I’ve seen this happen before. I was just here last week, and didn’t see any indication they were leaving.

Well, they are having the Asian games now, so it might be full. When we were there last week, the lounge was about half full most nights.

Some of the staff are very by the rules types. I’d talk to Pak Walid, the manager, though. I always got lounge access when I was Gold.

I book the least expensive room. 75% of the time a points booking for 20k per night.

We have been coming to the hotel since it first opened. We certainly don’t demand a suite, but the staff have always been quite helpful. I’d guess we have stayed there 80-90 nights since they’ve opened.

When they first were taking bookings, you could book any rooms, even the Presidential Suite for the same price, so we had 3-4 bookings for that room. They don’t normally upgrade Diamonds into those. I think we have stayed in every type of suite, plus a standard room. Possibly the only one we haven’t tried is their family room.

The hotel is much busier now than it was in previous years. During Ramadan this year, we only had a suite for 4 out of 7 nights, as the suites were sold out for part of it.

We love the staff at the Open restaurant. I had some problems a couple of years ago with food quality at Ramadan. Once I got a real manager, and explained the problem in detail, it never happened again.

I can honestly say the Doubletree Jakarta is the best DT I’ve ever stayed at. Frankly, I’m pretty sad that we won’t go back for 9 months as we’re in the US until that time.

Yes, upmarket hotels decorate for Christmas in Indonesia. The JW and the RC are in a different league, and their club lounges reflect this. So do their prices.

Traffic in Jakarta is a lucky dip. I don’t think it’s worth planning your flight around it. You can always take the airport train if you are really worried.

Yes, they have a Christmas tree and decorate the lobby. I believe at least some of the restaurant staff wear Christmas hats and such.

Christmas itself is not so busy, but New Years is quite packed. We stayed there last year for a dozen nights or so, and had a suite as a diamond on points redemptions, except for 2-3 nights over the New Years time frame.

Traffic during Dec 25-Dec 30 is some of the best you’ll see in Jakarta. In general, Sunday traffic is the best. Friday is the worst. Dec 31st, in the evening is pretty bad. Some areas, they close streets (Near the Grand Hyatt/Plaza Indonesia traffic circle), which you will want to avoid if possible.

I haven’t gone to any stand alone massage places for a decade or more. Back then, sometimes people were looking for more than massages. You usually got a rushed subpar massage. Often legit massage places will have “Family” in the name.

I actually have a company that does outcall massages that I use in hotels, or my residence. There is usually a surcharge in hotels, but it’s $3-4 usually. Often these businesses speak little or no English, so you might need a staff members help.

I prefer deep muscle massage, and normally get a 2 hour session for $20 or so. PM me if you’d like concact info. I’ve been using them for a decade.

The neighborhood is fine. Not overly touristy. There is a nice movie theater, with Starbucks or similar just around the corner. The are some foodstalls nearby, a McDonald’s up the street, and lots of small malls across from the Cikini train station.

Most train stations have a taxi line. Blue Bird, Gamya or Express are the brands I normally look for. Ask them to use the meter. I haven’t taken the airport train yet. If traveling from the airport with more than 1 person, I’d just take one of the taxi companies I mentioned. Normally $10-16, I’d say.