Overnighting in Jakarta: FM7 Resort Hotel

Whenever I come to Indonesia to visit some customers, I inevitably transfer in Jakarta. When I have had an overnight in the past, I have often stayed at the Sheraton Bandara, which sits just outside the airport. On this trip, which has me going back and forth across SE Asia for a total of 6 weeks, I had 3 separate one-night stays in Jakarta, and my travel agent this time put me up in FM7 Resort Hotel.

As this was a new hotel for me, I thought it would be a good idea to make contact with them before I arrived. Through the website, I sent an email to ask about the hotel shuttle (free with certain rooms, charged for others). Within a half hour, I got a reply advising me precisely of where I could meet the hotel staff who would be ready with my name on a signboard. As you'd expect, they were waiting exactly where a dozen or so other hotels were waiting with their signboards! Dressed very smartly in their bellhop uniforms, these two guys waited with me while the car arrived to take me through to the hotel, even attempting to engage in some small talk to pass the time.

My first of three stays during this trip was pretty uneventful; I checked in, went to my room, took a few pics (as seen here), then collapsed on the bed and used the WiFi for a while. I didn't even bother with trying out the hotel's dinner options, as Qantas had kept me well fed on the 7 hour flight from Sydney - I really need to start refusing some of the in-between meals they give out!

The room was spacious but relatively basic: large format tiled floors, a queen-sized bed (I don't think it was quite a king) with a nice, comfortable mattress, and a small selection of drinks and nibbles. The guy who brought me up to the room, carrying my 25kg suitcase up the stairs (that got him a 20,000 IDR tip) was very helpful to point to the water bottles and say "free", then to the basket of nuts and Mentos and say "not free". We enjoyed a chuckle together over that. Thanks, champ!

I found the bathroom to be elegant and simple with a large mirror and spacious shower. Some basics were provided for use. Not an overly cramped or cluttered bathroom like you get in some hotels, so that was nice. I always feel a bit weird writing about the bathroom; what do you say about the room in which you clean yourself?! But I suppose it is an important consideration when choosing your hotel.

And so, I settled in to call it a night on my first stay at FM7. I woke the next morning to take breakfast - which is available from the ungodly hour of 4am! Luckily, that was not when I needed to be there. I then caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport - that was an interesting journey! You see, because the main road into Jakarta airport is a major highway, it's hard to turn around to go back in. The FM7 Resort complex is situated on the outbound side of the road, going towards the city. So, to turn around and head back to the airport, we took a couple of private, gravel back roads, escorted by police or hotel security on motorbikes who had to unlock a few gates along the way. The hotel had banners up along the route stating "Faster Shortcut to Airport", but these might have just been so hotel guests don't think they're being kidnapped!

Eventually, we ended up back on the road going into the airport, which, at 7am, was packed with all kinds of cars and scooters. We were trudging along through the peak hour traffic, and then, BANG! The bus came to a sudden stop - I thought we had dropped into a massive pothole or something. As it turned out, we had run into and knocked over a guy on a scooter!! The driver jumped out and helped him back up - he was fine, just a little shaken. Never a dull moment on the bedlam roads of Asia, I tell you!

My second stay at FM7 during the trip had me arrive on a Saturday afternoon, so I got to see the room in daylight this time around. Not much to look at out the window, but plenty of light flooding in. The white and brightness of the room made it feel a bit clinical. I spent the afternoon relaxing, and also went for a wander around the hotel and took a few photos of the entrance, the lobby and the very colourful hallways.

Around 5pm, I found my way up to the rooftop lounge, known as Montezuma. It took me a bit of a tour around the long hallways to find how to get there, so that was probably a bit of a negative aspect, in my opinion. However, once I found it, it didn't fail to impress.

The front entrance was adorned with the lounge's logo on the wall, grown from grass. Inside, I was greeted by the friendly staff and sat myself down at one of the tables along the window, from where you can watch the planes landing at Jakarta airport. The decor inside was simple and modern, and really did lend itself to a relaxing atmosphere.

I sat down to enjoy a cocktail (piña colada) and to shake off the working week. With some cool lounge music softly playing in the background, it was a great way to while away the evening.

I consulted the menu for a light dinner; Montezuma offers an small array of traditional cocktail bar / snack favourites. I eventually opted for the chicken quesadilla, accompanied by a second cocktail (long island iced tea), and shifted outside to watch the planes roll in and enjoy the evening breeze.

My quesadilla was just right for the evening; I'd had about enough of rice and chilli-laden stews from the four days at my customer's mess hall! Hey - don't get me wrong, Indonesia food is very tasty. But it's good to mix it up once in a while!

If watching the planes is not really of interest to you, the outside area also offers beanbags and plenty of seats to just sit and chill. Of course, as the sun went down, the mosquitoes came out. I started getting nibbled alive while trying to take a few photos, so I got the job done and headed back inside to pay my bill and call it a night.

The next morning, I was up bright and early to grab some breakfast at 5:30am before getting the shuttle to the airport. Breakfast at FM7 Resort, served at the ground floor restaurant AJ Brandon, is good; not a huge range of dishes, but enough to satisfy your taste buds. Note that my photo below only shows the Indonesian/Asian selection area. There is also fruit, pancakes and pastries, as well as cereal and eggs around the corner. So when I say the range isn't huge, please don't think that it's literally only these 6 dishes and some rice!

Of course, one of the most important accompaniments - especially at 5:30am - is a good cup of coffee. Sorry, no fancy coffee machines on offer here. Just a nice, strong cup of black gold for me!

And so, I trundled myself onto the shuttle bus to head for the airport. Being a bit earlier this time, the traffic was lighter, so we didn't take the mysterious back roads shortcut. But I noticed that said shortcut really didn't cut a whole lot of distance off - I think it's mostly for getting around the backlog of traffic on the resort's entrance road.

I had one final one-night stay at FM7 towards the end of my 6-week trip, but I have basically shown you everything now, so we'll leave that one off! Overall, a very pleasant place to hang your hat for an evening when transferring in Jakarta; far enough out of the city that you don't have a long commute back to the airport, and plenty of facilities to keep you fed, relaxed and entertained.