Aventine

Same toiletries as GH Bali too.

HadesNL

SanDiego1K Thank you for your kind words!
Always happy to inform others be it future travellers, those still deciding, armchair travellers, hotel p*rn lovers or those whom are just curious.
I have to admit that after 2 years lockdown and having no updated information on some hotels and destinations, i thought it better to set an example and at least make an attempt in details so that others can avoid uncertainty......Glad to contribute and be part of FT community!

Also it keeps my brain sane & active and increases my observation skills....

Yogjakarta is an authentic destination but you need to speak some Indonesian to discover all quirky local interests and favorites, especially concerning food !

It took me a while to learn to assimilate my Geordieland accent into understandable Indonesian and don't get me started on the polite complexity of Javanese language with its 4 levels of hierarchy of social context! I learned a bit but it was to easy to make a social faux-pas that it was easier to switch back to conversing in neutral Indonesian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_language

Besides this Hyatt has been a cat1 hotel for so long and usually went undiscovered or undetected by the general travelling public


Aventine : can't remember for sure but i believe the owner of this Hyatt also owns GH Bali besides the Andaz Bali and the new Park Hyatt Jakarta so that may explain the same toiletries thing

demue

PT JSI Tbk or one of its subsidiaries like PT Wynncor own GH Bali, HR Bali, Andaz Bali and are involved in PH Jakarta as well. There are more connections behind the scenes like MNC Land and MNC Group owner Hary Tanoe in whose MNC Tower the PH Jakarta is located and all that, but as anyone with knowledge of Indonesian family conglomerates and related dealings knows, it gets complicated and confusing quickly and be better left alone .

HadesNL

Digging through my archive, i stumbled upon photos of the Presidential Suite #702 from our previous stay before the pandemic (winter 2019)
As many have known by now by reading this thread, there have been no refurbs done yet at the hotel, so the situation should still be the same..

We had booked this suite when travelling as a family because it has a bedroom with King bed and a bedroom with Twin beds.
It does offer a connecting door with another room. The price usually hovers around the $575++
Steep pricing but the amount of space you get is worth it, plus the fact my sons were younger then and i needed to keep an eye on them (teenagers) and didn't want them to have their own room yet.

So these are the photos taken winter 2019 before pandemic hits:

Note:
- the room was clean and comfortable with 3 airconditioning units: both bedrooms and living room
- this is according to WoH a specialty suite
- located on the top floor (level 7)


Double doors on level 7 : must lead to something awesome !




When you enter,

Hecate's Crossroads:
- Left to master bedroom with King bed
- Left also is the kitchen
- Right to bedroom with Twin beds
- Straight Through, you get into the living room




Looking right into the seating area
- welcome amenity on the salon table




Looking from seating area into the dining area





The spacious dining table:
you can see my morning coffee kick whilest the others are rushing off to the swimming pool!




Seen from the dining table towards the seating area,
in the back see the entrance to the bedroom containing TWIN beds





View from the living room terrace at level 7 :
- bit cloudy but normal a superb view of Mount Merapi volcano
- the folly masquerading as the temple with waterslide







Bedroom containing Twin beds (has a connecting door to next room)
I managed to snap a pristine photo because i herded the lads to go straight to the swimming pool





View from the bedroom containing Twin beds




Bathroom part of the bedroom containing Twin beds
Has own shower and toilet





Stocked minibar (situation winter 2019)




Kitchen (can be reached from outer corridor or from living room)




A modern touch




This is Hecate's crossroads again:
- we are standing in the bedroom containing the Twin beds
- right to living room
- left to entrance
- straight left to kitchen
- straight through to master bedroom



Master bedroom




Canopied bed



Very spacious
And with firm pillows from the pillow menu
(email in advance for availability)




Closet space and ladies vanity





Bathroom is connected to master bedroom




Shower and bath




The wraparound terrace on level 7 : the top floor




My attempt at a panorama photo



The terrace after morning rainfall


Although the data is older from Winter 2019, i hope this information might be useful for future travellers,
Especially as the situation might still be the same as the hotel has not started its renovations yet....

So again:
MR Owner: renovate your hotel !
It will jump at least to a Cat+1 up !
Endless new possibilities !
Although the hotel is authentic in ambiance, the rooms are a bit stuck in a time warp.
Still the amount of space the suites offer can be most welcome when travelling with family.
And for those of us whom are covid survivors (Alpha + Omikron) , the assurance that the suites have balconies opening to fresh air is most appreciated!

lsquare

How does one get from the airport to the hotel? I think the website said a shuttle will pick up? If so, is it free? How long is the journey?

Jaimito Cartero

It wasn’t free when we last stayed. Usually they contract with Golden Bird (Part of the Blue Bird Group) for a mid size van, like a Toyota Innova for 4-5 passengers. Marking up the bill by a good margin is the standard.

Are they still flying into JOG? Indonesia started pushing new area airports to replace the center city ones that have been used for years. They did this in my city of Bandung a few years ago. The new airport took almost as long to get to as just going to Jakarta.

lsquare

I'm seeing YIA as the airport code. I don't know if there is a new airport or not. The last time I was in Yogyakarta was when I was a kid and backpacking around SE Asia. I went to Borobudur and it was impressive.

How much is the service and how long is the journey?

Jaimito Cartero

Yes, it seems the new airport became fully functional about 2.5 years ago. It says it’s 45km from town. I haven’t flown from it yet. The old, in town airport may still have turbo-prop flights landing there. It was not a long journey to the hotel, from JOG.

lsquare

I guess you don't remember the length of time then.

js1993

To/from JOG, 20 minutes, give or take. It's ~7 miles.

lsquare

I'm guessing it's much farther from the new airport?

js1993

Was just looking at Google Maps, as I hadn't heard about the new airport until reading comments here a few minutes ago.

Unfortunately, YIA appears to be about 4x farther from the Hyatt in distance and maybe 3x further in time. Looks like mostly a highway trip from the new airport whereas it was all city driving from the old one.

For an area focused on tourism, this seems like an odd move, unless there's a cheap and hassle-free link to the city.

JOG was an interesting little airport. I'm glad I made it through there in 2019, before progress marched on.

Jaimito Cartero

It’s a government initiative.

Off the top of my head, BDO, JOG and Medan have all been told in the last decade to open new airports far outside the primary towns they serve. I think since Covid, BDO was allowed jet flights again. I flew out of the new “Bandung” airport once. It was over an hour away, and a huge PITA.

js1993

Seems like a very strange move, especially since JOG is apparently being kept for cargo flights.

Wikipedia says there's a train that runs from YIA to the city center, a shuttle bus between YIA and JOG, and a new toll road in the planning or construction phase:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogyak...port_Rail_Link

The two former options would probably make the trip to the Hyatt a 90-minute journey, since going into the city would be a detour.

HadesNL

I will post the airport train link schedule when home tonight.
Precovid: every hour a link
Now: irregular depending on flight times (departure/arrivals)


JOG: old Adisutjipto Airport
Outercity East
YIA: new Kulon Progo Airport
Different district West


YIA takes at least 1,5 H from the Hyatt:
- depends on holiday traffic
- morning (daylight) or evening (darkness)
- rain or monsoon weather



YIA was made to replace JOG:
- JOG is and will remain a militairy airport for squadron flights and airforce training, priority given to Airforce flights always
- JOG could never expand its runway due to housing and the canyon
so max B737/A320 type planes only
- YIA was made to accomodate A330 / B777 by longer runways
- YIA is made to develop Kulon Progo (west regio)
- YIA located faraway from Mount Merapi Volcano to avoid airspace closure if ash eruption
- YIA made in paralel to seaside south coast to provide haven for tsunami and quakes : the airport has a most sophisticated tsunami and earthquake monitor centre
- YIA has now under construction a seperate freeway 2 lanes linking directly to Borobudor Temple and AmanJiwo
- YIA was chosen by ruling monarch Sultan of Yogjakarta as an auspicious location
- YIA's current road to the city is being upgraded to 2 lanes so expect so delays as traffic is directed over 1 lane while other direction awaits its turn