Short review
Value for money: 5/5
Services: 4.5/5
Bedroom: 4/5
Sleep quality: 5/5
Bathroom: 3.5/5
Facilities and amenities: 4/5
Pros
- Good value for money
- Located near a shopping centre
- Very good services from the hotel staff
Cons
- Requiring maintenance in some areas
- Didn’t action my morning call request
- Requiring more refined services or attention to details
Long review
Novotel Yogyakarta is located near the central of Yogyakarta, although to be fair, everywhere is located not far away from the central of the city. You can easily travel around the city by taxi or other online transport providers, such as ‘Grab’ and ‘Go-Car’. There is a small shopping centre called ‘Galeria’ about 100 metres from the hotel. A convenience place to have lunch or dinner. There is a restaurant called ‘Canting’ in Galeria Mall and I heard it is quite famous. I actually had a dinner there and probably I’ll review it on another post.
Back to the hotel, I stayed for 4 nights in Novotel Yogyakarta. I arrived quite late, around 8.30 pm, and I did my check-in online because I just wanted to go to my room as quick as possible. My Gold status with LeClub Accor Hotels came handy during check-in. A wide variety of welcome drink was offered, and I was upgraded to the Executive room on level 8. A manager (his name is Nur) came to greet me, explained the facilities available in the hotel, and accompanied me to my room. A letter from the General Manager and some local delicacies were waiting for me in my room. I like their personalised service here.
The hotel and the room looked old and tired in some places. My room was clean and tidy though. An ‘elephant’ was placed cutely on my bed, which was a nice touch. An iron was noticeably missing, but one was quickly delivered to my room after I made a call. They didn’t bring an iron board though, although I didn’t bother to ask further. Other facilities and amenities were standard as expected from a four-star hotel. There is no universal power outlet in the room so bring your adaptor if you plan to stay in this hotel. The power outlets were also placed under a table which was inconvenient to reach. There was no power outlet near the bedside table. I also had a small problem with the shower. I think something leaked so that a small part of the bathroom floor was always wet every time I finished taking a shower. A small towel on the floor conveniently solved the problem.
Before I arrived, I informed the hotel that I asked for a package to be delivered to the hotel. They happily received the package on my behalf when I was away. It arrived in a kind of wooden crate. A hotel staff helped me open the crate and brought the package to my room. Again, very happy with the service provided.
Now let’s talk about breakfast. Breakfast was served in their ‘Kedaton Restaurant’. The variety of food and beverages was reasonable, again as expected in a four-star hotel in Asian countries. As you know, breakfast experience in western countries can’t really compete against that in Asia. The breakfast area itself is rather unique. It is bright and a touch noisy, which is different from the experience in more contemporary hotels where the environment is generally more subdued. I think the light colours of the interior and the use of tiles are responsible for creating such an environment. There’s a long aquarium along one side of the room. There’s a kind of large glass box in one corner featuring colourful parrots. Way to go in making the room unique, but I’m not sure if I’m a fan of the overall design.
One day I had lunch in Kedaton Restaurant. I ordered fried oxtail soup with steamed rice and a chocolate lava cake. The oxtail soup was delectable, and the cake was amazing. The plates for the soup and the oxtail were rather large though. I don’t know how they can fit everything if there are two people there. The service, again, was consistently good.
Now let’s review the other facilities in the hotel. The size of the swimming pool was good and the landscape around the pool was nice, especially at night. The gym was ok. The equipment was decent even though the gym room looked old. But hey, everything worked well, and people should be able to get a good workout here. There’s a kids’ club as well, although the room, toys and playground looked abandoned.
I had the opportunities to try the massages provided by the hotel’s ‘In Balance Spa’. The first massage was a one-hour treatment of warm oil full body massage. The massage was ok. It’s not as refined as some massages that I tried before. My chin rested on wood, which was rather uncomfortable if one stays put for an extended period. The second massage was a half-hour treatment of head massage. I was expecting a massage that focuses on my head and shoulders. Interestingly, the masseur actually massaged my entire body first and then focused on my head, neck and shoulders roughly in the last 15 minutes. I felt that this massage was much better than the previous one.
I received daily newspapers, which was appreciated. I also received a newsletter, summarising what’s going on in the hotel and in Yogyakarta. This was a nice little idea I think. Unfortunately the English version of the newsletter was poorly written and grammatical mistakes were abundant. The design could be improved a bit as well in my opinion.
There’s a hiccup at the end of my stay. I ordered a morning call, but somehow it wasn’t actioned the following morning. My request wasn’t even recorded so it seems. Fortunately I also turned on my phone alarm clock otherwise that could have been a serious disaster. Perhaps morning call is not popular anymore due to the widespread of smart phones and smart watches. However, sometimes I need it when I travel across various time zones. I also had made a mistake before by setting my alarm clock wrongly on my phone. Hence it’s good to have a morning call as a back up.
Besides the unlucky incident at the end of my stay, the services provided by the hotel staff were very good. The physical appearance of the hotel itself was middling. Key areas in the hotel were well maintained, while the less accessed areas looked old and tired. Amenities and facilities provided were standard as expected from a four-star hotel. In terms of value for money, this hotel was very good as well. In short, I had an enjoyable experience staying in Novotel Yogyakarta. The hotel staff were indeed trying hard to make my stay as pleasant as possible. However, a bit more refinement is what it needs to make the experience excellent.
