Clay Hotel Jakarta

The staff were nice and honest, but the hotel itself left me with a bad impression of hotel service quality in Indonesia. Clay Hotel is in a good spot near downtown Jakarta, about a 12-minute walk away. Still, the room was small and had no windows, and the old bed linen and bathroom towels smelled. Tiny roaches came out in the middle of the night. I hope the owner improves the hotel's infrastructure.

The location is handy, about 100m from Sudirman station and an 850m walk to Grand Indonesia Mall. An Indomaret with BCA and CIMB Niaga ATMs is just to the hotel's left. But the lobby and the area in front of the elevators smelled like an old, unwashed sock. I booked a small smoking room through Agoda first, with no window. I then upgraded to a deluxe room, but it had the same conditions and felt even more tense and spooky.

The receptionist was especially friendly and good. The hotel is right in central Jakarta, close to a train station and a few amenities. Room and toilet cleanliness could be better, though it wasn't really bad.

My stay was awful, and I regret choosing this hotel based on its nice pictures. The entrance stairs were badly run down for a place that looks so nice in the photos. My first room smelled of cigarette smoke even though I'd specifically booked non-smoking. At first they only wanted to spray deodorizer. The second room faced the road and was so noisy at 2am that it woke me until after 4am on a weekend night. Breakfast cost 70k and was very basic, with no cereal. I also found that Superior rooms don't come with a water boiler, only Deluxe rooms do, so if you want hot water you have to buy it from the restaurant. I was hoping things wouldn't get even worse before checkout tomorrow.