Harris Hotel Tebet: Simple, Unique, Friendly

I was in Jakarta last week and needed to stay in a hotel within close proximity to a client’s place. They booked me at Harris Hotel Tebet, a small hotel which is — as its tagline proclaims — simple, unique and friendly.

This is a shot of the hotel lobby…

…and this is the area in front of the lifts to the guest rooms. The restaurant is barely visible on the left-hand side.

It was a very short overnight stay for me. Technically, it wasn’t even overnight because I had to check out at 3 am so that I could catch my 5 am flight back to KL the following morning. But as I was saying, it was such a short stay that I didn’t really get the chance to explore the whole place. But what little I saw of it pleased me because the hotel was clean and quite well-maintained.

I last stayed in this hotel more than a year ago and the place still exudes that relatively-new-and-just-recently-opened-hotel look. Harris Hotel’s signature colours of vibrant orange and zesty green add a touch of whimsical freshness to the overall ambience of the hotel.

This was my room, which cost Rp150.000 nett (approximately USD63) for one night’s stay. Breakfast would have cost an extra but very reasonable Rp70.000 (USD7.50). But obviously, since I checked out at 3 am, I skipped this option.

There’s a mini fridge and coffee-making facilities nestled inside the tiny nook beside the table holding the flat screen TV…

…and opposite it is a clothes rack, with a small electronic safe underneath.

The bathroom is just big enough to hold a small bathtub with shower, a small portion of which is visible from the reflection in the mirror. What mattered more to me was the fact that it was clean and odour-free.

What I love most about Harris Hotel? The free WiFi, of course. No laptop? Don’t fret. They have several computer stations — with free internet, naturally — all over the lobby, such as this one.

The hotel also has a swimming pool, a gym and a spa, none of which I had the chance to visit.

However, I did manage to have a body scrub (mandi lulur) done in the privacy of my room for Rp275.000 nett (USD30). The 90-minute treatment included a 30-minute aromatherapy massage right before the actual scrub, which culminated with a bubble bath. The therapist somehow managed to draw the bubble bath for me in between the massage and the scrub, who then discreetly left me to soak in private after I signed the bill for the treatment. The mandi lulur was nice but not quite as lovely as the one that I had at Taman Sari Spa, Jakarta Airport.

Other Harris Hotels in Indonesia are located in Batam, Tuban Bali, Kuta Bali, Riverview Kuta and Kelapa Gading Jakarta. For more information, please check out http://www.harris-hotels.com. And in case you’re wondering, this is not a paid post.

I only had my trusty old Nokia N82 with me at that time, thus I apologise for the limited angles and the relatively grainy nature of the photographs.