Beautiful designs and great food make the Four Seasons a serious contender.
Hi there, my name is Kevin and I make honest and to the point narrated video tours about
resorts and flights all over the world.
This is episode 114 and today we are at the immaculate Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta.
The full experience begins in 10 seconds.
Welcome to the Capital Place mixed use development, where today’s Four Seasons is located and
where there seems to be fortress level security at all times.
Makes for a very exclusive if not mildly concerning first impression.
If you’d like to know the exact rate that I paid for my stay, my next five videos in
queue or just want to check out the equipment I use on a daily basis, please check out the
description below.
Follow the driveway to the rear of the development and you’ll find yourself at the entrance
to the all suite 125 room Four Seasons which opened in 2016.
While the brand has had a presence in Jakarta for many years, their previous location closed
in 2014.
Also in the development you’ll find an office tower, some dining options and a Four Seasons
Residence.
Jakarta is one of those cities that for me at least is way to big to even try to begin
to understand the layout, so I’ll just stick to the key points, like how the hotel is a
35 to 80 minute drive to the airport depending on the time of day.
For me, not during rush hour, it took 55 minutes.
The coolest thing about the location for me at least is that it’s actually directly
next to an aviation museum.
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As we enter we get our first taste of the design language used throughout the majority
of the guest areas.
Walking in and to the left is the reception area which is tucked around the corner.
One of the downsides of the design here being just how little seating there is in the lobby
area due to its layout.
Much more of a transient space and it’s just my preference to not have to pass directly
next to the reception desks to access the elevators which are behind it.
One thing I did very much like though was the welcome drink which was my choice and
offered as I needed to wait for around 20 minutes for my room to be ready.
As the Patisserie was full, I was seated in the Library which is as beautiful as it is
saturated and easily leads me to talk a bit about the design.
The interiors are designed by New York based architect Alexandra Champalimaud who envisioned
the interiors as a meeting point between classical French and Art Deco design.
The even more interesting point to me though is that the exterior spaces were designed
by Bill Bensley who’s beautiful designs I’ve spoken about quite a bit on the channel,
with many of his signature properties being in Vietnam.
Ironically, this Library looks like something he would design- colorful, immersive, almost
too much but not quite there yet.
As beautiful as this Library is, I was excited to see the exterior spaces- but I have to
admit, just from that Bill Bensley expectation perspective, were a bit disappointing.
Let’s head to the pool and you can see for yourself.
It’s a very nice and well laid out design that makes a great use of the space available
but it’s just nowhere near as styled as I’d expect from this particular designer.
That said it’s a perfect spot for a few hours break from a busy working day or a family
staycation which this hotel clearly gets a lot of.
Lots of staff were on offer throughout the day serving drinks to quite honestly many
more guests than I expected to see out here in the middle of the day.
Of course now, I’m filming in the early morning.
There are plenty of comfortable loungers and a few day beds that are taken up quickly.
Above and behind the pool there is another platform level with additional lounging areas
and an admittedly lonely lawn.
I get the feeling that it would absolutely bake up here in the middle of the day.
And don’t forget, haze, smog, pollution, dirty clouds- whatever you want to call it,
UV rays do get through it so don’t be one of the sad folk that get insane sunburn from
what seemed like an innocent cloudy day.
Overlooking the pool area is a nicely sized fitness center considering there’s only
125 rooms here.
One annoying bit is that, despite the pool and the fitness center being on a key access
floor, accessed from an elevator behind the reception area, the doors to the gym and the
pool both require an additional key access- as you approach the door staff from the attached
spa will literally come running to get ahead to open the door for you and ask for your
room number- a fancy band aid for an entirely curable condition.
Alright let’s head to the room, or rather the suite.
The smallest rooms here clock in at around 650 square feet or 60 square meters and so
at most there will be 10 rooms on your floor, but there is unfortunately noise bleed from
the hallways into the rooms- but not between the rooms from my experience.
The hallway and rooms are much more subdued and classic in design as compared to all of
the common areas and venues.
While as a full picture the rooms are easy on the eyes and classically elegant, there
are some bits and bobs here and there that feel a bit generic and cheap.
Oh and these chairs will be perfectly suited for you if you’re around a foot and a half
shorter than I am.
Four Seasons beds and linens are generally my favorite of any hotel brand, but a couple
misses here.
First, all of the linens- including the sheets, towels and robes all had this scent that I
can only describe as industrial laundry.
Imagine fresh cotton, a hint of floral notes and just a smidgen of electrical fire.
The other thing I wasn’t too happy with was waking up and only then noticing that
the duvet was backwards and not enclosed so I wake up snuggling the interior duvet itself-
which if you visit a lot of hotels you’ll know is one of the grossest things you could
possibly do in a hotel since pet king cobras are likely washed more frequently.
Over the years I have fallen in love with multiple toiletry brands thanks to being introduced
to them by Four Seasons, which was a huge miss for me here- using completely generic
single use bottles.
And not even the decent generic stuff- we’re talking about the fluorescent green shampoo
and blue body wash.
For perspective in case you don’t see my other Jakarta reviews, the Raffles uses Penhaligan’s
and the Park Hyatt uses Hermes.
All three hotels are priced nearly the same.
I now welcome you to the first ever Flip Flop Ink Blot test.
Tell me what you see.
The closet is open plan and and across from the separate toilet area which has one awkward
feature.
There’s no locking mechanism on the door and no matter how hard you try, it’ll never
stay shut.
In the front entry area we find some more storage space, a vanity and the decently stocked
mini bar with coffee and tea service and disappointing plastic bottles of water and a few complimentary,
but super sweet, fruit chip snacks.
Last up we have the view from our 25th floor perch.
Down there on the left you can see the aviation museum I mentioned and luckily the windows
here are very well insulated from all of the street noise generated from the ring road.
It did make for a beautiful scene at night though.
Speaking of night, I am ready for dinner, so let’s explore what our options are.
On the top floor we have Alto, which is their Italian Restaurant, featuring it’s own small
bar and outdoor terrace areas with the same view as you saw in my room.
While to does look beautifully designed, Italian food isn’t my thing, at least not when I’m
in Jakarta.
I chose the Palm Court which is the grand restaurant just next to the Library.
The menu featured some pan-asian and western options but focused on Indonesian and specifically
Javanese cuisine.
Which perhaps makes my choice of a pepper crusted tuna salad as a starter a bit odd-
but, it was delicious.
I followed that with a much more local chicken dish which ticked all of my spicy, sour and
fermented boxes for the evening.
Next up, we might head to the Nautilus Bar which was small but a bit of a showstopper
with its back lit bar and black interior.
As we look around, let me touch on service quickly.
Across the board except for breakfast which I’ll mention separately, the service was
poised and efficient but perhaps too efficient.
If this hotel with all of it’s staff was transported to Manhattan, it would very much
fit in.
It’s actually a no nonsense service style that I particularly like, but it’s out of
place in Jakarta.
Alright, we are in the home stretch with breakfast also at Palm Court.
The concept here is a common one, but the execution wasn’t all that great.
There’s a small buffet plus an a la carte supplemental menu.
I’m not a fan for three reasons.
First, the buffet is tiny and too limited to really provide anything worth writing home
about.
Second thing, service time.
I sat down and ordered from the menu.
What I thought was a few moments later the gentleman behind me complained about the wait
for his omelet.
I was semi working and thought he was overreacting a bit but it had been 22 minutes since I ordered
my dishes.
I finally received them 28 minutes after the initial order which for breakfast is a big
no no.
Last thing, as you sat down each table was served a “welcome bread” which was a plain
muffin which absolutely no one ate.
What’s it for?
Anyway, I’m nit picking, I know, but it’s a Four Seasons.
So as we watch those beautifully cooked eggs gush and we get into the Flip Flop score,
what are we thinking?
It’s a beautiful property and if the location is perfect for your needs then by all means
go ahead and book it, in my opinion the Four Seasons as nice as it is is simple outshined
by the other properties I checked out in Jakarta, which will be my next two videos.
As for this video, I do hope you enjoyed it and found it useful and will give it a big
thumbs up and subscribe with notifications on.
I’ll see you next time at the Raffles Jakarta.