For pics see:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...gk-mustika.php
( Thanks to the help of LH738)
After my stay in the beautiful Sheraton Bandara it was great to be in Yogyakarta again.. Transfer was also complimentary, however in a different style. With a Suzuki van, the short distance to the hotel was made. Since the reception was located at the 7th floor!, the Suzuki went all up to the top of the hotel! It was quite surprising.
The checked – in went smoothly, and the lady was really nice. In Indonesia they sure now how to welcome guests! The hotel was not busy when I stayed here.
She escorted me to a nice junior suite I was upgraded to.
Besides this suite I had a look in the very very nice Presidential suite
The suite had nice Indonesian details in the doors. In the livingroom, two beautiful Indonesian wooden puppets were placed.
The suite was spacious, and I was really happy with the two small balconies ( livingroom + sleepingroom) with the famous view of Mount ………………..,nope alas not Mount Merapi. Since it was too cloudy, no Mount Merapi view! But still a nice place to enjoy my breakfast and some drinks.
In the spacious living room was a dining area and a nice sitting area. Complimentary bottles of water were available at the refreshment centre. A coffee/teamaker was available.
The bed in the separate bedroom was large but not too comfortable however. In the corner of the room was a small working area.
The large save was located in the closet, and was locket with a credit card. The closet appeared to be too smallish to hang my shirt and jacket, it was possible however to hang it diagonal.
Bathroom was spacious with a separate shower.
Doors of the balcony did not close properly, so a lot of warm air comes into the room. ( The hotel could save on the A/C when the doors would close properly I guess, and besides that it would be ok for the environment!)
The Royal SPA is a must here. The interior of the spa is beautiful designed in an Javanese style. Take the royal Javanese massage, where two skillfull fysiotherapists will give you a great massage and you feel reborn again! I did have two wonderful massages here. It is very relaxing to use the spa facilities, sauna / steambath / whirlpool afterwards.
The Sheraton Mustika has a beautiful designed swimmingpool /poolarea. It reminded me of the Sultan ‘s Water castle in Yogyakarta. I had a good swim here and enjoyed my sateh with rice from the Tamansari poolbar. The many little flies near the swimmingpool seemed to like my food also!
Toilets near the pool could be cleaner, ground was wet and smelled.
Besides the pool area, you can find two tenniscourts on the hotelgrounds.
Fitnesscenter was ok, albeit somewhat small.
Restaurants: one of them was on the topfloor. It was only opened for groups and served mainly sea – food.menus. The other restaurant, the Sasono Hondrowino, was located at the 7th floor. The restaurant has a terrace from where you have a nice view of the garden / poolarea. You can also dine at the terrace. Service was friendly but not always professional. They served me a dish I did not order and when I asked the waiter who served it to me he did not anwer, his colleage helped me. It was somewhat strange, since they did not make any excuse about it, just were smiling. Only when I asked them how this could have happened they gave an excuse.
Breakfast in my room via roomservice was rather fast and basic. You could notice it was done without much care.
However it was great to have it on the balcony. Breakfast buffet in the restaurant was ok, not very special. Selection of bread, meat and fruits was limited. Quality and selection of the food could be better.
The Sasono Suko lounge was a favourite place or mine. Very good service, nice comfy interior, friendly personnel, good quality of cakes and drinks. There is a section with a small library. The lounge has also a big plasma screen which shows a lot of sports.
I was really pleased with one of the waiters, she also know some dutch words, like “meneer” and “lekkerrr”!, and she always put on my favourite Indian song when I was there. She made me feel at home here :-: .
I tried the cheesecake here, my favourite, and yep it was “lekker’!
One strange thing here however. In the announcements for Happy Hour I noticed that for ALL drinks the second one was free. But wine and some other drinks, or coffee, was not included. There seemed to be more guests disappointed with this, since the hotel promised “all drinks” at the happy hour.
I liked the interior of the small coffee bar, with a amazing view of the poolarea.
The concierge of the hotel was outside. Since the concierge in the Sheraton Bandara was so excellent, it was hard to compete with them. In general the concierge was very friendly, accurate, and made it easy for me to arrange my trips.
I did have very nice stay here, I liked my upgraded suite, the beautiful designed poolarea and the Indonesian designs in the hotel. In general personnel was friendly and I did feel at home in this hotel. I am sure I will return to this hotel when in Yogya, and have the great Javanese massage again!
Some remarks however:
Hotel:
* Some parts of the hotel, f.i. the exterior need some renovation i.m.o.
* Attitude of personnel: Although in general the attitude was very friendly, there seemed to be a lack of “the finishing touch”, to go one step further in service / attitude. But also in the maintenance of the room / hotel. When arriving by car, sometimes there is no one to open the door, even once a boy just walked away and just looked at me. When they do open the door there is no “Welcome at the Sheraton Mustika!”. Of course there are exceptions: like the waitress in the coffeebar!
* No ATM or money machine in the hotel. Money change not possible at the reception, but somewhere in a wing of the hotel, on a floor with private business and exchange shops.
* Only one internet computer (paid) in the lounge which was always occupied so no chance to use it.
For pics see:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...gk-mustika.php
( Thanks to the help of LH738)