Budget bargains: Weekend getaways in the capital

Budget bargains: Weekend getaways in the capital

Max Kelling, Contributor, Jakarta

Got tired of all the hustle and bustle of city life? Well,
what you need is a relaxing weekend that will keep you sane.

You have had enough of hanging around the whole day in crowded
shopping malls, watching movies at home, gardening, or even
worse, fixing your car.

You crave luxury but your wallet is limited.

One of the ideas to help you out of a routine weekend is
escaping from your house without having to worry about the
transport, and at the same time, enjoying temporary opulence at a
reasonable budget.

Hotels offer a good way to save you from boredom, while the
service will coddle your yearning for a tranquil mind.

"It's nice to know that I don't have to worry about the daily
routine that I have to deal with in my home, like cleaning up my
room, picking up the phone, receiving guests, dealing with
nephews coming and making a noise, and so on," argued Julius, a
marketing personnel from an IT company.

And what about the budget? "There are many hotels that offer
you reasonable prices like Hotel Sentral," Julius continued.

Located on Jl. Pramuka Raya Kav. 63-64, the three-star hotel
offers you a room for two at Rp 210,000 including breakfast for
two. Now that is a cheap offer, and you can enjoy the pool and
health center too.

Not to mention the karaoke club and discotheque, but the room,
while not luxurious, was neat and tidy.

Yet, the service was not up to scratch for me. First of all,
they did not answer my first phone call in English and they kept
transferring me from reception to the reservation officer, then
back to reception.

The reservation officer spoke fast, blurting out "I am having
to handle many guests at the moment, I'm sorry. I'll let you
speak to reception again".

If you want to pay double the price but get double the
quality, then drive to Hotel Kristal on Jl. Tarogong Raya,
Cilandak Barat, which gives you rooms ranging from Rp 500,000 to
Rp 800,000 (three bedrooms!), including breakfast for up to five
people.

The hotel has it all: Swimming pools, tennis court, fitness
center, basketball court, spa. You name it, they've got it.
Favorably, they will allow late checkouts until 4 p.m. The rooms
are exceptionally neat, complete with a TV set that features more
than 40 channels. The environment is nice and fresh, guaranteed
to make a great escape. The service is excellent as well.

Still in the south, but closer to the core of urban life,
Hotel Atlet Century in Jl. Pintu Satu Senayan offers a lower
rate. With Rp 325,000 you can have a standard room, including
breakfast for two. With a small extra charge, you can have a
sauna, too.

Being close to Plaza Senayan shopping mall and Jakarta Hilton
Convention Center, the hotel should be voted the best bargain for
getaways. But you've got to be satisfied with their old-fashioned
design. Walking along the corridors you get the feeling of
strolling in an all-white sterilized hospital.

There are also other circumstances that may lead you to
bargain for nice rooms at the weekend. You might end up clubbing
the whole night long with your folks but don't feel like going
home. This could happen to party freaks or weekend addicts, and
though their gold credit cards may afford one night at a five-
star hotel, they probably see no point using them just to extend
the weekend for up to six hours or so.

If this is the case, then accommodation in the Sabang area
comes to mind. Though many hotels here are seemingly targeted for
business travelers, domestic tourists who want to enjoy the
nightlife in Jakarta, or simply one-night-standers, can also stay
at some places that are decent and offer reasonable rates.

Being right in the center of Jakarta, the Sabang area offers
you many places to visit, from banging your head all night long
at Hard Rock Cafe, to browsing for used books at nearby Jl.
Jaksa.

Right at the side of Jl. Wahid Hasyim, one of the hotels I'm
talking about is Parama, an unrated accommodation formerly a
guest house. With a tall iron gate, this place looks more like a
boarding house. Yet, it gives you the best deal for rooms!

Their prices range from Rp 223,850 to Rp 375,100 and believe
me they all are neat, nice, very spacious and equipped with a
bathtub. The Japanese atmosphere is all pervading as most of
their regular customers are Japanese. Too bad the breakfast is
hardly edible. But, if you're really looking for a good
breakfast, you can go across the street.

There you will find Arcadia Hotel on the same street. This
boutique hotel welcomes you warmly. The low-budget contemporary
interior design tries very hard to impress you.

Inside the tiny elevators, they use colored neon lamps, which,
while fitting into the whole design theme, give a gloomy red-
light atmosphere. The rooms are far from spacious, and don't
expect to see a pleasant view from the window! You are most
likely to find yourself cramped inside a room, with a bathroom
that is barely large enough for you to turn around in!

Though far from being excellent, the hotel stands out as a
one-of-a-kind choice in a neighborhood packed with three-star
hotels. If you want a room for two, the rate is Rp 300,000, which
is fair enough considering that they will serve you a truly tasty
breakfast.

There, you can now start thinking about spending the next
weekend in a hotel. If you are looking for accommodation for the
whole family, please check out if the hotel has suites with more
than one bedroom, or has connecting doors. Some bargain hotels
also offer you extra cheap prices without mentioning that it is
not inclusive of breakfast.

Finally, some hotels have discotheques inside and offer some
standard low-priced rooms that are not sound-proof. Be sure to
avoid the deafening noise, because after all, you still want to
have a mind-relaxing weekend don't you? Otherwise, why bother
leaving your nest?