Review: The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place (Large Corner Suite)

Nightly rate	Free night certificate (up to 40k points)
Length of stay	1 night
Date of stay	June 2022
Membership level	Titanium Elite (Marriott Bonvoy)

What benefits to expect when you stay at The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place as a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium or Platinum Elite member?

The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place opened in 2007 and was last renovated in 2021. It has a total of just 62 rooms.

I made a booking using my Marriott Bonvoy free night certificate that I received as a milestone bonus after accumulating 75 elite nights in 2020.

Best way to book this hotel

The cash rate for this hotel is about US$350 on weekends and US$490 on weekdays. However, you should not be paying cash to stay in this hotel as it is a Marriott Bonvoy sweet spot and is always cheaper with points!

This property usually requires 30,000 to 40,000 points per night for award stays.

If you do not already have Marriott points, buy them through one of the better Marriott Bonvoy points offers and you will be paying about US$250 on weekends and US$300 on weekdays.

I had originally made a reservation for a weekday stay. However, as I want a better chance of a Titanium member upgrade, I rescheduled it multiple times when I saw that the Suites were sold out.

I ended up staying on a Sunday and later found out that this business hotel is usually much busier on weekdays! Room rates (cash or points) are also always cheaper on weekends.

Location

The hotel is located a little South of central Jakarta, right next to the large Pacific Place mall.

• 15 mins drive to Grand Indonesia mall
• 25 mins drive to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (HLP)
• 35 mins drive to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)

Arrival

As a Titanium Elite member, I was pre-upgraded to the Large Corner Suite a day prior to my stay.

I arrived at about 4pm and was brought up to the Executive Lounge to complete the check-in process.

As an added bonus, the suite was on the same floor as the Executive Lounge and just a few steps away from the back entrance to the lounge!

Large Corner Suite

Room 2103 is 104sqm / 1,119sqft in size.

The suite was very modern and as I am a big fan of ‘open’ suites, I enjoyed not having a wall separating the living room and bedroom.

Check out the video tour of this room on our Instagram page.

The television can be swivelled to face the bedroom or living room.

Here’s the weakest point of my stay: The hotel does not provide standard Asprey-branded bath products that we get in other The Ritz-Carlton hotels. Instead, the hotel provided unbranded bottles that look a lot like Asprey’s.

I raised this issue with the Assistant Director of Rooms and he was very nice to explain that The Ritz-Carlton hotels in this region have been facing problems receiving supplies from Asprey and that all The Ritz-Carlton properties globally will be transitioning to a new toiletry brand, Diptyque, by the end of 2022.

The Ritz-Carlton New York is already offering Diptyque products.

I also shared that offering non-Asprey products that are packaged to look like Asprey products is very wrong and deceitful.

There was a private sauna in the room. However, it wasn’t functioning and I was told that the hotel will be removing it to use the space for something else. Bummer!

Bath salts can be sent to the room at no charge, upon request.

As I had just flown Singapore Airlines Suites Class from Frankfurt, I brought out the Lalique candle from the amenity kit to further improve the vibe!

Executive Lounge

Here’s the best part about this hotel: All guests, regardless of status, get complimentary access to the Executive Lounge that serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner!

What makes this even more amazing is that Platinum/Titanium members do not usually have access to Executive Lounges in other The Ritz-Carlton hotels!

And the icing on the cake? Food and cocktails served in the Executive Lounge are of very good quality with an impressive spread. I did not even have to pick the food from the buffet as someone was there to do it for me.

Incredible that this is free for all guests!

Of course, you will need to be in the hotel all day to enjoy these benefits. If you are planning to explore the city, it probably wouldn’t make much sense to stay here just for the Executive Lounge benefits.

Light lunch

Light lunch is served from 12 to 2pm daily.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea is served from 2.30 to 4.30pm daily.

Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres

Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres are served from 6 to 9pm daily.

I could even order fancy cocktails served in carved-out apples, or one with smoke effects!

Breakfast

Breakfast is complimentary for all guests to have in the Executive Lounge from 6 to 11am daily.

However, I asked if I can have it in the main restaurant, PA.SO.LA restaurant, and was told yes!

Like the Executive Lounge, food served at the PA.SO.LA was of very high quality and guests can even order one à la carte dish each from the menu!

Other facilities

Swimming pool

Like other city hotels without a rooftop pool, this one doesn’t have a great view, other than the surrounding tall buildings.

Gym

Spa

My ratings

This is how I am rating my stay, after considering what I paid (with a 40k free night cert):

Breakfast	10/10
Service	10/10
Location	10/10
Room furnishing	10/10
View from room	9/10
Peace & quiet	10/10
Executive Lounge	10/10
Facilities	10/10
Elite member recognition	10/10
Value	10/10

Bottom line

At its award rate (with Marriott points), The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place sets the standard incredibly high. So high that it makes other hotels, like the nearby more-expensive Alila SCBD Jakarta, look well…..kinda stupid.

I had asked in a recent Suitesmile Instagram story about the best hotel Club/Executive Lounge that is free for Elite members to access. This is probably it and I may have found the peak. And again, it is simply amazing that this benefit is offered to all guests, regardless of status.

P.S. If you are staying in this hotel in the coming months, let me know in Suitesmile Chat Telegram or the comment section below, if you have any updates regarding the bath products.