Upon arrival, I met a staff member of the Sheraton Bandara, who was waiting for me right outside the departure area. The Bandara offers a complimentary shuttle ride to the airport that runs every 30 minutes around the clock, but I’d recommend emailing the hotel ahead of time so they can co-ordinate a staff member to meet you on arrival.
After exchanging some dollars to Indonesian rupiah, we headed up to 2nd level where a shuttle was waiting. The shuttle bus is more like a van, with the seating a bit cramped, but the ride was a short five minute ride so it didn’t bother me too much.
The Sheraton Bandara lobby is well decorated and reminds you of the grand “old Indonesia”.
Lining the lobby hallways are old Indonesian stone carvings, a very nice touch showcasing the old historical kingdoms in Indonesia.
The check in agent was friendly and noted my request for a renovated room (the hotel is currently ongoing renovation and only half of the rooms have been completed) and assigned a room on the 4th floor and detailed my benefits.
I walked into my room and my initial impressions were positive. The room was lined with wooden flooring with a long working desk and a small wooden closet. The bed was king sized and the shower area was made of marble and even had a bathtub.
However, once you started looking closely at the details, you can see chips and dings throughout the room including the sink and desk area. More importantly, there were a few stains including one on my bed sheet and the sink faucet was slowly leaking water from the handles whenever the sink was being used. Since I was tired and wearing sleepwear, I decided not to call housekeeping, but if you are a clean freak, this could definitely be an issue.
The welcome amenity for gold members was a plate of fruit and dessert snacks.
Overall the room is poorly maintained, and definitively not up to the standards of a regular Sheraton. I can only imagine what an unrenovated room would look like.
What the hotel lacked in overall cleanliness, the service levels were excellent throughout my stay. I woke up late and decided to head to the hotel restaurant for its lunch buffet.
As a SPG gold member, I was given a voucher good for one drink up to $15 in value. In practice you could order multiple drinks till you reached the $15 limit, which I fully maximized by ordering some delicious watermelon shake.
The service at the restaurant was excellent and the food was delicious. With the 15% SPG discount for all elite members, my total bill was around $18 which was expensive for Indonesian standards but reasonable compared to other Sheratons.
After lunch, I decided to quickly check out the pool area, which was deserted due to the daytime heat.
As a SPG gold member I was theoretically entitled to a 4 PM check out to most Starwood properties. However, upon further inquiry the Sheraton Bandara is actually classified “resort hotel” which meant that the 4 PM benefit was not guaranteed and “subject to availability”. Frankly I thought it was bit cheeky since clearly its meant for airport transfers, but if you’re an elite member, usually they will try and accommodate you.
I checked out of the airport at 3:30 pm and waited for my hotel shuttle, which was caught in traffic; a bit surprising considering how close the airport is to the hotel. Ultimately the shuttle was 15 minutes late, and I arrived at the domestic terminal for Lion Air around 70 minutes before departure.
Overall the hotel is a bit of a mixed bag, you can clearly see its “golden days” with its magnificent lobby and excellent service from the staff throughout my stay. However, my room was poorly maintained for a five star hotel and the hallways are a bit dated with poor air conditioning and circulation. This hotel has potential; with a little bit more attention to the details and maintenance I feel this hotel would easily live up to the old reputation. I think this hotel was fairly classified as a category 2, but as a category 3, not so much.
Until then, unless you are in desperate need of a quick nap before your morning flight, I would suggest staying at another hotel given its relatively expensive room rates (around $150+ a night).
