DiscoveryAncol — Hotel in Jakarta

Went there with my family for a short vacation. First of all, the good aspects. The free food for breakfast are good. The grilled tomato and waffles are great for buffets. The stalls are replaced quite quickly, so you won't find empty food stalls even during a fully packed breakfast. For the restaurant, I had dinner at the Kemang Resto. the price is insane BUT understandable. The food taste is so-so for such price, but the ingredients are good. I ordered the grilled ribs, it was delicate, but the Rawon-like soup is underwhelming.

Now for the bad ones. I ordered 2 family rooms and 1 deluxe room. The deluxe room and one of the family room are fine, looks just like what advertised. Sadly, the other family room (708) looks like the cheapest room with 4 single beds. No carpet, small bathroom, totally different with the other family room on the 5th floor. Not to mention some stains on the ceiling. Oh, and the air conditioning is horrible I cannot sleep on the first night because it was so hot. The shower was also leaked, although I finally got a replacement later on.

Now for the WORST part. The hotel advertised buggy cars for a drop off and pickup around Ancol. On Saturday afternoon, around 2-3 PM, I ask the receptionist if I can book 2 buggy cars for a drop off and pick up to Bandar Djakarta restaurant, where I have a 5 PM reservation. They say that they can do that and they booked 2 buggy cars for 8 of us for 4.30 PM later on the afternoon. When we came there at 4.30 PM, there was only 1 buggy. When I asked the receptionist (different one from when I do the reservation for the Buggy), he said that the buggy is out for a pick up and the drivers are not available. This reallt bugged me since Bandar Djakarta is a very HECTIC restaurant and they took bookings very seriously. After waiting until 4.55 PM, the buggy still not came back and we decided to take the car to Bandar Djakarta, which is annoying because the parking is so crowded. If the guest cannot reserve the buggy or on a first come first serve basic, you should've said it so we don't have to wait anxiously for the buggy. Just say NO to guests when you can't do that. It definitely ruined the mood and almost ruined our plan for dinner.

So, yeah, I won't really recommend this hotel unless it is the very last choice to make when you're...

Long story short: after a little bit of hassle, we received a great service and experience during the stay.

I booked one room on this hotel through their official website (not OTA or any other travel agents) after a whole day trip at Dufan with my friends. It was Ramadan fasting month. The room-rate that I chose was Ramadan package that in the website is depicted to include Breakfast (can be changed to Sahoor) and Iftar dinner.

Upon check-in process, I was told that I need to choose a package menu as Sahoor menu, which totally understandable that hotels might not be able to provide buffet all the time for Sahoor time. However, it's quite shocking that they say the breakfast itself wouldn't be in buffet. I didn't expect that from 4-star hotel at all and COVID-19 restriction has been lifted many months ago.

Another shocking news for me that the Iftar dinner package is only available for 1 pax and I will get 100k IDR voucher for the second pax (the price is 250k IDR per person for Iftar dinner). Also I was told that it may or may not be in buffet. No certainty was given to me at that time. But the main point is the information of Iftar dinner that only for 1 pax is not depicted in the room-rate title, instead it is depicted on the detailed term and service.

I submitted some complain that I feel cheated with this kind of 'hidden' information. Implicitly, everyone will think that every service that included in the room-rate would be eligible for 2 pax.

After several discussion with the staffs, they said that they felt the confusion that I've been through and in the end they still gave us the Iftar dinner package for 2 pax. I then also submit some suggestion that they need to clearly depict that in the room-rate title if they want to exclude the information only for 1 pax. They were happily listen to my suggestion.

After all that hassle, I was happy that they listened to the customers and showed their empathy. I think that's the core point of hospitality industry.

Apart from that, the room was descent, the food was good, the pool was beautiful, and they also gave free entrance upon entering Ancol area. Just need to call first to make sure whether your room-rate includes the free...

TLDR: I FEEL SCAMMED, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE. GO ELSEWHERE.

The long version: To enter the Ancol compound, You Have to pay extra fee per person as well as a fee for the car, (yes, you have to pay for your driver and his car if you use online ride sharing services, not sure about taxis though) and if you leave the compound to see other parts of Jakarta, you have to pay to get in again which feels a lot like a scam. This should have been explained on every websites taking bookings for this hotel.

Room was very poorly insulated, can hear everything from people talking in the hall way or people talking outside the window I.e the pool. The night I checked in. There was a party by the pool for a large group of people, which I feel, as a "4 star" hotel, they have a duty to inform all the patrons who have reservations at their hotel and let their customers decide whether or not they still want to stay there. The Music was blasting so loud we can feel every beats in our room. When I rang the reception, apparently the party was supposed to keep going until 10pm and that there was nothing they can do for us (a family with a 5 year old). After wasting my breath arguing with the receptionist, they finally transferred us to the manager on duty who decided to move us to a different wing. Which means I lost the pool view that I paid extra for after the receptionist convinced me to upgrade when I checked in. Which again, feels like I've been scammed.

The room itself was in a very bad shape. Furnitures was deteriorated. Had to call their maintenance guy twice in the two nights we stayed there to fix the broken shower and toilet.

The "Ancol" compound apparently has only three main gates to enter and leave from, but trying to get in/out at 8.30pm is like trying to solve the Rubik's cube. They shut the gate closest to the hotel and only have one gate open. For an out of town person like myself, it's really frustrating trying to navigate your way to try and figure out how to get to the only gate that's open.

It was not a good experience and I do not recommend anyone to stay...