Hotel Grasia Semarang

The hotel feels old and badly needs a major renovation. I only stayed one night, luckily. The rooms in the older building were in poor shape, and the bathrooms weren’t proper at all. The restaurant toaster was burnt and dirty, and I thought it had been left in the wrong place. It belongs in the trash. There were some good points. The towels were new and smelled nice, and every room had a Holy Quran and sajadah. The parking behind the building was spacious. The hotel is spread across separate buildings in the same neighborhood, with the convention rooms in the rear building. Checkout is at 12:00, but they gave us extra time for Jumat prayer, thank you. Almost all the staff were friendly and quick to respond, except some older security staff, who were indifferent when I passed by and didn’t smile or greet me.

The room was small, so there wasn’t much space to move around. I’d hoped the TV would let me watch YouTube, but it didn’t. We also hadn’t noticed there was a window, so we couldn’t tell whether it was dark or not. Still, the service was kind. We had to wait a while for someone to come to the reception counter.

Booking one of the halls got us a bonus room, and the food was great, with lots of choices and refills available. The managers were really friendly and even tried to remember regular customers, although we were still college students. The location is strategic, which adds to the value. I’d recommend it for seminars, training, or welcoming parties.

The breakfast was much better than the room, though they ran out of sprinkles early and had no more in storage. In my room, there was red liquid spilled on one corner of the carpet, and cleanliness was maybe 4 out of 10. The bed setup was basically two thin sheets folded around a blanket. The bathroom had a creepy feel. When I arrived, the lobby floors and tables were sticky, like something had been spilled and not cleaned. The elevator was tiny, and its buttons looked broken. This was one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed in. There’s a newer building I didn’t see, and I hope it’s much better than the old one. :(