“One of our strengths is the exceptional helpful manner of our employees. I think the serious bit could be said to reflect how we take the satisfaction of our customers seriously,” said Vika Anjarrini, the hotel’s public relations assistant to the Post.

When we were there, one of the seven meeting rooms on the first floor was occupied for an international conference that Saturday, while Vika was free to show us the giant ballroom on the lobby level. Able to accommodate up to 750 people, the ballroom of the four-star business hotel has a typical ballroom atmosphere with complete meeting facilities.     

We realized how the strategic location at Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim 91 makes the hotel popular when we were asked to wait until about 2 p.m. for our room to be ready.

With both Sarinah department store and the Djakarta Theatre Building within short walking distance, the ever lively Jl. Sabang a stone’s throw away and Jl. Jaksa with its pubs and places of rendezvous to the far right, there’s no better place to stay to experience the city. The strategic location also makes Akmani Hotel the nearest comfortable place to Tanah Abang shopping district, with the HI traffic circle just minutes away.

We were taking our time in enjoying various Javanese dishes at a nearby cozy restaurant when they called to say the room was ready.

Despite being a business hotel, the way all the little things are arranged in the 116 rooms is anything but stuffy. Consisting of 84 deluxe, 24 grand deluxe, five suites, two grand suites and one presidential suite, black dominates each room, complimented by an LCD TV and free dial up internet connection. The dark wooden walls are brightened up by interesting abstract paintings and tall windows looking out onto the street. The furniture is also refreshing with modern slim black tables and chairs that give the room an air of spaciousness.

The suite we stayed at was even better. The idea of having a separate bedroom and living room, including a dining table and serving area, was a relief.

The king size bed was thick and it was difficult to refrain from diving onto the bed. Unable to resist the temptation of a comfortable sleep, some of us even passed up dinner in the evening.

The hotel has generously installed two LCD TVs in the suite ¬ one in the bedroom and another in the living room ¬  with white leather couch and half a dozen colorful throw pillows. The individual control air conditioning and borderless windows looking onto the street guarantees a snug night.

The bathroom design, however, was obviously influenced by thoughts of intimacy rather than plutonic relations. Instead of envisioning a bunch of males, the designer may have thought about loving couples staying in the suite, which explains the transparent glass partition separating the only bathroom and the bedroom – although not the lack of a door or partition between the bedroom and the toilet area.

The deluxe room, nevertheless, has a curtain covering the much smaller transparent glass partition between the bed and the bathroom, which is handy in case you need to watch over your kiddies if they want to bathe alone or close it for privacy.

Nighttime at the hotel was the nicest. Chatting and sipping tea at the open space Bel Piatto Resto near the lobby was a nice experience with the gold and yellowish light dimly bathing us in warmth. The offer to watch the World Cup at the hotel’s Terrazza Bianco that night, including the opportunity to enjoy a barbecue, was hard to turn down. We were enjoying the evening when neither Ghana nor Australia won the match.

Since its initial opening on July 1, 2009, The Akmani Hotel has seen an increasing number of international and domestic tourists. While we were there, most of the clientele was made up of international tourists from Malaysia, the Philippines and European countries.  

“Although this is our only branch so far, we’re quite well known on the Web. Tourists may have read good reviews and about the newly offered prices for our deluxe and grand deluxe rooms starting from
Rp 550,000 per night,” said Vika.

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