Each to his own of course, but with at most 12 hours to play with, I can't see the point of wasting (at best) three of them getting to and from central Jakarta - and opening yourself up to further frustration if there are delays.

I can't say I'm excited by airport hotels either, so i sympathise: but they serve a very clear purpose. I'm more interested in efficiency, sleep and not having to worry about an early morning marathon to the airport.

The Airport Sheraton has been re-flagged as the Airport Hotel "managed by Accor". I'm not sure what that means, except that you'd be somewhere comfortable an hour or so after getting off the plane. It could be worth trying, if you are OK with its prices.

Last month TK put me in the Swiss Belhotel, close to the airport. Really nothing special, but perfectly fine for an overnight. I've also done the Ibis, the FM7 and HIX Pluit: none of them inspiring, but all gave a good night's rest.

CGK is my gateway in a couple of weeks -- so that'll mean another airport overnight, and I'll be back at the HIX Pluit: a bit further than ideal, but there we are ... I'm an IHG junky :)

Thanks very much for your help.
Decided to keep it simple and get a suite at the Mercure linked to the PIK mall.

I'm transiting NRT-CGK-PNK, arriving around midnight and flying out 630am.
Doesn't seem like any lounges are open, nor would I get much time in them. Any tips on where to burn time, sleep, shower, eat, etc without spending too much?

There isn't much to do after midnight in Soekarno-Hatta Airport. There will be some fast food restaurants open for 24 hours, but not much else.

There are many relatively cheap hotels around the airport, which should be useful for midnight layovers. Among the choices are the Ibis Styles, Ibis Budget, Pop Hotel, Amaris Hotel, Orchardz Hotel, Swissbel Hotel, Zest Hotel, and finally, the Bandara Hotel managed by Accor. The Bandara is the most expensive of the bunch, and is quite a tired, old hotel.

You might be interested to read this thread, whose OP had a similar situation.

Safe Travels,

You can also try to airport hotel in terminal two. For a similar time period recently I did that. You can reserve a room for 6 hours.

Sorry may have been answered before, but looking for information online and can't seem to find it. I am flying in CGK then onto DPS (Both arrive and leave from T3) with Garuda Indonesia, after clearing immigration do I need to collect bags and recheck them or are they sent through automatically? Thanks for your help.

garuda to garuda at CGK your bags typically go through automatically. Just double check when you check in.

It's been a while since I needed to visit this thread, but planning a brief trip to Jakarta next month.

Been trying to get my head around the Soekarno-Hatta Rail Link. Reason being is that I want to use to get to a hotel in central Jakarta. And back.

It's an in joke, a reward for 30 years of travelling to relatives by ever longer taxi journeys. Hotel wise I get decent discounts in the usual chains, so probably looking for that.

But it's surprisingly hard to map out a route on the train. It looks like BNI City / Sudirman is the main central station on the line. Are there any hotels I can walk to from the station (i.e. within 150 metres!) or hotels that will pick up / drop off?

Or have I misread the map? I've a few places i'll be heading to, so central works fine. I'll be spending plenty of time in Bluebirds, so would like to do this by train, for what i'm hoping will be my last ever Jakarta visit :)

You are right in saying that BNI city is the main central station. There are not exactly any hotels that are walking distance, perhaps except for the 'All Seasons'(?). The Shangri-La is just across from the station, but to get there you must find the bridge cross the river, which involves a significant detour. Mandarin Oriental does free SilverBird Taxi transfers worth a certain amount (couldn't remember if it was Rp 50,000 or Rp 150,000) and this may or may not only be so during the weekends.

All in all, nothing in Jakarta is very walking distance, unfortunately.

Thanks - did spot the Shangri La - and the river! Holiday Inn Express Thamrin and All Seasons Thamrin are on the same side of the river (300 & 600 metres). Both look significantly bland!

And yeh, every day i'm in Jakarta, my steps drops to about 1,500 a day - least friendly walking city I know...

CGK inter-terminal transit airside possible?
 

I will be arrving at T3 and departing from T2 in separate tickets (both international flights). Given I do not have checked luggage and have onward boarding pass ready. Is there a way to travel to T2 airside (i.e. not passing through immigration)? Thanks for the advice.

Planning Jakarta walking routes from maps is a recipe for frustration. Especially so if you are planning to walk with bags. Real life throws up barriers in the form uncrossable roads/canals, lack of footpath and rickety staircase-bridge combos. If you must take the train (and I understand the initial attraction) just knuckle down and get a taxi from the station :)

Yeh, i've been going to Jakarta for 30 years for family reasons, apart from Jalan Surabaya I hate walking in Jakarta. But it's a bit if an injoke.

Also, I started using hotels in Bangkok walking distance from the Airport train, I'd never really looked at the Jakarta Airport Link until yesterday. I'd completely unreasonably assumed there would be a decent hotel attached to one of the station.

As every Jakarta proves me wrong :)

I may taxi it in to hotel, and then upon departure get them to taxi me to the Bank BNI station. I'll have luggage so that sounds most sensible!

One day Jakarta will get with it!

No - they are physically separate buildings and you'll need to use a taxi, shuttle, or the airport train to get between them.