UASPG

Yes, I now remember that I was told about the Amanjiwo.
It happens to be a 'very fancy' hotel, with prices starting at $850 per night!

It was the first time that I read something from 'Bernama' - do you think that the report about the 66 new hotels is false?

mario33

Can't say for sure, but 66 new hotels in a small city seems a bit far fetched.
They once reported that a new A380 was being transported by ferry, I wonder how large that ferry is And after being caught for doctoring photos in their news reports, the editor did not even have the decency to resign.

canalskater

I stayed here a few years ago and loved it. I was with two kids and was upgraded to a room with a balcony onto a swimming lagoon. The lounge had good food and the restaurant was cheap and good too.
The staff was friendly.

john11111111111

Great view of the volcano from the breakfast room

Oxon Flyer

Threads located, merged and retitled to cover all search variants. /mod

cln

too many different spelling options ^

violist

Stayed here a couple nights sandwiched around a temple tour.
I'd go back if only to relax and do nothing for half the price of
a Four Points in the US.

Pros.
Quite nice accommodations, though maintenance in the tropics
must be difficult, and there were a few issues; the a/c worked
enough, which is important. Both stays were in rooms with
number ending in 49, which I recommend as they're double
size rooms, aka Jr. suites.

Great staff.

Decent restaurant food (both western and native);
fair EL noshes, better than anything you get in the US.

Reasonably priced.

Cons.
Booze is on the expensive side, and what they serve
at EL happy hour (you get two pours of Bintang,
Johnny Red, or some wine out of a jug) is uninspired.

The swimming pool is like 3 feet deep.

osutraveler

We just completed a four night stay at the Sheraton Yogyakarta and already want to go back for more. The hotel was incredible and the staff was even better. Here's a quick stay report; you can see more details and pictures here.

Transfer from the airport

The hotel offers free transfer to and from the airport which is really close. We didn't arrange the shuttle before and were somewhat "bait and switched" by the taxi driver who told us 5,000 IDR (~ 50 cents US) and then took us to the stand where they charged us 50,000 IDR ($5 US). It wasn't worth arguing over, but after we realized how close it was to the airport, we were somewhat perturbed. Upon leaving the hotel, we arranged the hassle free shuttle from the Sheraton back to the airport.

Check In

We drove up the 1/4 mile entrance to the hotel which felt like driving into another temple - very impressive grounds. The check in was fast and they recognized my platinum status.

Room

We were upgraded to an Executive Suite on the 5th floor with a large separate room which included a dining room, sitting area with a TV, bathroom, and butler's pantry. The bathroom was very nice as well and included a shower and stand up tub with a body sprayer. The room had three small balconies overlooking the pool complex in the back of the hotel. It was definitely renovated and quite luxurious. We were given a fruit tray later in the afternoon.

Executive Lounge

The staff at the executive lounge was almost too attentive. There was never more than 1-2 guests in the room while we were there, and there were always 2-3 staff members overlooking the lounge - and overlooking the guests! We found a small area to hideaway in the back of the lounge with a tv. They weren't overbearing and they were incredibly kind - really something hard to complain about. The breakfast spread was quite nice with fried rice, potatoes, fruit, cheese, exccellent juices, breads, yogurts, some local foods, and quite a few things cooked to order (omelets, french toast, waffles, etc). The evening lounge wasn't as filling but we did use it for a few replacement "dinner meals" - usually had a main of pasta and a small side item. They didn't limit our alcoholic drinks and we usually had 1-2 beers or glasses of wine per night.

Pools

There's a small indoor pool and sauna inside, but we didn't spend any time there. The outdoor "pool complex" was massive and included quite a few areas to explore. They called it a "water castle" but it wasn't like a traditional big open pool, it was more of a water maze. Granted it wasn't deeper than 4ft in any areas, but there was a nice swim up bar, plenty of seating around the inside and outside of the pool, and some great water lounging seats in the pool. It was more than enough for us and we really enjoyed it.

Local Area

The hotel is very close to the airport but on the edge of town. However, they offer a 4 times daily shuttle service that will take you to Malioboro street which is Jogja's main shopping area - some malls but mostly small vendors where you're expected to bargain for shirts that only cost $1 . We took the shuttle once but it doesn't offer a return trip (you have to take a cab, which is between $4 and $5 usually). We actually liked the location somewhat out of town - not a town where you necessarly what to be in.

The hotel is set pretty far back from the road so don't expect to walk anywhere from the hotel. There isn't much outside of it within walking distance anyway, so best to take a shuttle or a cab.

The real reason we stayed at the hotel was to explore the incredible temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. If you're into culture and history, these are a must visit. You can actually take a taxi to Prambanan for only like $4 US, but they recommend hiring a driver because it's hard to get a return taxi. We eventually found one, but if you're not the adventurous type it might be too much. To hire a driver to wait for a few hours, expect to pay 200,000 - 300,000 IDR ($20 - $30 US). You'll need to hire a driver to take you to Borobudur as it's about an hour away.

Overall, we really enjoyed the hotel and Yogyakarta. You must realize what you're getting into and take an adventurous spirit to Indonesia, but the hotel and surroundings make it well worth it!

flyboy60

I stayed at this Sheraton in late 2010 literally a week before the last big eruption of Mt. Merapi (the one where the guardian of the mountain got buried in ash and killed). This hotel was wonderful, as was the view of Merapi from my room (if not more than a little ominous, as it was belching smoke and ash at the time, a precursor to what would come about a week later - and 3 days after I departed for Bali).

I would have to say that, as a Cat 1 property, I consider this hotel to be the biggest bargain in the entire SPG system using points.

osutraveler

Wow, can't imagine how it was before the eruption... we visited it on our trip and there were small amounts of smoking coming out which was creepy enough.

I agree with you on this hotel being one of the best bargains - especially now that we've traveled through SE Asia more. There aren't many other choices in Yogyakarta and the Sheraton is excellent. It's not like where we are now (Siem Reap) where you can find incredible hotels for half the price of a Starwood hotel.

UASPG

The positive points of the property are:
- close to the airport
- complimentary shuttle service, both ways
- very nice staff at the 6th floor lounge.
- some good staff also at the front desk.
- some good very rates, especially during the Ramadan period.

My wife had booked a massage at the Spa, following the 25% off offer that we were given at check-in for massages, except for the "French" massage that had an offer for 200,000 Rps Net price.
When she completed the massage, she was told that they were no discount, but they called the front desk who said that they would give 15% off.
When my wife requested a copy of the charge, she had signed, she was told that it was not possible.
When we went together at the front desk, we were told that the discount was in fact 10% off, then that there was a discount of 25% at the Spa (for Platinum or SPG members?) but ..... not for massages (definitely not the version that we were told upon check-in).
The massages are really inexpensive at the hotel, but I think that the hotel should be committed to respect what they offer.
I made that point clear and they agreed to credit the difference.
The plan was to take advantage of the Spa several times during our stay, but the bad experience (the billing, not the massage) turned us off and we were not willing to go through more arguments.
Bottom line: if you receive an offer verbally, ask it in writing, with a name on the note.

Noise on the room upstairs. One night, we were not able to sleep during a good part of the night due to the noise in the room above ours. I first called and asked that the upstairs guests should be called to be reminded that they were other guests below their room. After waiting for about an hour, we were getting more upset as there were no change with the disturbance, so I called again and asked to speak to the manager on duty. He said that he came to our floor and did not hear any noise. I told him that he should have gone to the upstairs floor and he confirmed that he would do so. After the 2nd call, the noise did not stop one bit. I guess that, at one point, we were able to finally fall asleep.

Check out:
My confirmed reservation was for 6 nights at the Pay 2 nights Get one Free rate.
First, the 2 free nights were billed at a rate 50% higher than the 4 paid nights.
Then, only after I opened my computer, to show the type of rate (Buy 2 Get 1 free) that had been confirmed, all 6 nights, including the 2 free ones, were billed at the same rate as the 4 paid nights. I was asked to forward them the email of my confirmation.
It took a third bill to get the errors corrected. The check out was a 30 minutes process, while the car was waiting to drive us to the airport.
I complained that I had receive any apologies for the repeated errors and I am not understanding how their system cannot record properly a reservation booked on spg.com.

Unlike at most Starwood properties that I stay at in S.E. Asia, you do not see the management walking around and introducing themselves to the staff. One exception was the Director of Sales that was having her breakfast in the lounge. After hearing me complained to the staff about the previous night, she introduced herself and asked me for more details and I asked her to switch room if the guests were staying more in the upstairs room. I also asked her to find out what happened to my request during the night. I had not head from her but was able to see her later; she said that the guests were moving out and I reminded her that I would have liked to know why the noise kept going on after my calls. No news from her or other supervisors afterwards.

If the management does not fix the open spaces between the windows, they might as well change the name of the property to Sheraton Moskito, as, although I have asked sprays in the room during the bed turndown services (which was missed a couple of times), I had unwanted guests flying in the bedroom every night and a bunch of bites to prove to myself that I was not dreaming.

We did get an upgrade to a Junior Suite at the "Lagoon" level, though.

UASPG

One of the best visit around Yogyakarta is the Borobudur Budhist temple. You can see it from the Amanjiwo and I recommend to have a lunch at the hotel, after you visit the temple.

rdlmitedu

I just finished up speaking at a conference in Kuala Lumpur (sadly, at the IC, but I got a night at the Sheraton Imperial in before, and at Aloft KL after), and had a week or so to kill before my girlfriend joins me in Bali. I was looking at various Cat I/II deals, and found Yogjakarta, which I'd never heard of before.

Goals are twofold: getting caught up on work over the Internet, and re-earning platinum on nights. Spending as little as possible while doing so.

Hotel is close to the airport, but I've only heard a single plane. I booked a single night, got a junior suite on the lagoon level (i.e. direct walk-out from the patio into water). There are some minor maintenance issues with the room, but nothing serious enough to notify until I check out. (there's a free airport transfer, but I stupidly didn't take advantage. The most expensive taxi, which I found, charged 70000 INR; of course, that's still only USD 7, but it was about 2 miles.)

All in all, it's what I'd consider a $150-250/night suite even for this location, for 2000 or 3000 points/night. Add to that breakfast, meal discounts for starwood members (15%?), exec lounge with (not great except for the desserts, but perfectly reasonable, and better than anything in the US) food, and free Internet, and it's a great place to hide out and work. The staff are friendly, and all speak English (to varying degrees; less than in Malaysia, but a lot more than I would have expected). The main restaurant serves good Indonesian, decent Chinese, and not very good western food, but is also priced well.

So far the only downside was that I arrived here with USD 20 and MYR 49, and had to pay USD 25 entrance visa fee, which was kind of a fiasco. Luckily my ATM cards actually work here, unlike Malaysia, so that's not a problem anymore.

All in all, this is an excellent value. There is a lot to do in town and nearby, too, which I'm going to try tomorrow and Thursday, then head to Surabaya, then Bali, then either Lompok or Singapore, then Bangkok for a couple weeks, maybe a few brief trips to other parts of SEA, possibly Hong Kong and/or Beijing, then back home. Requalifying for platinum on 50 nights is hard work (since I only started in mid October)!

travelswithmyself

You certainly cannot be here and NOT visit Borobodur...

rdlmitedu

Last day of my stay, I booked a car and driver through the hotel and went to the Borobodur overlook at dawn (although it was a bit cloudy), Borobodur for a few hours, two of the "approach temples" for Borobodur, Prambanan, etc. I was also supposed to do a city tour/shopping, but after a day of walking outdoors, climbing, carrying heavy D-SLR bag, and being in a car in Yogyakarta traffic (which isn't even 5% of Jakarta, but still pretty serious sometimes), I was ready to sleep from 1pm to 3pm before checking out.

I did miss out on Mt. Merapi; I'd like to do Merapi and Bromo next time I'm in Java.

Would definitely recommend Yogyakarta for seeing temples, and the prices for everything were maybe 25-50% of Bali (maybe due to not having the foreigner tax due to helpful hotel concierge?).