Sparks Life Jakarta, ARTOTEL Curated — Hotel in Jakarta

Good location, set back from the road with it's own access and parking. Very easy check-in. Fast lifts with secure feature - room key operated - gives you access to your floor and the ground floor only. Pool is on 2nd floor so you need staff to give you access by lift or use the stairs. I stayed here twice within a 2 week period - once in a deluxe double and once in a superior double. They were the same size (274 sq ft) and both had safe, wifi, air-con, fridge with minibar and kettle with free water and supplies but no milk or whitener. Superior had a shower, deluxe had a bath as well. One drawback was the shortage of power points - 1 for the kettle and 1 for the tv so just as well I had a multi-adapter. ||Both rooms had limited storage with just hanging space, one shelf and one drawer.|Laundry service available but it took 2 calls and 2 visits to the front desk before they collected mine (the following day) so I missed the 1900 deadline for next day return. I also reported a light not working in the bathroom but they didn't bother to fix it even though I'd told them I could barely see to shave.||Buffet breakfast was included but consisted of 90% Asian food with the only nod toward a western diet being eggs, bread, toast and fruit.||Wifi was very patchy in the deluxe room and kept disconnecting me. The pool was large and very clean but unattended and no towels to be seen. Checkout was smooth.||Given the few minor niggles, not sure I'd stay...

Their entry level room is terribly sparse and so so basic. Tiled floor, outdated hard surfaced fixtures & fittings well passed their sell by date plus awful threadbare towels & bedding. There are no power sockets at the head of the bed at all! and only one on the desk/vanity unit. In the 21st centurry in a supposedly buisness/family lesiure hotel. How on earth can one justify that? You will have to leave your phone on charge the other side of the room while you sleep.

Look carefully at the well lit warm tinted promo photos. When you get there youll see its more like a waiting room. It's more like a short time room. This renders their rate too expensive as this is what the accommodation here is comparable with.

During the heavy rains the water leaked in under my window as the brickwork joints are shot. No sign of a smile, friendliness or welcome at check in upon arrival or during my stay. Only the door/security guys were ever welcoming. A smile and some pleasentries costs nothing. The breakfast offering is a useless token attempt just so to say they offer one. Top tip is to walk over the road to the Luminor for a half descent buffet breakfast. Wild card of course is Sparks have a pool while many in the area in that price bracket don't. Take the pool away and the rate even from discount websites is unjustifiable. I will not return. There are much better welcoming and comfortable cozy...

I travel to Jakarta fairly regularly and have chosen Sparks if I am in the Mangga Besar vicinity. The rooms are decent enough, and come with a reasonably-sized bathroom. While I would have liked to have electrical sockets by the bed (for charging my mobilephone etc), it was for me a minimal inconvenience. I do hope, however, that the quality of the Wifi connectivity can be improved as there is a tendency to occasionally lose the signal and requires logging in again.||||Breakfast is simple for its class of hotel - although another dish or two would not be unappreciated ... simple "Western" items such as sausage, bacon, hash browns would be nice and not difficult to serve up. The management might want to look at adding more options to the cafe's menu - both food and beverages - but for those guests who do not find it adequate, there are places to eat within that vicinity or across at Lokasari.||||Special mention must go to the staff who, for me, more than make up for whatever shortcomings I mentioned. I have always found them to be very friendly and helpful and they will be the main reason I will return to stay at the Sparks. ||||In my most recent trip, I did take the opportunity to view a couple of recently opened hotels in the area (and I have also viewed others previously). All things considered, I would still prefer Sparks against those within the same...