After a 4-hour travel from Manila, we arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The immigration and custom was quite fast. I noticed the numerous 24-hour money changer counters that can be found at the public hall. Since we didn't had pre-arranged transportation and it was already late at night, we opted for the metered taxi from the Blue Bird counter. Our ride took us only 15 minutes to reach Hotel Novotel Jakarta Mangga Dua Square.

The Novotel Jakarta Mangga Dua is a 4-star business class hotel located in the prominent Mangga Dua area of Northern Jakarta. We already made a reservation for Superior 1 King Bed Pool Side that cost 843,000 IDR per night (around Php 3,871.00 or US$ 83.00), prior to our arrival. Fortunately, upon checking in we were immediately given a Free Upgrade to a Suite Room.

It was awesome and incredibly HUGE. It features a bedroom, living room, dining room with a generous-sized pantry, bathroom with bathtub and to top it all - a separate spacious Jacuzzi Room.




Our room has a stunning pool side view. The hotel Olympic-size swimming pool is very inviting equipped with sun loungers and parasols.




As for breakfast, halal-buffet style was offered to cater for hotel guests especially for Muslims. Amazingly, foods were perfectly cooked and delicious. Not bland and commercialized selections of food like other hotels do. They served authentic Indonesian, Asian and Western cuisine.


The hotel is conveniently located in Jakarta's business district and is within walking distance of many wholesale as well as retail shopping center and entertainment. It is close by Mangga Dua Square, and within 15 minutes walk to ITC as well as Pasar Pagi. Close to Ancol Dreamland with Sea World and Fantasy World.



There was no free Wi-Fi connection in the hotel room. We had to buy a prepaid internet access card, which cost 133,000 Rupiah good for 24 hours (used or unused). The one minor problem we had- the water wasn't crystal clear. It came out light brown. We did complain to the hotel management about the water issue and they sent us immediately two of their maintenance staff. They tried to fix it but to no avail. They just gave us a vague and muddled explanation when we made an inquiry. So, we asked for a room change and the hotel staff made an effort to accommodate our request even though most of the rooms were fully occupied.

They offered us another suite room - same size, same design but no Jacuzzi room. Instead it has a large private patio overlooking the swimming pool. But in spite of this, the water was still the same. Anyhow, we didn't get any rashes or any allergic reaction on our skin. But I still hope they'll try to fix this problem as it looks pretty unhygienic.


All in all, aside from minor problem that we had, we both really enjoyed our time there and would consider staying at this hotel. What's more, taxis are always readily available. Money exchange is on the lower ground of the hotel (there's a stairway near the elevator).