Jakarta: JW or Ritz Mega
 

anyone been to either of these properties? have an overnight in jakarta on the way to bali in september. will only be in jakarta for roughly 18 hours. also, if i'm not mistaken, i believe the properties are across the street from each other (more or less).

price difference between the hotels is $20. i'm MR platinum.

thanks for the insight!

Bump. Was wondering if you got any review on either property.

Thanks,

I have stayed at both properties numerous times - you won't be disappointed with either but the traffic from the airport to Mega Kuningan can be awful - I have spent 2-2.5 hours in traffic jams to get to these hotels. If you only plan to overnight in Jakarta on your way to Bali and your flight arrives during peak hour (4-6pm in the evening) you might want to pick something closer to the airport (there is a Sheraton)

JW Advantages:
- Club lounge access if Elite - one of the better food spreads in SE Asia
- Better restaurant variety (Japanese, Cantonese, Buffet, Bar, Deli)

JW Disadvantages:
- Rooms at Ritz are superior
- Security is quite invasive due to 2 hotel bombings since 2004 (you will have to remove all metals from pocket and laptop from bag upon entering hotel)

Ritz Advantages:
- More 'luxe' lobby/rooms
- Less-invasive security
- Better (but more expensive) spa

Ritz Disadvantages:
- No lounge access unless you pay for Club Floor
- Only 2 restaurants (Italian + Buffet)

I stayed at the J W and was lucky enough to get upgraded to a suite. I really enjoyed my stay. The breakfast buffet on the first floor is excellent. I agree with the comment regarding the executive lounge, excellent staff and good food.

+1 on the traffic + in our case another 2.5-hrs in the Immigration que (if you can call a wedge of pushing/shoving folks a que!)...........

Thanks for the comparison review.
Ritz price on weekend is same as Marriott actually. Plus it's FHR property. I'm thinking of staying there this Dec. Hope they upgrade me to club floor :)
And i'll try JW Marriott for my next year visit (i should have enough cat 4 certificate from Megabonus promo)

Also, do you ever try the RC Pacific Place? Which RC is better in term of property and location?

Wow, 2.5 hrs sounds pretty bad.
What time was that? And were there a lot of planes arriving at the same time?

edit: in regards to traffic from/to airport, it's probably during morning and evening rush hour right? Around 3-4pm shouldn't be too bad?

Yes, it really is that bad.

If you cannot get in the cab from the airport before 3:30pm, expect a long trip to get to your hotel. Also, if it is raining, add 30mins to 1 hr to the journey at a minimum.

I was spoiled as I arrived to Jakarta around 10am on a Sunday, so going to the hotel there was no traffic and it was nice. The next Monday I worked till 5pm up north by the water/airport and it decided to rain. It took me 3 hours to get back to my hotel (Park Lane) that's somewhere in the area where the JW is.

JamesEaston posted this in the exec lounge sticky. Since it provides a bit more info than what I need for the exec lounge sticky I thought I'd post it here. Thanks to JE for providing the info:

JW Jakarta – Massive lounge with reception staff available all day. Large breakfast selection and large dinner selection with premium alcohol and imported beer and wine.

Cheers.

Does anyone know if the Italian restaurant is still open at Mega? or the bar and lounge that was right to the left of the entrance? Are they both still open or have they closed with recent renovations?

I just stayed at the JW for a few days. I've never stayed at a Ritz but from what I read I wouldn't be guaranteed lounge access so I opted for the JW. As a Platinum, I was upgraded to a club floor room. Not impressed with the rooms. Nothing really jumped out at me.

However, the Executive lounge was very nice with very friendly helpful staff. The staff all around were always nice and helpful. Walking in and out of the hotel each time you are running into probably 15-20 staff.

What most impressed me was the breakfast on the ground floor. I was able to go to breakfast in the lounge or on the ground floor but always chose the ground floor. A massive buffet spread including sections for:
- custom juice bar with fresh veg and fruits
- Indian
- Asian
- Chinese
- Korean
- Noodle bar
- Fresh fruit and bakery
- Bagels
- Omelettes
- I am probably forgetting a few.

On my first day, Francesco, the Executive Chef, was walking around talking to most of the guests. He brought us out some fresh plates with a variety of mangos. They were incredible and just melted in your mouth!
The next day, while near the Indian section, the Indian chef asked if I wanted a Dosa. I said sure and a few minutes later they had prepared me a really nice Dosa with various sauces and brought it over.

I think this may have been the nicest breakfast I have ever encountered at Marriott. I still think the best breakfast I have ever had though was at the Shangri-la in Chengdu, China.

Thanks for the update!

Cheers.

Anyone stayed recently or knows the area well ??

How long does it take from airport to The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Mega Kuningan at about 6pm ?

And from The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Mega Kuningan to the airport about 9am ?

I read above about nasty 2 1/2 hr journey from airport - wondering if anything has changed in that regard since that post a few years back ?

​​​​​​​Have two stopovers out & back and the hotel's nearer the airport don't excite me but I also don't want to be doing 1hr+ in taxis each way each stopover.

Decided to keep it simple and get a suite at the Mercure linked to the PIK mall.

Good choice as driving to and from Kuningan area to the airport is quite a nightmare most of the times.

About the 2 hrs trip, I wont be surprised if it take longer now.

Stayed in Ritz mega in Nov2020 and Jan 2021.

Got upgraded to Mayfair Suite for Plat, thanks to Stella our GRO.
However this second time in Jan21, they forgot the welcome letter and welcome gift.

Cant really hard on the staffs,
They were over crowded during NY
Gotta say this prop Sales team done good job,
they can keep Guests flowing in while other hotels so quiet.

The Suite was huge 110m2,
But so Dated, its time for renov work.
We need to wait til 5pm to get room key, because the previous guest had Late check out.
We are welcome to wait in Lobo lounge, but they did not serve snack, only welcome ice tea.
Most guests are waiting for their rooms until 3pm, the GM should have seen this and provide snacks for all.

Also the staffs in Lounge seem not very aware of Hygiene protocol during covid,
they places Empty Glasses facing UP, with no Napkin whatsoever.
All empty glasses will be filled with virus or germs, unless you put the Bottom up

All in all score was 7 out of 10