HotelChatter

Hotel News / Hotel Disasters / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags

Jakarta Update: Marriott Responds to Security Concerns

After last week's attacks on the JW Marriott Jakarta and Ritz-Carlton Jakarta hotels where suicide bombers killed a total of nine victims (including themselves), Marriott is responding by assuring the public that security measures were in place at the time of the blasts — and that the company will be looking into ramping up security in their properties.

Sadly, this is not the first time in the last several years that Marriott hotels have been a target of major attacks. In 2003, another attack on the JW Marriott Jakarta killed 12 people, and in 2008, dozens were killed in a Marriott Islamabad bombing.

more ›

Hotel News / Hotel Disasters / → All Tags

Breaking: Fatal Blasts at JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton Jakarta

Some very sad news to report: at least two explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta today.

According to the AFP:

Witnesses said they saw injured people being evacuated by car from the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the upscale Mega Kuningan business district in the centre of the city.

Police sealed off the area near the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott hotels, an AFP correspondent said. Windows had been blown out of a second-storey restaurant at the Ritz Carlton.

The number of injuries is still unknown, though the Breaking News Wire Twitter is reporting six dead and 18 injured so far.

Sadly, this JW Marriott was also the site of a deadly terrorist attack in 2003.

We'll keep you updated on this story as it develops.

[Photo: Twitpic via The Age]

Hotel Websites / Four Seasons Hotels / → All Tags

Luxury Hotel Guilty Of Outdated Room Pics

Where: Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said, Jakarta, Indonesia, 12920

We like luxury hotels but if we are paying $400 for rooms shouldn't they have enough money to update the pictures on their website? Nevertheless, luxury hotels always have woefully bad room pictures on their websites.

Tipster E.T. points to a particularly bad instance of this on the Four Seasons Jakarta website:

Talking about outdated room pics: this really made me laugh - check out the room pictures (superior & deluxe (are the same) and premier) for the Four Seasons Jakarta. Does that scream 1985 or what? LOOK at those bedspreads, yikes!

The superior & deluxe pics win for shadyness (seriously, could it be any darker?) but the guy casually standing in the middle of the premier room is just hilarious. Deluxe FS Exec suites look all of a sudden a little more agreeable.

A-ha! Maybe that's the point. They want you to see the crappy room with 1980s decor and strange men, so that you will pay more to stay in a more modern suite without any strangers.

Indonesia Hotel Reviews / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / → All Tags

Ritz Jakarta's 'Huge-Ass Bathroom' Impresses Guest

Where: Jl Lingkar Mega Kuningan Kav. E.1.1 NO.1, Jakarta, Java, Indonesia, 12950

Having topped a recent guest satisfaction survey, we know the Ritz Carlton is doing something right in terms of service.

And blogger Sticks and Stones found out just what it is that the hotel chain offers, even in a place like Jakarta where the water is always yellow.

I began by taking a shower in my huge-ass bathroom which was more than twice as big as my office cubicle, then a looooooong soak in my bathtub next to the large picture window looking out onto the (smoggy) Jakarta cityscape in my Bulgari bath salts? (Sidenote: the Bulgari bath salts provided are red, because when they turn the water pink and fragrant, you will forget that the water in Jakarta is actually yellow ... I suppose even the Ritz can't control Jakarta's municipal water supply.) How I then cleared email and did work in my thick, plush, terrycloth bathrobe while enjoying CNN on my 42-inch flat-panel plasma TV? How I ordered room service from one of my three phones (bedside, desk, and crapper-side) while enjoying longans from my complimentary fruit platter? How I asked for "sprigs of fresh mint for my tummy" (to make mint tea) and was met with a "Certainly, madam" from the concierge?

So aside from the questionable color of Jakarta's water, we're happy to hear that the Ritz is living up to its name on the other side of the world. Being on the other side of the world has other advantages too--with the exchange rate, this glorious room can be yours for about $150 bucks a night.

Related Stories:
· Sticks and Stones [Blogspot]
· Ritz Carlton Jakarta Reviews [TripAdvisor]