I've stayed in many SPG properties, including Cat 3, 5, 6 in London, Cairo, DC, HK, LA, Phuket, Beijing, Warsaw, Rio x2, Singapore etc. but I would rank the Meridien Jakarta higher than all of them for the things that I am interested in. If you are interested in the fluffiness of carpets or the type of decoration in the lobby then it's probably not the best but no other SPG I have stayed in has all of the following:

- Free evening meal (with Sushi and wine/beer) in a big lounge with excellent view
- Very good expat bands - live music every night (except Sun and Ramadan) till 2am in the bar
- Very close to offices I need to go to (ie <10mins taxi)
- Extremely friendly staff who remember your name for months
- Frequent and fast lifts
- Plat upgrades to huge suites
- High quality Illy coffee
- staff not begging for tips

I am just grateful for all the chances I get to stay at this hotel. I don't have status elsewhere so it would be pointless to stay at comparable 5* properties in the area and not get any benefits. In other cities I have paid 3x what I pay here and get hardly any of the above list (ie no bar or live music, upgrades not to suites, unfriendly staff, bad location, bad coffee, pressure for tips etc).

If any of the Meridien staff read this I would like to say your efforts are appreciated and the hotel is wonderful.