Endo & Nes

We have been a member of Accor since January 2022, and have been wanting to try staying at Pullman Ciawi Vimala Hills Resort Spa & Convention since then. We just renew our annual membership and receive vouchers as usual: free breakfast, free room upgrade, free birthday cake, etc. After we looked up for a day to have a staycation, we decide to stay here at 18 Feb 2023 (Isra Miraj holiday).

We booked through Accor All mobile apps, and choose Deluxe Room as our initial choice. Since not include breakfast, we ask via email to use two vouchers: free breakfast & room upgrade. They said we can use our free breakfast voucher, and they will upgrade our room to Deluxe – Garden Access. Make sure to bring our vouchers, member and identification card. Then, we ask about whether bath tub available in the room.

They said bath tub only available in Executive Room, so we changed our plan. We’ll booked Deluxe – Garden Access, then use free upgrade room voucher to Executive Room. Since it’s still around the Valentine vibe, I asked whether they had something special for Valentine occasion. They have free cake and wording, but no flower bouquet. I then asked if they have a florist around there, it’s okay if I need to pay extra.

Sadly, no florist. So, I search around Jakarta area (found one in South Jakarta). Fill their order form, and got a response delivery price to Pullman Ciawi is 41,000 IDR. I request the delivery time around 09:00-13:00, so I expect to receive the flower before check-in. I then asked the Guest Relation (GRO) in Pullman Ciawi to receive the flower, and put in our room. Everything is arranged, I pat myself in the back saying “now you have reach the baseline for a romantic husband”.

D-3 I got SMS notification said “thank you the transaction”, so they already open transaction my credit card. For room only (Executive Room – no breakfast): 2,663,967 IDR. D-1 I got WhatsApp notification from the GRO, basically they inform us the check-in policy and a map of alternative road (quoted: “* during heavy traffic hours, we recommend to use this route”). How thoughtful, but who still use map when we have Waze?

On the D-day, we don’t want to rush. So we woke without alarm, enjoy our breakfast. Talk to the birds, say hello to the flowers. When we ready, we drove off to Pullman Ciawi. Around halfway, Waze notify that traffic is building up ahead so the apps search for an alternative route. Hopefully, the alternative road not to narrow for car. And I realized it’s the same route from GRO, there is also a signage “To Pullman Ciawi” along the route so we should not be lost our way. Nice!

We arrived from Vimala Hills Gate 2 (back gate), along the way (still inside Vimala Hills area) we saw: Talaga Sampireun, Helipad, housing area, and Club House. Security at Pullman Ciawi told us if we want to go to lobby then turn right, if we want to parking lot then turn left. From parking lot, we can use buggy car service to lobby. So, we took a left turn. That was a mistake. After we arrived at the parking lot, we realized we still have many luggage.

So we drove again to the lobby, drop off our luggage then went back to the parking lot. From the parking lot, security said we can use buggy car or walk through the corridor to reach the lobby hotel. Of course we choose to walk, healthier and we can see around hotel! It’s a nice walking corridor, we can see garden on the right side, children playground on the left. We walk through Mad Cow Steakhouse and Activities Center.

We arrived around 12PM, and cannot check-in because they still cleaning the room. But we can register and they’ll contact us if the room is ready. The queue line a little bit confusing, one staff told me the line direction to the lobby while other staff tells other guest the opposite direction. They had 4 reception desks, all handle check-in and check-out. Actually for the check-out, they had drop box for they key room. Later they’ll email the invoice, but still people prefer to settle in the reception desk.

After registration, they give us 2 welcome drinks can be redeemed at Salak Bar. Also, another voucher for a free photo session with Holipic. We must booked the photo session time, since they have limited photographer. What’s include with the voucher is a free photo frame, if we want additional digital photo they’ll charge us. We choose 11:30 AM as our time slot, hopefully we still have time for check-out.

Since we already starving, we decide to have a lunch at Kopi Oey located in Club House. We ordered: Ajam Goreng (20,000 IDR), Koffie O (25,000 IDR), Nasi Daon Djeroek Ajam (35,000 IDR), Ijs Thai Tea (35,000 IDR), and Singkong Sambel Roa (30,000 IDR); all price exclude service charge (5%) and tax (10%). We got not so good Singkong, I remembered ate at their other outlet the Singkong is so crisp and delicious.

I see they have DANA promotions: 5,000 IDR off, and member program loyalty points. So after we munch the fried chicken and sip the black coffee, I pay with DANA. Got 5,000 IDR off and points, now I can redeem my points with free Ice Kopi Tarik. After lunch, we explore a little bit part of Club House. We can see a miniature map of Vimala Hills, and found something interesting: Deer Park and Flower Park.

At this time, I WhatsApp the florist ask about my bouquet flowers. They said the courier just left to Pullman Ciawi, I asked shouldn’t he be here before 13:00? They said no, it’s the delivery time not arrival time. Oh okay, my bad. Then they give us the courier’s number so that I can continue chat him about his location. So far so good, the courier is on his way and nothing bad happened. Let’s hope he’ll arrive soon.

Shortly after, it started to rain. We rushed back to our hotel, but still can’t check-in. The GRO inform me that they still wording our room, and will call me if the room is ready. Since we our stomach just full of Black Coffee & Teh Tarik, we decide to just explore hotel area and will redeem the welcome drinks later. Past the Salak Bar, we saw electric bikes ready for rent. Price is 100,000 IDR per hour. Next, is Activities Center. They have Video Games room, billiard, table tennis, basket, trampoline, etc.

We can use it for free, just remember to be nice take turn with other people. After playing for 15 minutes, I got call from the GRO. Maybe now we can check-in to our room? Let’s go! Our room number is #4502 located in wing D, it’s very near from the GRO table and Holipic table. Just opposite way from Salak Bar, where they have stalls that sell: dolls, hats, and other handycrafts. In the clear sky, we can see the Salak Mountain from here.

It’s time for a Room Tour!

When we enter our room, we immediately notice the bath tub. So the bathroom is on the left side, and big sliding door so it feels more spacious. Oh, and the toilet is separate from bathroom. The shower room have head shower and hand shower, hand shower is really important for us parents with toddler. Move to our bedroom, finally we see why they took so long to prepare our room. “Happy Valentine” wording is really cute!

Amenities are quite complete: hair dryer, hand soap, hand sanitizer, body lotion, toothbrush, razor, and bath salt. Also in shower room: conditioner, shampoo, shower gel. Unfortunately, some of the bottle dispenser not working: hand soap and shower gel. We must call the house keeping, and take a while to replace. Room is one of the cleanest we ever stay, “no wonder it took so long to clean the room” Emma said.

From the balcony we can see swimming pools, unfortunately outside raining so hard. Now, finally we can say our best decision ever is to do the upgrade room: we can soak ourselves into a warm bathtub. While waiting for the warm water fill the bathtub, we explore other room amenities. They have iron, ironing board, yoga mat, dumbbell, umbrella, safety box, and bathrobe. Also in the minibar: nespresso and coffee capsule, instant coffee, tea, creamer, sugar, and 2 bottles of mineral water.

Evening Activities

Finally we can enjoy our bath, but before that someone knocking our door. The staff give us our complimentary snack, perfect snack to indulge with warm bath. We use their bath salt and our bath bomb, feels so relaxing. We took our time, and around 17:30 the rain has stopped. We planned to have a dinner at Talaga Sampireun, but since they did not accept reservations on weekend, so we decide to go there earlier before dinnertime to avoid hungry crowd.

When we go out, I asked the flower courier. He said there’s something wrong with his motorbike, so he apologized for being late. Well, I’m upset of course but nothing I can do beside forgive and wait for him. Then I WhatsApp the GRO at Pullman Ciawi to receive the flowers and put in our room, and reminder them that we not receive yet the free Valentine Cake if we still eligible. Hope the cake and flower will be nice, though.

Initially, we want to try their Tram. However, after waiting for a while, we decide just drive our car. Walking through the corridor, we passed by Activities Center. We asked them about Fish and Pigeon feeding, also Deer Park and Flower Park. They said we could request the animal food before 17:30, and point us the direction. It is okay, we just see the animal without feeding them. I hope that tomorrow we still have time to feed them.

The walking corridor start to light up, feels more romantic. Fish Pond and Pigeon Home located just in front of the front gate of Pullman Hotel, but on the left side. Since we first arrived from the right side, we did not see it. Maybe if we arrived from the main gate of Vimala Hills we should see it. So we parked our car on the roadside, and play with the bird and fish for a while. Next, we continue our journey to the Deer Park.

The species here are “Rusa Tutul” (Axis Deer). Since it’s already past the feeding time, they lock the fence. We can only say hello from outside. Here, also we can found another playground for kids. The soil here a little bit muddy, maybe because raining all day and now the rain has started to spatter again. Emma wants to play but another families already occupied the playground, so we move onto our next destination: Flower Park.

Flower Park located near the main gate of Vimala Hills, here they have large lake and many beautiful flowers. When we stepped out of our car, many ducks come to us. First, it looks cute. Then after a horde of them come, we got afraid. Imagine they will peck us, so we run to take shelter in our car. Not long, the rain more drizzle. We drove off to Talaga Sampireun, another best decision to come early: no waiting list.

We ordered their recommendations: Patin Bakar Bambu (219,000 IDR), Sate Ayam Manis (59,000 IDR), Toge Ikan Asin (35,000 IDR), and Udang Api Goreng (89,000 IDR); all price exclude tax (10%) and service (5%). Patin Fish really soft, we liked it very much. While Chicken Satay, unfortunately, well, not too delicious. I mean, what we expect is a tender chicken fillet, but what we got is like there still a chicken bone? or something.

Salted Fish Sprout also delicious but nothing special, the salted fish feels smelly, it’s a personal opinion of course. Fire Fried Prawn caught our attention, so crispy and tasty! For our dinner, the winner is Patin and Shrimp. We can’t decide since it’s a different food: one is soft, one is crispy; both are delicious. Turns out they have buggy car service to Pullman Hotel, so Agnes and Emma took buggy while Hendro drove the car.

When we arrived at hotel, we heard music. We asked the hotel staff, said they have 2 shows that night: one is a private wedding party at Salak Bar, while the other one is free at Damar Restaurant called “Arabian Night”. Everyone can enter and enjoy the show even without dine in , perfect ! So we go there, and enjoy the show standing. The show was spectacular, we don’t expect that awesomeness.

After the show, they held photo session with the dancers. Surprisingly, Emma wants to take pictures with them. Emma make a rabbit pose, and the female dancers follow her. We went back to our room, welcomed by Valentine Cake and flowers. Sweet, Emma really likes the cake. We take many pictures, with Emma being the third wheel and help take pictures of us. After rest for a while, now it’s time to sleep.

Sunday, 19 February 2023

We woke up around 7AM , and went to Damar Restaurant for breakfast. We saw many peoples doing Yoga Activities, also since it’s clear sky we can saw Salak Mountain. Arrived at Damar Restaurant, we give our free voucher breakfast. Actually it’s spacious than our thought, and have many options of breakfast too. Personally we loved the Pizza, we rarely see any hotel restaurant that serve pizza.

We choose our table beside the swimming pool, and kids pool. So they have 4 swimming pools: one located in Padi Pool Bar that we can see from our room’s balcony, one beside Damar Restaurant, beside it also Kids Swimming Pool, and the last is Infinity Pool. While we were having breakfast, there was live music using Chinese Traditional Music (?). He played “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, it really suits the atmoshpere.

After finishing our breakfast, we change our cloths to swimwear and ready to splash! Luckily, around 09:00 we arrived there they held a Kid’s Pool Party. They held a mini games: who can collect the most balls with an ‘X’ mark. The winner will get e-bike voucher. Also, free popcorn and cotton candy! While stocks last, or until 10:00. After losing the mini game, we just play at the swimming pool until around 10:30. On the way to changing room, we saw Sand Pit and mini zoo (birds, rabbits, and a turtle).

Back to our room, we change our cloths for photo session. Fortunately, they let us for a late check-out until 13:00 so we have time for photo session and pack our luggage. We start our photo session around 11:30, from the view of Salak Mountain as background. Then continue at the stairs beside Salak Bar, also a photo spot after a wedding decoration. We continue to walk through Damar Restaurant, swimming pools, and next to Sand Pit turns out a ‘forest’.

We only took photos for about 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes, then our photographer got a phone call to end our photo session since they have another customer. Well, that’s not nice. The photographer apologize, we know it’s not his fault. We just upset at the management, they rob of our rights. They have promotions and we already book our photo session slot, so why this things happened? At the end, we just took our free photo frame and pay extra for one digital photo of Emma. They offer us a special price to buy all their photos, but no thanks since we already upset.

Checkout process was smooth, we then say goodbye to Pullman Ciawi. Will come back for sure, still have many activities that we haven’t try yet. We drove through the main gate of Vimala Hills, and the traffic is one-way to Jakarta. Sweet, a little bit jam in the highway but not too bad we still enjoy our journey. See you next time!