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Re: Jakarta's trip
Hi bro,
From the net, enjoy. Some of the info might be out of date. Preparing a Party Weekend in Jakarta? Jakartans leave their work early on Fridays, hoping they can beat the traffic to the airport and enjoy a week-end in Bali or Singapore, away from the pollution. On the contrary, on the same day, another crowd of people, a mix of expats and locals from nearby Asian countries actually choose to spend their weekend in Jakarta. These people have one thing in mind: To enjoy the great atmosphere of the nightlife here and they have made the right choice (see our previous post to understand why)! Yet, many people write us because they don’t feel as safe in Jakarta as in KL, Singapore, or even Bangkok. Forums on the internet are full of stories about scams, tourist traps, annoyances and even terrorism that it makes sense to have people scared. We, at Jakarta100bars, cannot tolerate that! But since we cannot pick up each of you at the airport, we decided to write this little guide. We hope it will answer all the basic questions you may have about your trip in the capital and if it doesn’t, we encourage you to comment. If you have more interrogations, please just ask, and we will answer as soon as we can. From the airport to your hotel: Like in any airport, the arrival in Jakarta can be stressing since you become the center of attention as soon as you exit, in particular from taxi drivers. To prevent them from insisting too much, act as confident as possible and give the impression that you know where you are going. So where are you going? You have a $3 shuttle than can take you in the centrally-located Gambir Station, but it is better for the first time to take a cab, unless you are on a tight budget. Taxis won’t cost you more than $10 to $15 and you will arrive directly in front of your hotel. People are still recommending the use of Blue Bird taxis only, but in my opinion many brands are safe as well, including Express, Gamya, Taxiku and all the taxis looking brand new. It may sounds like an approximate rule of thumb but it works. You may have bad luck and have to deal with a bad driver, but it happens with Blue Birds as well. You can book a taxi straight after the custom check at one of their counters. Alternatively, you can go to the taxi line, a 100 meter away from the arrival gate on the left. There are several brands there you can choose from, and you will get a coupon with your destination and a number to call in case you have a problem with the driver. Before accepting to enter a taxi, ask if the toll is included or not to avoid surprises. Which hotel should you choose and where? First tip: Lower your expectations! The overall quality of hotels is pretty low in Jakarta, except in the 5-stars range where the offer is plethoric. You can see that many hotels were decent at the time they were opened, but they are deteriorating fast. Don’t listen to someone if he tells you a place was good “a few years ago”. Far too often, you don’t get the good-value you could expect from a country with such a cheap cost of living. Apart from this guide, check what people are saying on internet forums but pay attention to the date the message was posted. I won’t give you the names of all the hotels that are acceptable, but a more general overview of which are the good areas to stay and what are the popular hotels in these areas. If you come with the intention of partying, you will be happy to know that most hotels in Jakarta are girl-friendly, except for some family hotels. I’m not saying the front office won’t give you a bad look if you come back drunk at 4AM with a hooker, but they wion't call the cops either. If you encountered a problem in one of the hotels listed below, please comment. Low-budget/Midrange Hotels In the low-budget range (from Rp. 50,000 to Rp. 200,000 per night), the hotels in Jalan Jaksa will be your best option. Most of the places are quite crappy, but it is in a good location and you will find a lot of services available for travellers there. The street, a much smaller version of Bangkok’s backpacker street Khao San Road, has also many cafés and restaurants and is a good spot for meeting other people. Jalan Jaksa residents are somewhat looked down upon by other expats and girls in particular could be a little turned off at the idea of coming to your place. You can do as I did when I was there and say that you "live near Plaza Indonesia”. Without prior reservation you should be able to find something quickly but you can also call the following places (I remind you that almost all hotels in Jaksa are shitty, but some are worst than others): Kresna Hotel (021-325403): 40,000rp, no aircon and bathroom is outside. Basic but calm. Bloem Steen Hotel (021-325389): Friendly, cheap (40,000 rp), no aircon and bathroom outside. Borneo Hostel (021-3140095): Very basic, but clean and it has big rooms (around rp. 100,000) Memory Café Hotel: Memories Café has a few bad rooms upstairs, with no aircon but bathroom inside. Noisy, yet lively. Margot (021-3913830), very popular, is full of girls brought by other travellers. It costs rp. 220,000, with TV, hot water, air-con. Jalan Jaksa is approximately 5 minutes away in walking distance from Sarinah Mall and from a Transjakarta bus station. With these, and for a fraction of the price of a taxi, you can reach Blok M or Kota easily. It is also a great way to avoid traffic since they have dedicated lines. If you feel a little adventurous, the best places to sleep in Jaksa are actually located within the “gangs”, i.e. the tiny streets that run perpendicular from Jaksa. Sometimes you will see a sign indicating there is a room (such as “KOS”), and sometimes nothing. Ask around. If you bargain, you can get quieter, cheaper rooms this way. Not girl-friendly however because they are usually run by local families. My humble two cents.
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Please leave your nick when you up me, thank you. |
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Re: Jakarta's trip
Hi bro,
The street south of Jalan Jaksa, Jalan Wahid Hasyim has been developed more recently and it has some good-value hotels. Among which, my favourites are the Ibis Arcadia (+6221-2300050) and Ibis Tamarin (+6221-3912323), which will cost you Rp.550,000 including breakfast. If that is the budget you intend to spend, don’t look anywhere else because nothing comes close in Jakarta in terms of value for money. Do make a reservation to make sure you have a room. If the Ibis are both full, you can try Paragon (+6221-3917070) and Cipta Hotel (+6221-3904701), but they aren’t as good by far. The new Akhmani Hotel, a four stars, is excellent as well and not so expensive (weekend rate of Rp. 650,000). We can expect a price increase when the place will be more well-known though. There are a lot of locally-owned midrange hotels in Central Jakarta, in the areas of Senen, Pecenongan, Menteng and Pasar Baroe. They should all be second choices since hotels there are quite expensive for what you get. I tried a few ones because I arrived late in Jakarta with no reservations and I was always disappointed. Quite often, the hotels there are naughty spots and may have a karaoke/bar with prostitutes, for instance Golden Boutique, Classic Hotel, Hotel Menteng. You end up wondering if you are in a “short-time” hotel with regular clients. Two hotels I could recommend are: - Formule 1 Hotel, in Menteng, very popular, is a low-budget equivalent of the Ibis hotel (you can book online on http://www.accor.com). - Hotel Red Top (+6221-3500077) in Pecenongan: Clean, modern and well-priced with a weekend package at Rp 520,000. Near Mangga Besar and Lokasari, there is another number of mid-range hotel options, that I do not recommend unless you want to stay in North Jakarta. Very often, these hotels have short-time rooms and some have bars/massage parlours/karaoke. If you came to Jakarta only for girls, then you won’t be bothered here and you will be right in the action. My opinion is that it gets quite boring to be surrounded by hookers and dodgy guys and I’ll rather be in “normal” hotels. If you end up in a hotel with a mirror on the ceiling, a condom on the table, and a porn movie in the DVD player, don’t complain! Possible options in Mangga Besar include: Hotel Labu Indah (+6221-6009250, +6221-6009253), in the end of Jalan Labu, is a good place to stay, for around Rp. 200,000/night. Prinsen Park Hotel (+6221-6289101): Correct price for this hotel, around Rp 200,000, located 100 meters from Lokasari Plaza. Sparks Hotel (+6221-6252534) is new and clean but very noisy due to the karaoke and the bar. Hotel Mercure Rekso (+6221-6248680): Perfect location and clean hotel. Popular with foreigners. You can get a room for as little as Rp 600,000 on weekends. In South Jakarta, I believe there are less low-budget and midrange hotels available. You should stay here only if you do not intend to go up North (which, if I may say, is a very sad thing to do). Popular addresses are: - Amaris Hotel (+6221-7267111), Rp 450,000, clean and well decorated. Short distance from Blok M. - Grand Flora Hotel (+6221-7198000): Rp 800,000, good service, clean, good location, the best midrange accommodation in Kemang. - Ambhara Hotel (+6221-2700888) is similar, with a certain Indonesian charm, but more expensive (Rp 900,000). - Grand Mahakam (+6221-7209966): more luxurious and more expensive, it’s close to a 5-stars in terms of quality. Rp 1,000,000 per night. Five-stars Hotels 5-stars hotels in Jakarta are well-worth the money. You will find them on average at least 3 times cheaper than in Europe, for a similar quality of service. If you are staying in 5-stars hotels, popular options are the Shangri-La, Hotel Mulia and Hotel Le Meridien which have good bars with live music. Ritz-Carlton and Marriott were bombed twice so I would stay away from them. Grand Hyatt is perfectly located, above the mall Plaza Indonesia, and if you book in advance, you can get a room for Rp 1.5 million. Day activity: Malls/Spas/Cafés/Museums Shopping for cheap stuff is one of my favourite things to do in Jakarta. Going to malls is actually the most popular activity of Jakartans, and you will find them packed during weekends. The hottest high-end mall in Jakarta is Grand Indonesia, which was completed in 2007. It is huge, and you can easily spend hours walking in it before seeing a shop twice. It has a good, non-expensive theatre, the Blitz Megaplex, on its last floor. Other luxurious malls are Senayan City and Pacific Place, all of them very similar. I think. My humble two cents.
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Please leave your nick when you up me, thank you. |
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Re: Jakarta Info
2nd night venture out.
hop onto a cab and wanted to go malioboro hotel. then i ask him if he has any recommendation. he recommended Golden Crown at Glodok Plaza the spa is at 5th level. For 1.5hr massage, u can either choose 310k which is a private room to yourself or 245k which is in a hall which i guess there is some kinda of partition. They provide complimentary food but the food cannot make it. Ordered from the menu instead. basically concept very similar to malaysia hotel spa Not allowed to choose gers but you can tell the recep your expectations. Ratings of the ger assigned to me: Looks: 6 => dyed hair, not too bad, but i prefer fair indonesians and shes on the darker side. Massage: 5 => turn on the tv and not concentrating on massaging me. the lady in malioboro hotel massage much better than her. i think only in China where you can find massage gers who can massage and later fuck. those gers tat have special services often cant compared to those who are ready in massage line Special: Never take up. she never attempt to get me into the mood, suddenly just say turn over and ask if i wan to have sex. Sex is 500k, while HJ showing her (.)(.) is 300k ; 200k for hj with clothes on So i tell her tat i need to inspect her first. she striped and i tried to finger her, find her quite loose and not keen to pay 300k for hj. so in the end, no shoot for tonight also! Anyway, whats the rate for hj and fj in Jakarta? is her pricing reasonable? |
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Re: Jakarta Info
Quote:
Change at the aiport - 6950 outside it's 6850/6800 So you're good a the airport. |
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Re: Jakarta Info
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FYI, in case you run out of cash, theres a couple of 24 hrs money changers approx 5min drive away from malioboro hotel. I changed at 6900 Dolar Plus JI Gajah Mada No 113A Jakarta Barat (Samping BCA KCU Gajah Mada) |
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Re: Jakarta Info
haha!!! ah pek at least knows something....the only airport in the world that offers better rates than outside....
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Re: Jakarta Info
Happy to hear that. You want to stay over at my place, or you have plans yourself.
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Re: Jakarta Info
Bro overnight I realised I lost all my points and power. I wonder whom have I offended. To those brothers who have deducted my points, I meant no ill feeling. I write in the forum to share informations and I share what I personally experienced and not adapted from somewhere. I believed in authencity and only provide accurate knowledge. Anyway the point system doesn't mean anything to me. I am more concern that I may have offended some brother unknowingly.
Cheers. |
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Re: Jakarta Info
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freelancers, hotel outcall massage, hotel sex, jakarta, outcall |
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