When you think traveling outside Jakarta is troublesome, sometimes it’s good just to have a short getaway by having staycations at hotels inside the city. Since we had our first hotel staycations back in 2014, we never looked back and honestly, we are kinda “hooked” doing it even until now. The essence of a getaway is to keep our sanity and stay on track after being “drained” out doing our regular activities, so for me, it’s really more into the change of environment and “escape” from my usual life for a while. It doesn’t have to be too luxurious or expensive, but clearly we need somewhere to feel relaxed and come back home rejuvenated. Don’t you agree? π
Last January, we had our staycation at Novotel Gajah Mada Jakarta, a location that we normally avoid because of the massive traffic condition. This hotel is 4-star hotel but Novotel’s reputation as a hotel brand is already well-known. We stayed in many Novotel hotels before and so far we were quite happy with them. Our latest staycation experience in Novotel hotel was Novotel Bogor Golf & Convention Center (the reviews can be read here at PART 1, PART 2).
Our room that weekend was the Superior King Suite, which we chose because we simply wanted to relax and by reading the description from the website, the room seems to be quite spacious with total area of 60 sqm, with separated living room. We got a friendly rate although we just made reservation very late (that’s one of things I love about staying at Novotel hotels), and this big room was reserved at only about IDR 1,700,000/night (taxes included).
The hotel itself looks very new with modern minimalist design, exactly like what I usually see in catalogues. The color white paired with some red and black really emphasizes that feeling. It almost felt like I was staying at this sample house in property blocks or something, LOL. Not that I am complaining, though.
Our first impression when entering the room was that it is indeed quite big. However, there are so many wall partitions that make the room looking less “spacious”, although it occupies a large area. For example, there are actually sliding doors separating the main living room and bedroom with the other part completely blocked by wall.
The bedroom itself is very comfortable, with easy-to-the-eyes colors and clean outlook, I felt settled right away. There is this desk placed near the window and I appreciated the addition of vanity mirror, really!
In the living room, they have another TV set (so this room has 2 televisions installed, the one in living room is bigger than the one in bedroom), a sofa, and another study desk. I can picture this room perfectly for businessmen who need to welcome guests at their rooms and can feel the ease working without showing their bedroom to the guests.
The bathroom is another story. From the bedroom, the sink is accessible right away without any door/wall partition, while the bathroom is another step away separated by yet another sliding door.
Novotel Gajah Mada is one of those eco-friendly hotels (which I personally don’t really fancy), and they are using energy-saving light bulbs for the rooms. I don’t know if this really works or not, but I prefer my bathrooms to be bright and clear. In the contrary, I noticed that the installed lights in this bathroom is very limited for that area, and it was quite dark in there. Not entirely dark, of course, but I prefer brighter bathroom.
Our visit at this hotel was fairly good but the only downside was the lighting and the air conditioner. No matter how low we set the temperature, the room was still quite warm. Even after we called the hotel technician, the problem wasn’t really solved. π
However, we must say that we did enjoy the 1 night stay at Novotel Gajah Mada. The environment is also okay especially if you’re looking for the popular night street culinary around the neighborhood (Gajah Mada, Hayam Wuruk, Mangga Besar, etc), staying at this hotel is recommended. If you choose to go nowhere for food, you can eat at the hotel’s restaurants or go to the convenient store located just in front of the lobby! Thanks for reading! π
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*All prices are inclusive of 21% service charge & government tax
*The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.
** This review is written based on our stays on 2-3 January 2016.
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NOVOTEL GAJAH MADA JAKARTA
Jl. Gajah Mada No. 188
West Jakarta 11120
Tel. +62 21 2936 7777
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