[HOTEL] The Alana Hotel Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia

The Alana Hotel Surabaya is a 4-star hotel, the brand new name under ASTON group. During our stay in Surabaya last month, we chose this hotel. We went to Surabaya for a short trip because Mr. K needed to take care of his living permit and has some business matter to do there. I was so happy to tag along because Surabaya somehow is one of our favorite domestic destinations in Indonesia, especially because we simply love its culinary choices!

We were there for 4 days 3 nights, and after browsing through some options, we chose the nearest hotel to Mr. K’s office, which is The Alana Hotel. To our surprise, the hotel is located very close to the office and better yet, it’s even within walking distance from the hotel. Actually from the Google Map, it doesn’t look THAT close but we were very happy that the choice couldn’t be better than that.

The hotel can be reached for less than 20 minutes from Juanda International Airport and close to the city’s main business areas. Close proximity to Jatim International Exhibition Center, shopping center, and the toll road to Sidoarjo and Gresik. I gave the rating 8 for the location because apparently, this is included in South Surabaya and it’s not really the “hip” area. Even finding decent café or restaurants was a bit challenging for us. The only bigger shopping complex in the neighborhood is the Royal Plaza Surabaya, which doesn’t really have anything interesting inside. But anyway, we can always depend on the great food from the hotel’s restaurants, keep reading! 😉

Since The Alana Hotel is relatively new, the hotel looks new, clean, and polished from the moment I stepped in. The lobby has a bright and modern look, with a reception desk on the right side, and the curved stairs connecting directly to the Oryza Coffee Shop and Phoenix Lounge on the Mezzanine floor. My visit this time very much was related a lot to these places, more on that later. Just beside the curved stairs, there is also a small yet decent Cinnamon Cake Shop which serves various kind of bread, cakes, etc.

The lobby only has few seats for waiting, but it doesn’t really matter because the check-in was fast and easy.

Booked ourselves a Superior Room for 3 nights with rate of IDR 628,000/night (inclusive of taxes), and honestly we couldn’t be happier. When I booked the hotel though, I noticed that hotel rates in Surabaya are much cheaper than in Jakarta. But as I stated above, the reason why we picked this particular hotel was because we needed somewhere close to Graha Pena building, which is literally just few steps away.

Our room was on 9th floor, and I really fell in love to the surroundings when the elevator door opened. The minimalist elegant design is strongly felt, with a calming-effect from the aromatherapy candles placed in some strategic spots. We got a smoking room, there was faint smoke smell along the corridors, but the aromatic candles gave a nice touch (and aroma) beating the annoying smoke odors.

The 28 sqm Superior Room doesn’t look big but it’s not small, either. We chose the double bed, and FYI, I notice that in hotel rooms like this, usually rooms with twin bedding are slightly larger. The room is very simple yet enough for quick stays. With 40” LCD TV, IDD Telephone, Tea and Coffee Facility, Safety Deposit Box, hair dryer and complimentary high speed Wi-fi, it’s more than enough for what we spent for this.

There is also a desk with mirror on the wall, a single sofa by the side of the bed, and FREE Minibar. The fridge is always fulfilled with 2 soda drink cans, and there are stacks of snacks on top. Everything is provided by the hotel for free, cool!

If you notice the glass wall on the left of the bed, it is the wall overlooking the bathroom. Just like typical business or modern hotels nowadays, there is always glass separator between bedroom and bathroom. Typically they always provide screens or curtains that we can choose to use or not, here is no different so it’s all good.

The bathroom is quite spacious for a 28 sqm hotel room, there is a sink in the middle, toilet and shower area facing each other.

Aside from a well-functioning bathtub, this is my ideal hotel room shower with options of rain shower as well as moveable hand shower. It’s always nice to have both options in my hotel rooms, especially when the hot water turns on so quickly! This can easily get 10 points from me alone, LOL.

I also love the soap/tube stand, a little touch like this is very important because I am always pissed whenever I go to a shower box where there is no place or stand to put the soaps, tubes, or bottles. It’s all about thinking like the guests and taking care of their needs when you build the place, agree?

The only downside of this shower area is that the drain didn’t seem to work so well. I don’t think it was because of dirt but perhaps the holes of the drain is too small for the water flow to go down faster. It could get flooded real quickly when I had showers and it was annoying at some point.

The first time I arrived at the hotel, I went to their Phoenix Lounge, which is located adjacent to the Oryza Coffee Shop, where the breakfast and many other buffet promotions are served. The lounge is nicely designed, giving a touch of relaxing vibe and very inviting. We tried some of the dishes there and I myself eventually tried more as I also ordered few more in the next days through room service.

For restaurant in hotel, the prices are quite competitive, between IDR 20,000 to 164,000 only.

Rawon Iga Sapi IDR 52,000

Traditional black beef soup served with “tempe bacem”, bean sprout, salted egg, crackers, and steamed rice.

Alana Fungi Pizza IDR 32,000

Topped with tomato sauce, mushroom, onion, and mozzarella cheese.

Iced Cappuccino IDR 30,000

Cona Hazelnut Frappe IDR 35,000

The food that I tried in my first visit impressed me somehow because I didn’t expect those to be that good. Those were not magnificent or wonderful in any ways, but very decent in term of flavors. I also managed to try some of their other menu later in next days, and I love their Ayam Taliwang and Crispy Duck Rice too. Seriously, I was one happy guest.

Overall, my 4D3N stay at The Alana was very pleasant and worth a post (that’s why I am writing this right now). Beside the great place to stay, the service was undoubtedly one of the best I have experienced so far in my life. There was never a word “too much” with their hospitality, everything was so natural and comforting that I felt it was already in their blood.

Till next time, because I shall come back there in the future! 😉

 *All prices are subject to 20% service charge & government tax

*The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.

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THE ALANA HOTEL SURABAYA
Jl. Ketintang Baru I No. 10-12
Surabaya 60231
East Java
Indonesia
P: +62-31 – 828 6818