Swiss-Belhotel Ambon

The hotel’s central location makes it easy to walk to several restaurants. My first room had no windows I could see out of, so after I complained, they moved me to a spacious one with a nice view of the town and bay. The staff were courteous and helpful, and breakfast had a good variety of options. The place could use a complete facelift, though. The decor and fittings are very dated, and some areas smelled damp and musty.

The room was spacious and the service was good. Staff did their best and greeted everyone who walked by. The location is strategic. A few things could be better: the gym needs more equipment, and there was cigarette smell everywhere, maybe because the room was on a carpeted floor. The room had a smart TV, but it wouldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi needs an upgrade too, since neither my phone nor laptop could connect.

I was there for a few hours for an event and came away with a positive impression. Staff were helpful and approachable from the moment I asked for directions. The lobby was clean and welcoming, the lifts worked well, there was a convenient mushola, and the toilets were well maintained. The team helped set up for the event, checked that the presentation equipment worked, then helped pack up afterwards. They dealt with any issues efficiently. A solid event venue.

Everything else was pretty good by Swiss Bell’s standards, and the location was OK. But the service was slow. The room electricity went out early in the morning. I reported it twice, but it still wasn’t fixed, so I had to go down to the lobby and report it in person. Almost an hour passed before the man came to repair it. The bathroom was dark and unusable. We’d already told them we needed to check out in the morning for our flight.