vanity table.

The Artist Suite that I stayed in Raffles Hotel for the second time, was located on the corner of 18th floor, providing panoramic views of the city. This well-appointed one-bedroom suite with 97 square meter space was more than enough to accommodate four of us, comfortably and luxuriously.

Thanks to floor to ceiling windows that facilitated natural soft lights outspreading all over the suite.

The polished cream marble giving off a cool, relaxing disposition that only luxurious marble can do. It’s used throughout the entire suite covering the floors, the living room, guest toilet, and main bathroom. The dark wood flooring is used in the bedroom.

The impressive furnishings and elegant ornaments set an exquisite tone all over the generous sized living room, spacious bedroom and palatial walk-in wardrobe and bathroom.

Raffles Hotel offered selected pillow menu other than those they provide on the king beds. Therefore we tried a Cotton Pillow (for an “all-rounder” guest who move around whilst sleeping), a Memory Foam (that shapes to the sleeper’s body thus reducing pressure points), and Ladies Pillow (that help to relieve neck, shoulder and back pain thus provide cool night sleep). With the cozy beds and the snug pillows we had according to our preference, no wonder it’s so d*** hard for us to wake up every morning .

Bathroom is an essential part in a hotel room for me. The walk-in wardrobe, the shower cubicle with rain shower head, the separate lavatory closet, the deep soaking bathtub (with flower petals in the bath salts they provided and refilled every day), the ‘his’ and ‘her’ vanity, the dressing table, even the toiletries in the suite were marvellous made me speechless, I couldn’t ask for more!

I was pleasantly surprised to find two set of well-designed-by-Oscar Lawalata soft bathrobes.

Their attention to details down to practical amenities like a desk drawer filled with stationery such as paper clips and highlighters that extends beyond the basic pen and notepaper.

And with the fast-speed and stable wifi in the room and throughout the hotel, providing us with unlimited internet access to work with.

DVD Player was provided in the suite, with a convenience to borrow DVD titles, free of charge.

There was an Illy coffee machine and tea service by TWG in Refreshment Corner in the room in spite of the fact that hot teas, cappuccinos and lattes can be delivered to your room at no additional charge.

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Arts Cafe is the restaurant at level 1, where we would have breakfast. Food was a spread with the wide range of choice so you won’t get bored if you were there for more than a few days. We were well taken care of with freshly cooked eggs, freshly squeezed juice, muffins, croissants and pastry assortment, with international and continental food arranged artfully across the buffet tables.

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Have you ever faced a dilemma when confronted with the prospect of having to fork out up to IDR 250K-400K per person for a hotel breakfast, the kind of price that could well leave you choking on even the best locally-sourced sausage.

But here in Raffles Hotel, additionally to the buffet, we also can order a la carte breakfast menu with no additional cost!

So after digging in the buffet, we got ourselves a superb Egg Benedict (IDR 130K) with the option of smoked chicken ham or smoked salmon on toasted English muffin, buttered baby spinach, and hollandaise sauce, appetizing Two egg omelette with pork bacon, chicken sausage, tomato Provencale, sautéed mushrooms and golden hash brown (IDR 140K), awesome Crispy Belgian Waffle (IDR120K) with vanilla chiboust, maple syrup, and fresh assorted berries, Brioche French Toast (IDR 100K) accompanied with banana compote and hazelnut paste.

The Writers Bar is an awe-inspiring lounge, a haven of Indonesia art and heritage, designed by the artist Hendra Gunawan, where you can enjoy their iconic Slings in the Writer’s Bar, a true signature indulgence while in residence with Raffles.

Navina is located beside the pool, where you can enjoy a light meal or a sun downer while sitting surrounded by a lush tropical garden.

The other prominence Raffles hotel entitle is the butler service, that is appointed to every room and suite which I thought is very personal and attentive. You can ask for hot tea or cappuccinos that will made by order and delivered to your room anytime!

Our suite came with a benefit where we can opt for having two sets of breakfast to be delivered to our suite. There are 4 type of Breakfast set, Continental, American, Archipelago and Raffles Wellness.

On our first morning, we had the Continental set that included freshly squeezed apple juice, chefs selection of fresh sliced tropical fruit plate, cereals and milk, croissant and muffins and premium butter and honey and jams, and hot chocolate. The Archipelago set included watermelon juice, chefs selection of fresh sliced tropical fruit plate, nasi uduk (coconut rice, crispy chicken, tofu, spicy anchovies, and sambal), and hot tea.

On our second morning, we had the Archipelago set again, merely because of the nasi uduk we savoured so much on our first in-room breakfast. And we tried the American set, consisted of apple juice, a plate of fresh sliced tropical fruit, omelette and bacon, chicken sausages, tomato Provencale, sautéed mushrooms and golden hash brown, plain croissant and French baguette, with premium butter, honey and jams, and cappuccino.

On our last morning at Raffles, we had the Archipelago set and chose the Nasi Uduk again, for three days in a row (Yeah, I know what you’re thinking). But this time, I asked to exchange the other set to Egg Benedict (IDR 130K) with salmon and French style crepes (IDR 110K) with banana, granola, apple, maple syrup and vanilla chiboust. And yes, both were free of charge! Thank you .

The Spa was an urban oasis with a choice of steam room, experience showers where you can try three kind of shower by pressing the buttons on the wall inside the shower room, marble heated beds that were so relaxing to our stiff muscles, 6 treatment rooms including 4 single rooms and 2 couple suites that were so beautiful and serene, and 2 relaxation rooms that were look fancy.

There was a 25 metre outdoor pool, leisure pool and jacuzzi, cabanas, fitness centre that open 24 hours, yoga terrace, outdoor jogging track, and mini children’s playground at level 14.

With most hotels in Jakarta dedicate a small space in an obscure part of the hotel for the gym, Raffles Hotel, Jakarta beg to differ with lots of choice of well-maintained equipment, lots of space for free-exercise and direct access to the lush Hendra Gunawan gardens. Loved my morning yoga and hubby loved his gym session!

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A major advantage of the hotel’s location is that it is linked to the Lotte Avenue Mall which offers a myriad of dining options and some decent shopping options.

We stayed there for four days and Raffles Hotel offers high quality accommodation combined with excellent service, it exceeded our expectations. The staff are friendly and hospitable, they greet you whenever they see you, reminded me of the hotels and resorts in Bali. Honestly speaking, it is one of the nicest room and one of the best hotel I have stayed in Jakarta so far. It’s totally worth your Weekend Getaway.

It was an impeccable experience and worth a third staycation (*wink to hubby ). Looking forward to my next stay at the Raffles Hotel!!