Golden Hill by Golden Tulip — Hotel in Kota Batu

This is a good hotel with a fantastic rooftop restaurant in Batu. I stayed for 1 night in a deluxe room and two nights in a suite. I am a solo traveler from the west and I work while I travel.

Service-

Staff is outstanding. Friendly, pleasant, and professional. Much of the staff speaks decent English, and those that don't are still very polite and try their best. The front desk staff connected me with a fantastic local tour operator that arranged a private tour of Bromo for me. The tour was expensive but amazing and worth every cent.

Management sent me some fruit and complimentary dessert after I upgraded rooms, which was a very nice touch.

Food-

Great breakfast that leans heavily toward Nusantara food but with some western selections like waffles and omelets. Very large selection. Good coffee as well.

The rooftop restaurant has outstanding food and good service. It gets very busy on the weekends so it may be best to make a reservation.

Rooms-

Large, clean rooms. Some are a bit worn and could use a refresh. Beds are comfortable, linens are clean and fresh, towels are of decent quality. A/C works well. No off-putting smells in rooms. There are very large TVs in the rooms. Wifi is mostly reliable but can sometimes cut out or slow down.

I had two issues with the rooms: Functional design: The deluxe room I stayed in did not have a desk. It had a built-in couch with a coffee table that forced me to lean forward while working on my computer. In the suite, there was a large desk and a vanity desk, but there were no electrical outlets nearby.

Very poor soundproofing. The reason I paid for an upgrade after one night was because I had an extremely noisy family next door to me. Sometimes when I was working it almost sounded like they were in the room with me. I understand the hotel can't necessarily control the guests, so I offered to pay for an upgrade (which they discounted to an additional 800,000 rp/night - expensive, but they were fully booked and we didn't have other options). The second room was not better in terms of sound isolation, but my neighbors were much quieter.

To add to this, the overall design of the hotel is quite odd as all rooms surround an atrium, the center of which is the pool area on the ground floor. Usually when I've seen this at other hotels, there is something that helps limit noise from reaching the floors above. But here, noise from the pool area is amplified and easily heard in rooms even on the sixth floor. Some dense foam paneling on the pool-facing walls might help a lot to dampen the sound.

Location:

The evening and morning views are gorgeous and the air is generally fresh and cool.

But it's not great if you're planning to walk/explore the area by foot, although there is an Indomaret about 6-7 minutes walk from the hotel. There is street food and some warungs nearby as well as well as a zoo theme park.

If you have a car or motorbike, you're centrally located in Batu to explore the hillside. There are many theme parks and family-oriented attractions nearby, in addition to natural attractions like waterfalls and scenic areas.

Other notes: The hotel has a small, but well-maintained gym opposite the pool There is an international ATM in the lobby area -Many of the hallways in the hotel have cracked floor tiles. Again, it is very clean, but owners could give it a refresh.

Overall, I think this would be a perfect hotel for a family vacation. But I can't necessarily recommend it for solo travelers who work remotely and need a quiet space. My mistake was not understanding that Batu is more of a family destination than a resort area geared towards adults who enjoy the outdoors. My issues here were mostly due to my misunderstanding of the area and lack of research prior to booking (there's a serious lack of English-related material about Batu vs Malang online).

But the service from the staff was the real standout here, and they did everything to make my stay as comfortable as possible despite the...

Location Lobby Aesthetic 8th Floor Gym Maintenance Service Experience Communication Views TV Channels In Room Dining

From the beginning, our stay was a bad experience, and it only continued the longer we stayed. From the beginning of our stay, they told us that the gym would be under maintenance for the entirety of our stay, with the exception of the few hours right before we checked out. Upon checking it out, the first floor pool was also "under maintenance," although the people with rooms adjacent to the pool were able to swim; for everyone else it was under maintenance.

When we checked in, we asked if breakfast was included and she said, "all our rooms come with complimentary breakfast." We even asked 2 more times to clarify and she confirmed. When it was morning, the attendants denied entry for my entire family of 6, including my grandmother, stating they couldn't find them on their list. They also could not find the woman who misled us, prior.

We reserved 3 rooms and then added 1 upon arrival. They kept playing the price with us, first stating that "due to high demand" the cheaper room was all booked (6 floors-- all booked; doubt it, but ok) then all of a sudden, as a magic trick, one last one was available. We then reasoned with her, saying that if amenities were unavailable during our stay, could she get us a better price. She was strict and firm with her decision but as someone who's worked in the hotel industry, I know full well that she could've done something for us, especially since our most valued amenities would be unavailable.

In room dining was expensive and a hassle. Took 20 mins to get an overpriced, small steak and fries and then it took 10 mins for the worker to figure out how to use the card reader. Then it didn't work and I was left waiting another 8 mins for him to return. Afterwards, he spent another 5 mins fumbling the reader again. After the transaction finally went through, the steak was near room temperature. The flavor was great but since I waited so long to even get started eating, it was less than an average experience. No apologies given.

At the end of the day, their young, inexperienced workers were never willing to compensate for their lack of offering. We'd pay full price for a half-valued experience.

The rooms' walls were thin, the views were not great, and we were disappointed by the service and treatment we received. You can hear inside the rooms as you walk through the hallways and the plumbing is heard between rooms.

The location was favorable and the lobby was clean; those were the only positives aside the sufficient comfort of the...

Our first impression at this hotel, greeted by the hotel crew who were very helpful in parking the car and greeted warmly when entering the hotel. Although the parking lot is not too large, the hotel crew is always ready to help. The hotel crew is very friendly. The hotel is nice, clean, we stayed with a junior suite type room. In the room there is a sofa, there is a welcome cake and fruit, get complimentary snacks and soft drinks, There is an iron, umbrella, and complete amenities, TV and refrigerator are available. However, with the same type in other places, the space is too small, the bathroom is not like a junior suite room, there is no bathtub. The view I got was also not very good, because it was covered by mountain trees. Needs improvement for breakfast, honestly I have no appetite because a lot of food is scattered and falls, but there are no officers on standby to ensure the condition remains clean. When I wanted to take a bowl, the bowl was dusty. The restaurant crew was only busy picking up dirty plates on the guest table, but did not pay attention to the cleanliness and availability of food in each stall. because of this experience on the second day we canceled our intention to stay at the golden tulip. Hopefully it will be better in the future, and can become our favorite destination...