After our stay at the Intercontinenal Bali Jimbaran resort we travelled on Garuda Indonesia airlines to Yogjakarta for a 13 night visit.
Beware that the new airport (YIA) is now west of the city and quite far away, so allocate enough traveltime.

We decided to divide our stay between the Hyatt Regency hotel and the Accor MGallery Phoenix hotel.
We've stayed at the Hyatt Regency before but Inspired by Goldorak to stay in Yogjakarta at a heritage hotel,
we decided to book a 9N stay at the Phoenix hotel with the family.
I knew MGallery only from my stays in Queenstown NZ but i was aware that all MGallery hotels are individual authentic hotels.

I hold no status with Accor but was surprised that after this stay i was elevated to silver !
The hotel had a mix of domestic and French guests during our stay.

The Phoenix hotel legendary suites with pool view were attractively priced at pandemic rates of a each a total nett of €1290 for 9 N + breakfast, ofcourse prices have jumped up since then.

The hotel has 2 wings:
- heritage wing : features the standard rooms overlooking the restaurant fountain court
- pool wing : all rooms overlook the courtyard with pool


We had a great stay because:
- who doesn't like heritage tempo doeloe nostalgia : https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo_Doeloe
- service across all departments were friendly and you can sense a smile behind the mask
- the hotel has invested in lightning fast internet: 4 devices streaming content without any stutter
- the swimming pool kept the young ones happy
- the balcony kept the smokers sane and provided the rooms with fresh air
- breakfast buffet had local and authentic flavours

And now on to the visuals:

The hotel is located at busy Jl. Jend. Surdirman

Reception area (airconditioned)
Masks are enforced everywhere at the hotel



Airconditioned lobby with momentos



Airconditioned lobby with memorablia



Wow! Authentic newspaper from tempo doeloe




Photo gallery on the wall showing tempo doeloe




Authentic details



Many nooks to discover




Gallery filled with details




Somethings are less obvious in Indonesia than others: King Tut would be proud




A meeting room 1




A meeting room 2




Many weddings and engagements take place at the hotel
You will meet Nathania & Alfredo later in this post......




This is the back view on the front heritage building: the standard rooms are located there



Exiting the lobby you will face the fountain court and the restaurant,
This is the location of the front heritage wing with the standard rooms



A better view on the heritage wing with the standard rooms
You will hear noise of the fountain but also of people having drinks in the afternoon after they return from their tours


The legendary suite
And now onwards to the pool wing with the more expensive rooms and the legendary suites.
Ours was #348 and we also booked #356 for the lads.
Theirs was the mirror image of ours but as you know with teens they can easily mess up a room that isn't worth taking a picture of anymore


The pool wing with the pool as centre piece in the courtyard
The legendary suites are each to the left and right of the main axis,
of the front facade left & right feature the executive rooms
On pool level you will see the entrance to the gym and spa




Floorplan of the 3rd floor pool wing (top floor)
350+354 are executive rooms (=jr suites)
348 + 349 + 356 are the legendary suites



entry into Living room




Desk area
Electric outlets are everywhere universal



Yay! The kettle comes with teas and local Javanese speciality "wedang uwuh"




Info by QR




Sliding doors between living room and bedroom





Empty fridge to stock your own items




TV channels :
if you think US TV has mindnumbing commercials then Indonesian TV sets the bar even higher




Comfy bed : pillow menu available :
firmpillows: ask for guling or kapok
better to email in advance for availability




Seen from bedroom to living room




Tastful decoration of the phoenix crest




Walk in closet




Closet contents:
Major niggle is the safe on ankle height,
if you are like me stoutly built, it is not that easy to reach and close the safe with one's belly in the way




Laundry pricing, we used it twice, it all worked out fine




Amenities




Bathroom : older equipment but it was clean





See the doll on the sink : loroblonyo.org




The Loro Blonyo doll is just like the Russian matryoshka with hidden contents of amenities




Amenities




Toilet with poweful bidet hose (life saver)




Shower: old fashioned one



Welcome amenity
With Yogja's famous "Bakpia" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakpia_pathok




View from our suite
All ready for the festivities of Nathania & Alfredo



View from our suite towards the other suite on the direct opposite side
: you are relatively closeby other rooms so keep the sheers closed or don't allow your brunch coat to fall open
during the day it is very quiet as most guests are out touring
during the evening it is nice to have a chat with the neighbours
we met an Australian lady traveller and a French couple during our morning coffees on the balcony




Every room here has its own balcony





And here we have the happy couple of Nathania & Alfredo : best wishes to you both!




Our legendary suite on the right side of the pool wing



The other legendary suite on the left side of the pool wing


Conclusion:
Designed with atmosphere
Rooms have balcony for fresh air
Airconditioning + Internet was excellent
Bathroom is older but that makes it charming
Yes to the bidet hose!
Housekeeping kept bottles of water stocked

Verdict:
If you seek modern: go to the Marriott instead
Phoenix hotel is a charming place, excellent located near the city centre and Malioboro street
This hotel together with the Hyatt Regency is a good combo to explore Yogjakarta and environs






Restaurant menu
For those interested in having a meal or drinks at the hotel:
you can see the focus has been on domestic tastes


Menu 1

Menu 2

Drinks 1

Drinks 2

What's close by?
For those that like to wander around the street of Jl. Jend. Sudirman without attempting to cross the street.
This is what you'll find in the same row as the hotel when you exit the hotel and turn left :



A coffee place in an old post office




A bubble tea café




A Chinese restaurant




Menu 1



Menu 2



Menu 3


Actually the hotel is very close to Malioboro shopping street for shopping and dining but crossing the streets might prove a bit difficult
Better to take the becak (cycle-taxi) or just any transport




Breakfast
And now the breakfast buffet at the Phoenix hotel,
Served daily from 06.00 till 10.30 mornings
The focus is more on local favorites but it also satisfies western palates.
Best of all it has jamu: Javanese healthy herbal tonics!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamu

The hot items change daily but seem to run a rotating schedule of a week FYI

Buffet is L-shaped



Buffet wraps around the koi pond





What's Indonesia without exotic sambals





Mix your own congee




Ample seating




Local favorites
















You can also get espresso or cappuccino






















And this concludes my comprehensive review of the Phoenix hotel.
You might have seen, i did not have any photos of the gym or spa......
reasons is we had so much exercise traversing the city that we got our surplus dosis of activity and we were happy enough to crash in our beds every night out of exhaustion and fulfillment.

Can recommend to combine with a relaxing stay at the Hyatt Regency Yogjakarta to get a different feel of atmosphere and to explore the region outside of the city: my review in its own FT thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyat...l#post34493185


For my personal tips on Yogjakarta, read my post : https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34493439-post43.html


Hope this review will benefit upcoming travellers!