Introduction
On the news of pre-flight testing being scrapped for domestic travel in Indonesia, we planned a last-minute trip to Central Java. In particular, we planned the trip to revolve around visiting the ancient temples of the province, including the famous temples of Borobudur and Prambanan.

The trip took us between three cities, namely, Yogyakarta, Magelang, and Surakarta (colloquially known as Solo), where we spent 2 nights each (plus 3 additional nights in Solo). We booked everything just 4 days before our first departure (with a quick overnight in Jakarta).

As such will be reviewing the following:

Garuda Indonesia Domestic Lounge Jakarta
Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta
Alila Solo
The Royal Surakarta Heritage - MGallery Collection by Sofitel
Amanjiwo

Deciding the Hotels

Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta has a surprisingly good amount of upscale hotel choices, including those affiliated with the three major hotel companies (Marriott, Hyatt, and Accor). We narrowed down the choices between the Royal Ambarrukmo (Yogyakarta’s most iconic hotel), the Melia Purosani, the Hyatt Regency, and the Sheraton Mustika. The Hyatt Bonus Journeys 2022 promotion, however, cemented our decision to stay at the Hyatt Regency of all those choices (although the Ambarrukmo did come a close second). Despite that, we are not Hyatt Elites. The Hyatt’s seemingly outdated rooms don’t give me much confidence about the place, although the unending amount of good reviews does leave me confused. Either way, I’m very excited to review this hotel (for better or worse).

Borobudur/Magelang
I don’t think a rationale is necessary to decide on Amanjiwo. Having said that, there are two other upscale accommodation options in proximity to Borobudur—the Plataran and the Plataran Heritage. Both are managed by the Indonesian operator, Plataran which operates hotels in several interesting destinations around the country. The former, however, is the more high-end of the two, being an all-villa resort that probably comes closest to rivalling the Aman. Whilst my heart was obviously set on Amanjiwo, I hope to review a Plataran resort at some point in the future.

Surakarta (Solo)
Unlike Yogyakarta, Solo has a lot fewer upscale hotel options, with the Alila and the Royal Surakarta Heritage MGallery Collection by Sofitel (what a long name!) being the only two hotels with a ‘five-star’ classification. There are a few other international branded hotels, including a Best Western, a Novotel, an Ibis, and a Swiss-Bel hotel, along with an Aston hotel (a local brand which apparently also operates resorts in Cuba?!). Frankly, it wasn’t hard to select the Alila, despite its significant premium over the MGallery.

I certainly hope you can enjoy reading this report!

Update: We decided to extend our stay in Solo given how lovely the place is, and as such I will also be reviewing The Royal Surakarta Heritage - MGallery Collection by Sofitel. Stay tuned!

Garuda Indonesia Domestic Lounge, Soekarno-Hatta
As we are not Garuda Elites, nor do we have Skyteam Elite Plus status, we decided to pay IDR200,000 (~�11) for access to the Garuda Lounge. Notably, passengers flying on the airline's low-cost carrier, Citilink, are also eligible to purchase access (and for a fact, that airline's 'premium economy' passengers get access to the lounge by default).

We headed straight to the lounge after check-in for our flight to Yogyakarta. Once at the Garuda Lounge reception, we were signalled to head to the frequent flyer lounge (Garuda Platinum and Skyteam Elite Plus). The walk there was down a long narrow corridor, and we were greeted by the lounge staff at the reception. The lounge itself was rather small, and whilst we arrived to find it quiet, the lounge gradually got very crowded. The lounge looked nicely designed and well lit.



Garuda Lounge seating

Garuda Lounge seating
There were conveniently many bottles of water available, although food choices were limited. Hot food was limited to a porridge, in addition to cut fruit and several steamed root vegetables and bananas. There were also several juices and iced tea available, although each of them looked like the overly sweet artificial kind that I'm not particularly fond of.

Garuda Lounge closed seating section and view of terminal
The lounge also has a private washroom, which was rather well kept.

Garuda Lounge washroom
My biggest gripe about the lounge is probably on how hot it is inside. The air conditioning just felt inadequate to keep the space cool (and it appears to be a problem for the entire terminal).

Overall, the lounge was so-so in my opinion, and was certainly not worth paying access for. The food option is underwhelming, it is rather hot, and there isn't really a nice worktop to use in case one would like to work. The place was clean though.

thanks for the detailed review with lot of pictures and tips. A small note, what does "what a decade" mean in the context of describing that atrium? Is it ten years old (younger than the hotel but old still), or did you mean to say "facade" and mistyped. I do that sometimes with certain words too.
thanks

This (Duplicate post) can be deleted by mods whenever. Thanks.

Many thanks for reading! I apologise for the misunderstanding. By that statement, I was referring to the 90s (well, the late 80s to the mid-90s) during which time the grand atrium hotels (particularly, the designs of John Portman) were very popular in Asia and frankly around the world.

During that time, there were many atrium style hotels that opened in Asia, including the Regent Singapore (1992), Grand Hyatt Shanghai (1999), Gran Melia Jakarta (1995), Mandarin Oriental Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore, Pan Pacific Singapore, Island Shangri-la Hong Kong (1991), Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai (1990) among others...

Ah, you didnt need to apologize. I am somewhat new to paying attention to these things (outside of seeing them in movies). That looks like a good list to explore! Thank you.

Introduction Opened in 2015, Alila Solo is likely the most 'luxurious' and consequentially, the priciest hotel in the city. The city's only other hotel with a 5-star classification would be 'The Royal Surakarta Heritage MGallery Collection by Sofitel', which charges half the rate of Alila's. As its name suggests, the hotel is part of the upmarket Alila brand of hotels that now belongs to Hyatt. Like many chains, however, Alila has a very variable standard of hotels, from the high-end Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali to the comparatively uninspiring Alila Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Unlike many chains though, Alila does not have many hotels. We booked a standard room for around IDR1,100,000 (~£60) a night, including breakfast. As far as I could see, there isn't any discernible difference in size or design between standard and deluxe rooms, although the latter category includes nightly turn-down service. Location The hotel is easily identifiable, given its unusual architecture and being the tallest building in the city. That said, the hotel is actually located away from the city's central district and as such, further away from many of Solo's sites to see. The city centre is 15-20 minutes away by car, making the hotel not ideal for those wishing to explore the city on foot. There is, however, a bus stop in front of the hotel that goes into the city, but its timing isn't too convenient. Alila Solo exterior Check In There is a small security check upon arrival at the hotel's lobby. I thought the design of the lobby is quite interesting, featuring an enormous rolling artwork that spanned the entire lobby. I wasn't particularly fond of the design, but it was quite impressive nevertheless.Alila Solo lobbyThe hotel's many porters promptly took care of our luggage and whisked us to the reception. We were promptly checked in by the friendly agent and handed keys to our room on the 14th floor. As such, this was a very straightforward check-in experience.Alila Solo lobby Room We reached our room around the same time our luggage is delivered; I appreciated how quickly our luggage was delivered despite the lobby being rather busy. Our standard room is advertised to be 40sqm, although the space didn't seem very proportionally spaced. The design is bright and modern but I found it to be rather uninspiring in terms of design. Moreover, I thought that the use of wood veneer panels and furniture, and the wall print just cheapened the look of the room. Furthermore, at only 6 years old, wear and tear are a bit more obvious; there were a few small stains in the cloth wall panels, and small chips in the veneer furniture. Alila Solo standard roomThe room is otherwise, very clean, and modern touches like the sizeable smart television, as well as the numerous well-placed universal power outlets, made the room especially convenient. Unlike at the Yogyakarta Hyatt, however, the room was devoid of any welcome amenities (not that we expected any).Alila Solo standard roomAlila Solo standard roomThe bathroom is decently sized, but is dim and has a very oversized shower. The bathroom could legitimately benefit from more lamps, because should the shade be pulled down, the bathroom is rather dark. Alila Solo bathroomBath amenities were Alila-branded, although they appeared distinct from the Alila-living amenities offered at the pricier Alilas. Its fragrance is likewise different from those that we had at Alila Villas Uluwatu, and seemed much less pleasant in terms of quality.Alila Solo bathroomAlila Solo toiletAlila Solo view from room.There were multiple blackouts (we counted 11) on the first night of our stay, which made it hard to sleep that night. Disappointingly, there was a distinct lack of communication or proactive apology on the part of the hotel for this inconvenience. Likewise, the hotel's wifi is frustrating, given the need to log-in again whenever one gets disconnected from the network. Dining We only dined at the hotel for breakfast, which was served between 06.00 to 10.00 at Epice Restaurant at the lobby level. The selection consists of an extensive staffed buffet of Western and Asian food. I was very impressed with the multitude of food on offer; there was the usual egg station, as well as a wide selection of local and international food, with various types of rice dishes, soups, porridges, congee, dim sum, sandwiches, salads, and desserts (they surprisingly had ice cream as well, if that's your thing). The selection also rotates every day. Alila Solo Epice breakfast beverage stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast egg stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast congee and dim sum stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast rice dishes and fritters stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast porridge stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast noodles stationAlila Solo Epice breakfast pastriesAlila Solo Epice breakfast cakesAlila Solo Epice breakfast ice cream stationI sampled a few of the dishes, and they were edible and mostly tasted decent but not amazing. Everything I had mostly tasted mediocre, although their local fritters were very good. Alila Solo Epice breakfast noodlesAlila Solo Epice breakfast frittersWhat most surprised me was how crowded the restaurant was on both days of our stay, no matter how early we went. I frankly haven't seen a hotel restaurant so packed in the past two years. I hope this is an omen of the world's recovery from the pandemic. Amenities The hotel has a sizeable pool, as well as a large deck with many lounge chairs and sofas. Unfortunately, the pool didn't look very inviting, and many of the chairs didn't seem very well maintained. The view from the pool area was otherwise very nice though.Alila Solo poolAlila Solo pool​​​​​​​Alila Solo pool furnitureThere is also a rather large gymnasium which looked to be in excellent condition, with many types of equipment to choose from. Overall, I think Alila's strongest point is definitely their gymnasiums, which are consistently very good at all of the hotels that I've visited.Alila Solo Gym AlilaAlila Solo Gym AlilaAlila Solo Gym Alil Service I can't comment much about service since our interactions with staff were limited (as is expected at a hotel of this size). However, the staff that we encountered were all friendly and respectful. Overall Overall, I thought that Alila Solo is objectively a nice hotel in Surakarta, although it isn't really anything special. I felt that the rooms, food, and facilities (apart from the gym) were pretty much mediocre; between the hotel's price premium and uncompetitive location, I wouldn't recommend staying here unless one is a Hyatt elite or is collecting nights to maintain/become an elite.

Introduction Until the opening of the Alila, The Royal Surakarta Heritage was the sole hotel in Solo to have a '5-star' classification. It belongs to the MGallery Collection, making it one of the three Accor hotels in the city—the other two being a Novotel and an Ibis Styles. In fact, Accor has a very impressive footprint in various second tier cities in Indonesia, making it useful to collect nights (neighbouring Yogyakarta has 6 for instance). However, MGallery has always come across to me as a rather confusing brand. The brand has historically been an upmarket branch of Mercure, but it was later revamped to include a 'by Sofitel' tag (I reckon to make it more premium); now, that tag has since been dropped. It is supposedly a luxury-brand, although given its association with Mercure, I struggle to think of it as such. Regardless, we paid a room-only nightly rate of IDR550,000 (~£29), which seemed like a steal compared to the Alila. Location Starting on a very high point, the hotel's location is second to none. It is located right in the middle of downtown Surakarta and is a short 15 walk to any place of interest in the city. The centre of Solo is very much walkable, so I felt that the hotel's location is incredibly practical and convenient. The Royal Surakarta Heritage exterior Check In We went straight to The Royal Heritage after checking out from the Alila. Our check-in was very straightforward and handled very quickly by our friendly agent and it wasn't 5 minutes before we settled into our room. The Royal Surakarta Heritage lobby Room Our initial impression of the room was that it was airy and spacious. Confusingly, the room is advertised at 30 sqm (smaller than the room at the Alila), although it certainly didn't feel that way. I thought that the room (and the entire hotel for that matter) had a significant sense of place, given the decor. However, I for one am not a fan of the orange walls of the room.The Royal Surakarta Heritage Deluxe roomThe Royal Surakarta Heritage Deluxe roomThe Royal Surakarta Heritage mini barHowever, upon closer inspection, the room has a lot of wear and tear and was certainly aging. This is particularly evident in the bathroom which we found to be relatively dim. Water pressure and temperature is poor, and the linens were questionably off-white, making us wish that we brought our own towels. The Royal Surakarta Heritage bathroomFurthermore, both the bathroom and for some reason, the inside of the closets where very damp. In fact whenever we hung any clothes in the closet, it would end up feeling wet to the touch. Apart from that, the room was fine and reasonably clean. Regardless, be sure to request an exterior-facing room as there is a sizeable number of rooms that have interior views. Amenities The hotel has a swimming pool and a gym open for guests. The pool is rather small and narrow and didn't look particularly inviting. The gym was a lot more spacious although it looked a bit old. The Royal Surakarta Heritage poolThe Royal Surakarta Heritage poolThe Royal Surakarta Heritage gym Service I thought that the staff were friendly and respectful, although sadly, our requests the two times we made them were not fulfilled. One day, we requested our room to be serviced at an earlier time (9.00) only to find it not made up when we returned several hours later. The next day, our room was made up without question when we came back at 9.40.Next, we requested a taxi early in the morning to head to the airport the night before. Lo and behold, the hotel never made a request for a cab when we headed down the next morning. Thankfully, a cab arrived within 10 minutes of calling. Overall Overall, the hotel is inherently very mediocre, if not rather unsatisfactory. However, we didn't have much qualms about our stay there given the hotel's excellent location. In fact, it did seem like The Royal Surakarta Heritage is the only decent hotel option in downtown Solo. As a comparison, the room at Alila are much superior, but it's location is terrible compared to The Royal Surakarta Heritage.The Royal Surakarta Heritage atriumAs such, should I return to the city, I would not hesitate to stay here again (assuming that there are no new hotels nearby), although I'd probably bring my own towels.

Yogyakarta is quite a hidden gem and everything was cheap - great value for money. I guess international tourists have been too focused on Bali to overlook this part of Indonesia. Wonderful memories ...

Yogyakarta (and Central Java) is indeed very cheap and affordable. Although being based in Bali, I can also attest that Bali can likewise be incredibly cheap if you know where to look (living cost-wise).

Introduction Amanjiwo is perhaps one of the most raved hotels here on FT, particularly for its unique location and the Aman factor. Opened in 1997, the hotel has built up a formidable reputation, especially among the Aman Junkies. The hotel is located in Magelang, an hour and 10 minutes away from Yogyakarta and 10 minutes to the famed Borobudur Temple. The hotel itself is the masterwork of Edward B. Tuttle, who also worked on the designs of Amankila, Amanpuri, Amanjena, and several other Amans. As explained in the introduction, Amanjiwo is the only hotel of its class in proximity to Borobudur (and perhaps on the whole island of Java, even), followed only by the much less high-end, but all-villa Plataran Borobudur nearby.Borobudur-inspired architecture at Amanjiwo Check In Transfers were included in our rate, as is standard at the Indonesian Amans and many others. We were picked up at the Yogyakarta Hyatt by our friendly driver, for an hour's drive to Magelang. The car itself looked neither new nor old but its interiors did seem a bit more worn compared to the ones they use in Bali (same type). Once at the hotel, we were invited to take a seat at the lobby bar to have our welcome drink. We were also greeted by who we later learned was a supervisor in a very casual manner that kind of surprised us. Shortly after, we were escorted to our Garden Suite following a brief tour of the hotel's facilities, where we had to sign several papers and waivers indicating we were healthy. Room If there is one very high point about our stay, it would definitely be the rooms. Our suite was absolutely beautiful and very much well kept after 25 years. It felt as if the room has hardly aged at all, which isn't surprising, given the frequent maintenance conducted at all Amans. I absolutely loved the sense of place that was incorporated by the room's design, from the sliding screen wall and domed ceilings that are evidently inspired by Borobudur, to the beautiful artwork displayed on the walls. Garden Suite bedroomGarden Suite bedroomGarden Suite fruitplateThe suite also features a sizeable patio area that has a nice, covered daybed, as well as two lounge chairs. The Borobudur Temple is visible at an angle.Garden Suite patioThe hotel had also recently replaced all its toilets with the excellent Toto Washlets, which made me miss Japan very much. Likewise, everything appeared to be in tip-top condition. The rainy weather during our stay meant that I wasn't able to use the outdoor bathtub very much. I'm not very fond of outdoor baths, although I liked that the ones here fill up very quickly. Likewise, water pressure from the shower is excellent.Garden Suite washbasinsGarden Suite showerGarden Suite Toto WashletGarden Suite bathtubThe mini bar was similarly a very beautiful set-up and offered organic teas as well as a jar of cookies and cassava crisps. I personally thought that the cookies were rather overwhelmingly sweet and preferred the offering at Amandari, although it was nice to have nevertheless.What I found lacking with the room would likely be the absence of any sort of stationary (like a note pad) or the painting kit, as well as other typical little items that one ought to find in a hotel room like dental kits or combs. We were told that this has been the standard during the pandemic and all these things had to be requested. Whilst Amankila and Amandari does an excellent job with this, I thought that the lack of these things was bothersome and inconvenient.Garden Suite bedroom Dining We mainly dined at the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. Food quality during breakfast was excellent and service was very much attentive. We sampled a few dishes during our stay, most of which I found to be of good quality and taste. In particular, I very much favoured the Eggs Benedict offered. I didn't like the other options quite as much, although they tasted pretty good and high quality for what they were.PastriesEggs BenedictAvocado Carpaccio with coconut creamThe Magelangan (a mix of fried rice and fried noodles)Chia seed puddingFruit plateOmelette Bubur Ayam chicken congee We had dinner at the hotel one night, with a one-time dinner included in our rate. The dinner was from a predetermined set called the Makan Malam Dinner and consisted of a variety of local Javanese dishes. Makan Malam DinnerMakan Malam DinnerMakan Malam DinnerAmanjiwo RestaurantWe also sampled the afternoon tea offering, which whilst isn't substantial, was nice nevertheless. There was something like a chocolate pound cake, and a rather interesting tasting coconut milk bread that was neither sweet nor savoury. They were served with this very interesting (but nice) tea that I think is made of herbs and spices.Afternoon tea Location The hotel's proximity to Borobudur does make the place very special, particularly given the fact that the temple is visible from most public areas at the hotel. That said, like at many Amans, Amanjiwo is relatively isolated (it is a 10 minute drive to the temple), and isn't quite within walking distance anywhere. Amenities The hotel has a very beautiful swimming pool as well as a small gymnasium that was converted from a suite (like at Amankila). Swimming PoolGymnasium

the blackouts are disturbing any one know if they fixed that?

Am trying to find a property review thread but am at the Alila Solo and no blackouts during my 2 days.