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Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport – a good airport hotel

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This is our review of the Fairfield by Marriott hotel at Jakarta’s main international airport.

I recently spent a week in Indonesia, in Jakarta and Bali. This gave me a chance to take a look at some of the interesting new luxury hotels and resorts which have opened up. I’ll be covering these over the next week.

My trip started a little less glamorously. With a late arriving flight into Jakarta I thought it was easiest to spend the night locally and heading into the vast city the morning after. After a brief search online I came across the Fairfield, which had opened just a few weeks before. It is Marriott’s only hotel at the Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) airport.

This is our first review of a Fairfield property although the brand has over 950 hotels worldwide. One reason we haven’t given it much coverage is because it has not had a presence in Europe. The first European Fairfield is due to open in Copenhagen this year.

The brand is more established in the US (where it originally launched in the 1980s) and appears to be growing significantly in Asia. It is pitched at a similar level to Marriott’s Courtyard and Hilton’s Hampton brands. In other words, this is a select service brand or, in the industry parlance, ‘midscale’ (whatever that means!)

The hotel website is here. Marriott kindly provided my room for review purposes.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Where is the Fairfield Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport hotel?

The hotel isn’t inside the airport but on the boundary, right next to the main access road.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

It is less than ten minutes by taxi (try Grab or the Indonesian GoJek for ride hailing services) and costs less than £5.

Inside Fairfield Jakarta Airport

I arrived around midnight and the staff had my booking ready to go. Unusually for a select service hotel, we were greeted at the entrance and a porter offered to take my luggage up to the room.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Check in was very brief with the assistance of some very friendly staff.

Although it isn’t obvious at night, the lobby is lovely and bright with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Rooms at the Fairfield Jakarta Airport

There are just three room types at the Fairfield – Deluxe King rooms, Deluxe Twin rooms and Deluxe King Corner rooms.

I was given one of the corner rooms on the second floor. The primary difference between this and the other two room types is space – an extra 7 sqm, for a total footprint of 29 sqm.

That’s not massive but does give you plenty of room for a couple of suitcases with room to spare.

The rooms are, as you’d expect, fairly spartan with white walls and wooden laminate flooring:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

No complaints here: it looks smart and neutral. The walls look a little plain and empty, especially above the bed – it would have been good to hang something here.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

The designers did put an interesting design feature in the bathroom in the form of this wash basin:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

and

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Overall the bathroom was spacious with a nice large shower. Toiletries are Anarygya and lemon and lavender scented.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Opposite the bathroom there is an open wardrobe with a sizable luggage rack in the corridor space. The photo makes it look smaller than it is – that is my large checked bag, not cabin bag that you see. You also get tea making facilities and a fridge.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

The bed itself was very comfortable, and there were universal sockets on both sides of the bed so I didn’t even have to get my adaptor out. This seems to be common practice at international hotels in Indonesia:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

The only other amenity worth mentioning is the gym on the second floor. This features a handful of cardio machines as well as a rack of weights and overlooks some of the local undeveloped land:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Breakfast at the Fairfield Jakarta Airport hotel

Breakfast is served downstairs in the lobby, with space set up with tables and chairs:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

A small buffet is available. Hot items include a selection of Asian and Western items, including bubur ayam, an Indonesian chicken congee, as well as crispy tofu, a curry and, of course, nasi goreng.

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

and

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Western items include hash browns, chicken sausage and beef bacon. Jakarta is a majority Muslim area so pork, whilst available, is not hugely prevalent. Eggs are cooked to order. The buffet items generally appear to be cooked in small batches and so were very fresh throughout.

A selection of fruit, basic cereals and a fridge of fruit juices, yoghurt and salad is also available:

Review: Fairfield by Marriott Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Conclusion

The Fairfield is a good choice if you need a hotel at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport. It is clean and modern and ticks all the boxes for a short stay on your way to somewhere else.

As with all of Indonesia, the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful which elevates this from your average budget UK hotel. The luggage porter was an added benefit.

Room rates start at around £39 whilst redemptions seem to be priced at 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points on most nights, well above our target 0.5p valuation.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.


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Comments (37)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • His Holyness says:

    Hampton by Hilton is positioned higher than Fairfield being somewhere between that and a Courtyard. HbH tends to be better than Fairfield in the US.

  • JFSV says:

    Curious to see what other hotels you visited during this trip.

  • Hugo says:

    Getting to a hotel like this would be cheaper by the regular bluebird taxis which are very honest. Grab is expensive from the airport for short distances.

    • Rhys says:

      Yes, it is, but when you arrive in a foreign country at midnight sometimes it is just the easiest option…

      • QFFlyer says:

        Bluebird app on your phone is the simplest way here.

        • QFFlyer says:

          Although, saying that, is it available in the UK app store? It is in Australia, but you’d expect it to be.

    • Red says:

      I had a bad experience with Bluebird taxi into Jakarta from the airport. Attempted to rip me off with spurious toll charges. Grab is good for peace of mind after a long flight imo.

      • Gordon says:

        On my visits to Bali, I mostly stay at Hyatt properties, My last visit in 2022, I stayed at Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua, also Alila Ubud,
        I used their transport services, not the cheapest option, but 100% peace of mind.

        I have found on my travels that Hoang Long Taxis (Green and yellow in colour) in Vietnam are very trustworthy, I traveled for a month in the country and never had a problem with excessive fares or any other kind of issues.

  • Gordon says:

    I’ve been looking forward to these reviews of your trip to Indonesia Rhys, it’s one of my favourite go to destinations.

    I wait with bated breath for your reviews re your stays in west Bali.

  • Froggee says:

    Jakarta is not a city that I miss visiting although it does sound like it’s got a wee bit better now.

    • ABA says:

      @Froggee Would you care to elaborate a little?

      • Froggee says:

        Och – I started going around twenty years ago and last went about ten years ago. This was invariably for business type investor meetings in the CBD with occasional escapes such as to see a chocolate company in Bandung or meet a cow farmer on the outskirts of Jakarta who could not be more delighted with the micro loan he’d received from a bank we invested in which allowed him to make gas for cooking with from dung. Yes, I shook his hand.

        The whole of Indonesia was still pretty hungover from the Asian Financial Crisis and there was a definite edge to the place. The third tier bank who was my ultimate employer had a presence there and had a crack security team which sprung into action on my first visit. I was told in no uncertain terms that I could only stay in the Shangri-La or the JW Marriott as they had been certified as safe. So I stayed in the Shangri-La as the JW Marriott wasn’t taking paying guests having been blown up by suicide bombers a few weeks prior.

        I was told only to go with a named driver who would meet me at the airport and only get in the official bank car, number plate provide. A different driver met me at the airport in a different car. This driver wasn’t a fan of early starts so it was impromptu Bluebird taxis, one of which I still remember seemed to have a perfect mosquito breeding ground in the back parcel shelf.

        I became a frequent visitor, learning to bypass my employer’s security protocols. There was only one near miss (other than the driving) when a Ritz Carlton I stayed in got blown up a couple of weeks after I’d stayed there. The CFO of one of the companies we invested in wasn’t so lucky being killed that time during a meeting at the JW Marriott (which they did at the same time as the Ritz Carlton in a 241 suicide bombing deal).

        I wasn’t overly bothered by the bombings and security edge as I was a singleton back then but the endemic corruption was tragic. You could spend a long time at immigration or pay a third party firm to facilitate entry (these firms got banned by my firm so I got used to standing in immigration queues). I remember meeting a young whippersnapper from one of the big business families who could not have been more personable while he was trying to persuade me to invest in his telecom company. He’d been indicted for insider trading during an internship in New York as a student that his daddy sorted out for him and settled the charges for cash.

        This was normal. Dodgy company after dodgy company.

      • Froggee says:

        In terms of the people being nice, absolutely yes the guys that carry your bags and drive you around. But the ones I was forced to meet with were much less pleasant.

        Miners, palm oil, oil – mainly owned by kleptocrats. The city hadn’t really developed then so meals were almost always in five star hotels. Latterly Jakarta did start to get its mojo back but nothing really stood out compared to other Asian cities for me. It was almost as if they were trying to replicate the options in Singapore so that the entitled pups of the rich families didn’t have to fly quite so often.

        Oh and it’s the only time in all my travels that I heard the fellow in the room next to me (courtesy of a poorly sound-insulated connecting door) call an escort, then call his mum, then hang up on his mum when the escort arrived super-quickly, and then do the dirty. I’m probably should have called reception but instead put a pillow over my head. The next night the escort called him back, he initially made excuses but was persuaded to go for round 2…

        • ABA says:

          Thank you Froggee, interesting insight. Thinking about a visit early next year so this article and comments caught my eye.

        • tony says:

          The only time I’ve had anything similar was at the Hyatt Regency on Portman Square just over a decade back. Except the escort was using the room as a knocking shop and there was a steady procession of customers through the evening. Our suite adjoined and there was a tiled floor in that part of the room running under the connecting door, so again the sound proofing was non-existent. I was in the lounge area with my wife, one of our kids being asleep in a cot in our bedroom.

          Presumably because it was a suite and management knew we were in there (room service food order) I got a courtesy call from reception to see if everything was OK. I commented on a lot of people being in and out of the room next door (leaving out the finer detail – of which there was plenty).

          Next thing, I heard the phone ring in the next room and that was it. Until around midnight, someone returned to the room, had a quick shower (as I said, no soundproofing at all) and left again.

          The service recovery conversation certainly involved a lot of pussyfooting (pun intended) around.

    • Aston100 says:

      I was struck by the mixture of luxury and ramshackle properties alongside each other throughout the central parts of that city.

    • Peter says:

      I went there three times in 2018/19. Seems to have got a lot better between 10 and 5 years ago…
      Count your change at the visa counter though!

  • Martin says:

    Rhys, I read your review with interest, particularly to compare with my experience of Fairfield Hotels in a variety of US states. For some years we have undertaken an annual 2-3 week US road trip (unfortunately interrupted recently by Covid), staying almost exclusively in Marriott hotels to take full advantage of Platinum Lifetime. Initially we were not very selective about which Marriott brands we used, geography being the main driver and typically opting for Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard or Fairfield. However, we quickly changed tack having found the Fairfields we experienced to be typically bottom of the pile. This was mainly due to the breakfast offerings (watery tasteless fruit juices, little if any fresh fruit, poor quality & stale cooked items, etc), all served on/in flimsy plastic or cardboard plates & cups with equally flimsy plastic cutlery – generating ridiculous amounts of unnecessary waste, which we were not at all comfortable with. The rooms were typically adequate at best. So our pecking order quickly became: Marriott, Renaissance or Sheraton (ideally with lounge); Courtyard; Four Points; with Fairfields only figuring as a last resort. Am I being unfair?
    We are now planning a spring 2024 New England road trip out of Boston, and currently our 18 night Marriott itinerary includes just one Fairfield on Cape Cod (very poor reviews of two nearby Courtyards having put us off). It would be good to know if anyone has recent experience of US Fairfields – perhaps things may have changed for the better?

    • Lady London says:

      Closer to home this is why I’m always more optimistic where I’ve seen a hotel around Heathrow is owned by Arora. I’ll follow up and check your link @bagoly and thanks also to @Martin for stating this highly useful tip for a road trip – follow the owner in preference to the brand if you have to choose.

      With air and hotel programs swerving now to qualifying for any useful perks by money paid rather than number nights or stays or number or distance of flights (‘large / medium corporate’ travellers will still be made ok it will hit private travellers and small businesses), is one of the loyalty traveller’s options to systematically be loyal to owners rather than brands for their hotels? for flights I don’t have the answer…

    • Man of Kent says:

      @Martin I am writing this from the Fairfield in Klamath Falls Oregon, we’re here for 3 nights having just spent 3 nights at the Hampton in Redding, California. The Fairfield is a pretty new property so still looking quite good, we have a room overlooking the lake and it’s about 10 minutes walk from Main Street. They still serve breakfast on paper / plastic plates and cutlery – we made the same comment about the amount of waste created but the juice was OK. There’s not really much to choose between this Fairfield and our previous Hampton except that the Hampton had free pour coffee and hot water all day in the lobby (along with a Grand Piano!!) which was regularly topped up. We are on a 24 day road trip and make use of the guest laundry which is a useful amenity for us on these trips. Happy to answer any specific questions whilst I’m here.

      • Martin says:

        Many thanks for that, and for the info re Hampton (never stayed in one but have considered – the grand piano could swing it!). Sounds like little has changed regarding Fairfield, so they will likely remain our last resort choice – as you say new builds are like to be the better ones. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

  • dougzz99 says:

    @Martin. In the US can anyone really tell the difference between Fairfield, Candlewood, Springhill, Hampton, Staybridge, Homewood, Home2, Courtyard and several I’ve forgotten. At that level I hope for a relative new build and not much else. I know lots of those are not Marriott, but I really don’t know how to separate them in my mind. Hopefully @davefl or someone else that seems to be in the US frequently can offer a bit of clarity.
    I think from memory the thing I dislike about Staybridge and Springhill is no safe in the room, which seems a huge oversight to me at this level of the market.

  • Bagoly says:

    The greeting and porter does seem unusual – is that because it’s Jakarta, or because Marriott told them it was a review trip?
    Especially outside rich countries, providers often don’t make it easy for reviewers trying to set accurate expectations.

    • Justin says:

      Did you really think that the hotel ‘outside rich countries’ hired a team of porters just because Rhys was coming?! What an entitled and xenophobic comment.

    • The Jetset Boyz says:

      The greeting and having your bags taken to your room is normal in Bali, regardless of category of hotel you’ve booked.

    • Nick Burch says:

      Don’t think it was a review thing, that seemed pretty standard for Jakarta airport hotels!

      We stayed at the Ibis Styles next door last week, similar £40 room rate. (Ibis Styles had a pool, and a better breakfast!)

      Whatsapp message the morning of the stay to arrange pickup, bags were delayed so we missed the shuttle and they sent another one for us, bags loaded into the hotel car and from hotel car to reception. Lots of friendly people trying to help, even on that cheap a stay!

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