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).
