Hotel Borobudur Jakarta

We were on a long layover. Between jet lag and the beginning of a head cold, I never left the club floor. The Club Lounge provided a light breakfast, Tea, and cocktails with heavy hors d'oeuvres. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. I felt like royalty the entire time. The bed was comfortable. The rain shower was one of the best I've ever experienced. There were some TV programs in English. The 52-yr-old hotel looks well cared for and polished.

Everything was great except our last morning. Breakfast in the Club Lounge is supposed to begin at 0600. I had told the staff the day before that we'd be eating promptly at 0600 because our ride to the airport was at 0630. At 0600, they were not nearly ready for breakfast service. There was absolutely no food put out, not even a crescent roll. I would have been fine if they had least served some rolls and fruit. The other minor issue was the electrical outlets. We came prepared with the round 2-prong adapters because that is what most of Indonesia uses. They have the over-sized three-prong outlets like we experienced in Malaysia. We removed a couple of adapters from some lamps so we could charge our things. Luckily we travel with a small power strip.

First stayed here 30 years ago and been a few times since. Hotel has hardly changed in that time - which is a good thing. Still the same super friendly and efficient staff. Wonderful gardens and pool an oasis of calm in the middle of Jakarta. Stayed in a 3 bed apartment in the garden wing - very spacious Central location is great - allowed us to walk to the Monas for the Independence day celebrations.

Breakfast choices were great but very crowded. Please get some more proper coffee machines that work properly!

It was a brief stay, to do a quick bit of touristing, then to catch the train from Gambir to Yogyakarta. I chose the hotel because of proximity to Gambir. Actually I expected to walk from the hotel to the station, but Jakarta trafffic does not allow that - it is not the fault of the hotel! The Concierge, Depa, was extremely helpful. She arranged a tour for me and helped me to arrange transfer to the station. I am very grateful to her!

I should have stayed longer!

Its location and cost

It is absolutely not a 5 star hotel. In particular the service in restaurants is poor. EG we had lunch twice here. My wife had finished her meal on both occasions before mine was even served. In addition, this morning at breakfast , we were brought to a table that had just been used. Although the staff member cleared the table, she never returned to either clean it or replace cutlery etc. Having patiently waited for about 15 minutes we found another table.