I would say that in general the quality of hotels in Asia is superior to that of Europe or America. And the Gran Mahakam is not exception: I stayed there for 4 weeks and everything was perfect.

I travel a lot for business and have little patience for poor or incompetent service. But there is no such thing at the Gran Mahakam.

- Rooms are as clean as they could possibly be.
- Laundry was never late and no item has gone missing.
- Service is amazing. Lots of smiles -- as everywhere else in Indonesia.
- Buffet breakfast is something else! That by itself would be a reason to stay there. Food from all over Asia (in addition to the standard American fare), many kind of fresh fruits. And again the service is A++.
- The Japanese restaurant in the hotel is highly recommended.
- And the various little things that make a difference, e.g. you get a welcome cocktail while you check-in.
- Good location.

An important piece of advice:
1) DO request a room in the BACK of the hotel. Rooms on the street side are awfuly noisy 24 hours a day from the non-stop traffic.
2) And try to get a room that is not over the disco. Even if you are several floors up you will still hear the vibrations from the loud music (I had to change room because of this).

Enjoy!

Service at this hotel was excellent overall and the food at the main restaurant for breakfast and dinner was nicely prepared. The variety of delicious Indonesian dishes was a pleasant surprise to this first time visitor. In this part of town (South Jakarta) this seems to be the best hotel and with the horrendous Jakarta traffic, proximity to your destination is quite important. Rooms are nicely sized, very clean and comfortable. Bathrooms could use a bit more care, but not bad for a humid climate I suppose.

I would recommend this hotel and plan to stay there again.

I spent 3 weeks staying here while on contract for my company and was hugely impressed.
the Hotel was beautifully laid out in European style and a lot more compact than some of the huge hotels you find in Jakarta.the rooms were comfortable ,spacious and very clean. The staff were among the best trained and friendly I have ever met and the food was superb to boot.
I have been travelling globally for over 5 years now and this hotel rates in my top three. i can only think that its small size pool would explain a 4 star status. i cannot recommend grand mahakam highly enough !

I stayed in this hotel for 10 days and it's been a great experience.

POSITIVE (+):
* very nice and clean rooms, good housekeeping
* perfect buffet breakfast, separate non-smoking area (where the buffet is so very convenient)
* friendly staff, eager to speak English and always helpful
* nice club/disco in basement
* security
* cable/satelite TV channels
* close to shopping mall (Blok M)

NEGATIVE (-):
* location (area), quite dirty but so is most of Jakarta
* swimming pool very small and deserted (on 6th floor)
* many weddings which can make it rather busy & crowded
* iron (+board) on request

The Negatives are minor, this is definitely a good hotel.