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?