Paris1972-Versailles2003

I need to tell you about my memorable experiences on hotels in Indonesia, basically base in Jakarta and Surabaya. This was my first experience with Indonesia and over the years had the opportunity to be back 8 times and got to know the country well, Many friends still in touch and lots of wonderful memories I like to keep in my blog, There are many posts on the country and its monuments and places to even airports! Do not know when back, but the memories will lingered forever, Hope you enjoy the post on my hotels in Jakarta and Surabaya as I,

First, let me give you Surabaya, a lot written on it in my previous posts; so here is the hotel I always stayed and by now has change name too. The old Somerset !

There was always a shuttle to my home base hotel , in Surabaya , the usual have come here Somerset Hotel and Résidences, great place where many in front desk knew me! Very centrally located and restaurant lane just a few blocks on foot from it. It is well located off the main highway for in and out quick which helps in traffic flooded Surabaya. The hotel is now under new owners and is call the Verwood Hotel & Serviced Residence.   The hotel is still located at Jalan Raya Kupang Indah, Surabaya East Java.

It is a huge property with all the trimmings, and always book here, easy walking to a street of many restaurants and right near the main road taking me to my assignment. This hotel features a restaurant, an outdoor pool, and a bar/lounge. Good for family and enjoy the children’s pool, playground, and arcade/game room. Enjoy the fitness center and perks like free self parking and a free area shuttle. Free WiFi, LED TVs with cable channels on the 467 soundproofed guestrooms with 24-hour room service. Other amenities include coffee/tea makers and free bottled water. Superbe always for several years.

The official Verwood hotel and Serviced Residence :http://www.verwoodhotel.com/index.html

Now let’s go full throttle to big Jakarta ,they were several here. They were :

The first stayed was at the  Hotel Santika Taman Mini Indonesia Indah at  Jl. Pintu 1, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, is connected to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII),(see post) one of Jakarta’s most popular museums park. Featuring a “miniature Indonesia,” the park showcases the rich cultural and natural diversity of this spectacular country. Located on the ground floor, Krakatau Restaurant offers the best in international, oriental and indonesian cuisine. Available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And the Jali-Jali Lounge is open 24-hours a day. The plus was to walk across the street to the wonderful park as above.

The Hotel Santika offers an outdoor pool, 2 dining options, free Wi-Fi and free parking, and modern rooms with a flat-screen TV. The rooms are tastefully decorated, elegant interiors, wooden floors, a safe, tea and coffee facilities and a bathroom with a hot shower. The hotel offers a gym, a business center, a 24-hour reception and a concierge service.  Hotel Santika Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is a 20-minute drive from Cilandak Town Square’s dining and shopping mall, and 1.5 hours from Soekarno Hatta International Airport.  (see posts)

The official Hotel Santika Taman Mini Indonesia Indah : https://www.mysantika.com/indonesia/jakarta/hotel-santika-taman-mini-indonesia-indah/

In subsequent trips I stayed at my most used hotel the Grand Kemang Hotel right in the entertainment center of Jakarta. You really don’t need a car staying here as all shopping, restos, bars to boot are walking distances. It has a wonderful Sparca restaurant. I must say for lodging was my best experience in Indonesia. Location is at Jl. Kemang Raya 2H Kebayoran Baru, Kemang.

The strategic position of the hotel, just 1 km from the city center, allows guests to easily and quickly reach many tourist sites. With the city’s main attractions including Kemang Street, Kemang Village, Wijaya Golf Course close to the property, guests will love this location. the establishment offers, among other things, 24-hour room service, free WiFi in all rooms, 24-hour reception, WiFi in public areas, valet parking. The hotel rooms have been furnished to the highest standards of comfort and ergonomics and some include the following amenities: flat screen TV, additional bathroom, additional WC, free instant coffee, free tea. The hotel offers an excellent variety of leisure facilities, including outdoor swimming pool, garden. Painting and art installations will spoil the eyes of visitors on various sides of the hotel. Now for the rooms, there are 203 in total. Some of them are the Junior Suite Room with an area of 48 m2 and an Executive Suite Room covering an area of 47m2 . Junior Suite Room in a spacious room, there is a bathroom with TV, minibar, refrigerator, sofas and tables for relaxing, dining together or talking with relatives. Meanwhile, to enjoy food and drinks, there is Sperta with a la carte menu and buffet, Sparca lounge, courtyard by the pool with Vibar. Great souvenirs and would love to come back here!

The official Grand Kemang Hotel : https://grandkemang.com/

The next in time hotel I stayed was the Amaroossa Cosmo Hotel was right in front of an overpass highway along the whole front even if told is in the chic district of Cilandak. My first sampler was at  the hotel Andromeda Cafe, ok with a nice mini garden in the back but again that wall of highway, the other was the Bell Lounge but it was dull no action nobody there lol!!! Not a pleasant experience even if quiet and friendly staff. It is located at Jalan Pangeran Antasari No. 9 a-b, Cilandak, Cipete Selatan, Jakarta.

You have   98 guest rooms, all of which are decorated and designed to give you the right to enjoy the most important things offered by all major hotels: the perfect place for you to rest, relax in fantastic comfort where all the needs will be fulfilled and pampered. All rooms are equipped with air conditioning, LCD TV, kitchen, living room, safe, hair dryer, telephone and mini-bar. Internet network can also be accessed free of charge in all areas of the hotel. There is also an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and restaurant to support your activities while in the hotel. You will also find other facilities such as laundry, free parking. You can drive about 20 minutes to Cilandak Town Square mall, while a trip to Soekarno Hatta International Airport takes 60 minutes from the hotel.

The official Amaroossa Cosmo Hotel : https://amaroossahotel.com/jakarta-cosmo/

And my very last hotel in Jakarta and Indonesia was the Swiss Belinn Hotel Simantupang. And twice to boot on same trip with an incursion to Surabaya and back to Jakarta.  The first round was for five nights and then there is one night before heading back home. Both times at a new hotel experience, the Swiss Belinn Hotel Simantupang, was a great experience even if the breakfast choices were few to me. The rooms were great, modern clean and spacious, and the location was good.  It is located at Jalan R.A Kartini 32, Lebak Bulus, Cilandak, Lebak Bulus, Jakarta.

In the city center, Swiss-Belinn Simatupang at about a 40-minute drive from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, and located in the vibrant Simatupang area of Jakarta. The popular Pondok Indah Golf and Country Club and Pondok Indah Mall are both reachable within 7 minutes’ drive from the property. Gandaria City Mall is a 15-minute drive away. The hotel’s 159 comfortable and stylish rooms in 20 floors feature dedicated workspace, sitting area and floor-to-ceiling windows with city views. In-room amenities include air conditioning, LCD TV, IDD telephone, personal safe, desk, refrigerator and complimentary Wi-Fi access. For a luxurious, guests can choose to stay in the hotel’s opulent suites.  After a hectic day of sightseeing, guests can relax in the hot tub or feel refreshed with a dip in the outdoor pool. The concierge staff assists with ticket bookings and restaurant reservations. Other than this, it also offers luggage storage, parking, laundry and free Wi-Fi access. A hearty local meal can be enjoyed in the elegant setting of the in-house restaurant, Barelo. It also serves a wide range of international delicacies, and lip-smacking Indian food. The anecdote was that driving back we got hit with a huge Jakarta traffic jam that in several years coming there never encountered. We decided to walk once saw the hotel on the distance from the road! and got to it first than our driver !! Always funny to tell the story !!

The official Swiss-Belinn Simatupang Hotel : https://www.swiss-belhotel.com/en-gb/swiss-belinn-simatupang

There you go folks, another dandy memorable post for me and great hotel experiences in Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia. Plenty of good memories and still good friends, looking forward to be back, eventually. Hope you enjoy the post as I.

And of course, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

I found me a couple pictures of my adventures in the Philippines and just need to have them in my blog, In my eagerness to know the town or district where I was lodge in Makati I took a long walk and came across the wonderful Ayala Triangle Park. It was one of the hightlights of my stay as came back several times, Let me tell you a bit on it ok, Hope you enjoy it as I.

The Ayala Triangle Gardens is a 2-hectare (4.9-acre) landscaped urban park in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a triangular public garden and courtyard in the center of the Makati Central Business District. It opened to the public in November 19, 2009 , inspired b y Hyde Park in London, the park, which is dotted with palms, acacia trees, and tropical foliage, is considered one of the few green areas in Makati.

I had several times good lunches at the Banaapple resto, and for the great local dish Lechon or pork dish at Simple Lang  in the wonderful park. Unfortunately, Simple Lang will have to be for the memories as it has closed down. Nevertheless, Ayala Triangle Park is a wonderful place to spent your time in Manila. The Ayala Triangle on Banaapple resto: https://www.ayalatriangle.com/gardens/restaurants/banapple

The buildings on the Ayala Triangle Park include the old Makati Stock Exchange Center and Ayala Tower One (home of the Philippine Stock Exchange) along the Ayala Avenue side, the old Nielson Tower, and Ayala Triangle Tower One and Ayala Triangle Tower Two ;home of The Shops at Triangle Gardens, and Ayala Mall (see post), at the intersection of Makati Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. Ayala Triangle Gardens Attractions: Filipinas Heritage Library, Gabriela Silang Monument, Ninoy Aquino MonumentSultan Kudarat Monument, Ayala Triangle Gardens Public Art:Homage to Antoni Tapies, Homage to Eusebio Sempere, Homage to Fernando Zobel, Homage to Luis Feito.

The land of the present-day Ayala Triangle Gardens was once the 42-hectare (100-acre) Nielson Field, Manila’s pre-WWII airport, located in the vast Hacienda de San Pedro de Macati of the Zóbel de Ayala family. When the airport was decommissioned in 1948 and transferred its present site in Nichols Field, the site was returned to the Ayalas and redeveloped as a commercial district The runways were converted into roads which now form the Triangle’s boundaries:Ayala Avenue, Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenue. Only the airport’s control tower was preserved,now the Nielson towers,which was converted into the Filipinas Heritage Library, and later as the Blackbird fine dining restaurant.  By 1971, the Ayala Corporation moved to its new headquarters in the Triangle at the Makati Stock Exchange Center building , The rest of the Triangle was then transformed into the football field known as Ugarte Field, named after the Filipino football legend of the 1930s, In the 1980s, Ugarte Field was the site of regular protests against the Marcos dictatorship.

The Ayala Triangle Gardens hosts the annual Festival of Lights, a lights and sound display from November to January of the following year for the Christmas season. It premiered on November 20, 2009 as the symphony of lights. The show runs every 30 minutes from local time 18h until 22h, More info webpage : https://manilaforkids.com/community-stories/the-festival-of-lights-kicks-off-the-christmas-season-in-makati/

The official Ayala Triangle park:https://www.ayalatriangle.com/

The National Philippines tourist office on Manila : https://philippines.travel/destinations/manila

There you go folks, a dandy park in a nice district of Manila. This is a nice place to spend some time in the city, Ayala Triangle Park of Makati. Glad to have it in my blog and hope you enjoy the post as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!