Aloft Jakarta Wahid Hasyim

Let's start with the positives: 1. The front desk staff were quite friendly, always ready to answer questions with a smile. 2. The hotel is located in the city center. It takes about 20-30 minutes by taxi to Grand Indonesia Mall (despite being only 3-4 kilometers away, traffic causes delays), which means dining options are convenient. There's plenty of food in the mall, including Chinese restaurants. Another large mall, Central Park, is about 7 kilometers away, a 30-45 minute taxi ride, and also has many dining choices. 3. Free bottled water. If you stay for an extended period, they're not stingy about providing more than two bottles a day. The cleaning staff near the door will also give you extra if you ask. This is a big plus compared to a previous experience in Vietnam where they charged for an extra bottle. 4. Breakfast was pretty good. At the very least, they had soft-boiled eggs, fried eggs, and scrambled eggs. They also offered homemade yogurt (I recommend adding honey as it can be a bit sour) and a noodle/rice noodle station. Overall, it was decent. Now for the negatives: 1. The shower only has a rainfall head, no handheld showerhead. For someone like me who washes their hair every morning and showers every night, this is quite inconvenient. When showering at night, I have to be very careful to keep my hair dry with a shower cap and avoid standing directly under the showerhead, opting to wash from the side. Of course, you get used to it after a few days; we stayed for 9 days on a business trip. However, I still hope they improve this, as not everyone washes their hair every time they shower. 2. The towels and bath towels are extremely old and dingy, a grayish-black color. You can see the comparison with the facecloth in the photos. Later, I found they occasionally provide white towels, so if you stay here, be sure to request new white towels and bath sheets. The grey bath towels also had an unpleasant smell; I wonder how many times they've been washed, or perhaps the washing machine isn't clean? 3. The breakfast restaurant staff were perplexing. Their service was very enthusiastic, but the effectiveness was questionable. For example, I was carrying a plate full of food and found a seat to sit down. A staff member stopped me, saying the seat was taken, even though it was clearly empty, and later proved to be so. She asked me to wait for her to assign a new seat. I waited, and she then went off to pour water for someone else, completely ignoring me. So, I found another empty seat nearby and sat down. As soon as I sat down, she came over and told me, "Madam, that previous seat is now empty, you can go there." ??? I'm already sitting here, and this seat is also empty; I've started eating. Why would I go back? It was really baffling. By the way, my colleague, who was staying in a different room, encountered a similar issue. Upon entering the restaurant, they were stopped and forcefully assigned a seat, the furthest one near the elevator. Later, they realized there was no need for assignment at all; the restaurant wasn't that busy during our meal times, and everyone else was sitting wherever they wanted. The next day, we just sat wherever, and no one bothered us. So, I don't understand what the restaurant staff's intention was. 4. Every morning around 4:30 AM, the nearby mosque starts incredibly loud prayers that last for about half an hour. I was woken up by it every single day. Of course, this is a local custom and probably unavoidable, but those with sensitive sleep should be aware. Also, if it's your first time hearing such prayers, it can be quite startling; the melody of the prayer is comparable to... 5. Although the front desk staff are friendly, they don't proactively tell you which floor breakfast is on or the Wi-Fi password. You have to ask for everything. Later, when we stayed at the same Aloft hotel in Surabaya, the front desk proactively provided all this information, and their service was excellent. I hope the Aloft in Jakarta can learn from their sister hotel in Surabaya.

The room was quite clean. I noticed that hotels in Jakarta always have some kind of security check upon entry, and some even use police dogs. Taxis also have to open their trunks for inspection before being allowed in. When I checked out, the front desk even helped me print my train ticket, which was super thoughtful.

The room was great, and the front desk staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, patiently answering all my questions. Other hotel staff were also excellent; they even helped me exchange some change for a taxi and communicated with the driver on my behalf. Highly recommend it! The breakfast was good too.