Key card
Actual dates: October 21-24, 2008
We left Surabaya and headed to Yogyakarta to visit Borobudur Temple, Kraton Yogyakarta (palace), and the Malioboro street market. While we were there we stayed at the Grand Mercure Yogyakarta, which since then has apparently been rebranded as the Phoenix Hotel. I like Grand Mercure better myself–sounds more, well, grand, which really is an apt adjective for this fine hotel.
Phoenix
Perhaps they were already in the middle of renovating the place in anticipation of the rebranding, which would explain these phoenix logos everywhere. It all makes sense now.
Sitting room
Here we’re hanging out in a sitting room of the hotel. This is an old Dutch-built building dating back to the early 1900s that has been repurposed and added on to turn it into a hotel. This sitting room is right off of the hotel lobby. It’s filled with neat stuff like statuettes, antique furniture, etc. Thankfully the actual hotel is modern and up to date, but it’s also nice to have old world touches like this sitting room.
Drawing together
Ah, the Backyardigans Travel Doodle Pro. What would we have done without you? You kept Sofia entertained for hours–days, even. Even mom got in on the action.
Hand-carved table
Hand-carved tables are big in Indonesia. They carve the surface but leave a flat lip around the edge to they can affix a piece of glass to protect the carving and serve as a flat surface for placing whatever it is you put on tables like cups, books, remotes, etc. Notice the adult legs and Sofia-at-2-years-old sized foot as reference for the size of this table. These things are really quite amazing, and something I took for granted growing up since they were everywhere.
Gamelan players
They have musicians who play gamelan–traditional Javanese music–during the mornings. It’s very soothing and definitely puts you right in the mood of being in a foreign country but also being relaxed about it. This gentleman’s headdress and sarung (more commonly spelled “sarong” in the U.S.) give us a glimpse at batik, which is traditionally hand-drawn cloth but is increasingly mass-produced. We’ll see more of that in another post.
Investigating
"Ooh, fishies!"
Catching a whopper
In the lobby they have this reinforced glass floor that runs the length of the lobby separating it from the dining area. Underneath is water with koi fish swimming around in it. Sofia was super excited about them and pretended like she was “catching a whopper”, which is a phrase she learned from The Backyardigans.
Two lovely ladies
Sometimes Sofia slowed down long enough for a hug and a posed photo.
Our room
And here’s our room, or at least the sitting area/den/living room. The spacious bathroom and closet are to the left, and you can see the bedroom through the doorway. You can’t tell from the picture, but they leave you some fresh salak to eat on the table at no extra charge. There’s an area famous for its salak that isn’t far from Yogyakarta, which is the reason for that.
Bedroom
Here’s our bedroom. It’s simple, clean, has a comfortable bed, and doors that open up to a private balcony (not pictured) overlooking the swimming pool. They have Internet access, but it’s not free.
Ready for a swim
Sofia all kitted out in her life jacket, ready for her first swim in a real swimming pool.
Pool at night
And here’s the aforementioned swimming pool. If you put your face up to the screen and squint you can barely make out Denise standing on our balcony–3rd floor, just to the left of the center of the picture. We should’ve sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view more. This is a stunning hotel.
Not pictured but should’ve been is the included breakfast. They set out a buffet with quite a large assortment of both Indonesian and Western food, fresh fruit and juices, coffee, etc. There’s also a lady who makes jamu–a Javanese health elixir–which is another free service. Worth a try but not for the faint of heart. From my possibly solitary experience drinking it I remember it being medicine-y, which would make sense since it’s a proper health drink. The restaurant serves terrific meals besides breakfast (more on that also in another post), and they have 24-hour room service, which we didn’t use but it’s nice to know it’s available.
So how much did this luxurious hotel set us back? Around $60 a night, possibly a bit less. That’s not a typo; I’m not missing a “1″ or “2″ in front of the price tag. Six-oh denarii. Right now they’re even running a 3-for-2 promotion. I’m telling you, you need to go to Indonesia. The U.S. Dollar stretches a long way there. This was a better hotel than we’ve ever stayed at on our own dime in the U.S., and it’s a fraction of the cost of what you’d have to pay here. If we make it back to Yogyakarta on our next visit, we’re staying there again. This is the authentic Indonesian experience–staying at a super nice hotel for cheap!
Grand Mercure (Phoenix) Hotel in Yogyakarta
9 Jalan Jenderal Sudirman
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
27-456-6617