Kollektiv Hotel Bandung Review: Feel How To Stay Inside Containers

Recently, I stayed at an industrial concept hotel located in the northern part of Bandung called Kollektiv Hotel. Their container room was not the only reason, but also their Hara restaurant, which guests can enjoy at breakfast time.

Kollektiv Hotel claimed themselves as the first container hotel in Bandung. Their building stands out among the other buildings on the same street. And yes because it is yellow too.

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Enjoying BBQ Spice Grill at Hardy's Dining Room Mercure Bandung Setiabudi

When you are staying in a hotel which is located in the northern part of Bandung and Lembang, it's better to stay at you hotel for dinner to avoid the traffic jam in the area. That's what we did when we stayed at Mercure Bandung Setiabudi.

 

What's better than having a BBQ in the cold air of Bandung? We went downstairs to Hardy's Dining Room around 7.30 pm. The restaurant was already busy with other guests who were enjoying the BBQ Spice Grill at Mercure Bandung.

 

The BBQ area just outside Hardy's Restaurant

 

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Mercure Bandung Setiabudi: The Perfect Hotel For A Weekend Getaway

I often received questions from my friends and tesyasblog's readers about where to stay in Bandung for their weekend getaway. Then I question them their need, budget, and itinerary. 

Bandung as you may know is very hectic during weekend, especially long weekend! All the factory outlets, cafes, restaurants and tourist attraction places from Kawah Putih to Lembang Floating Market will be packed by locals as well as visitors. Choosing the right hotel for your itinerary is really important, otherwise you will be stuck for hours in traffic.

If your plan is to explore Bandung plus Lembang area, I would recommend staying at a hotel which is located between the two cities. Mercure Bandung Setiabudi is located in the northern part of Bandung, in the middle between Lembang and the heart of Bandung. 

Mercure Bandung Setiabudi is a semi resort. After your busy day eating and shopping in Bandung, you will feel a different ambience when you are back to the hotel. And of course, being the only international chain hotel in Lembang area, you will feel a top notch service as well as a modern and lovely room.

Every room has a backdrop with Bandung's icon on it.
Ours was the old building of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung 

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[Featured Post] Dinner at Toastina Sheraton Bandung

There was a wedding party held during our weekend getaway in Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers (this is a featured post, see disclaimer below). So Miss Isma who was responsible for the Towers Lounge, gave us two option: dinner at Samara or Towers Lounge. Samara is the lounge located at the lobby of Sheraton.

Then I asked Miss Isma, whether we could have dinner at Toastina, a cafe located outside the lobby of Sheraton. Miss Isma said it was ok, both of the lounge and also Toastina will serve food from Feast Restaurant, because of the wedding is held at Feast Restaurant.

I have read about Toastina Pastry and Coffee House over the internet, all the reviews mentioned how cozy this place is. The coffee and the affordable price are often mentioned as the highlights by the reviewers of Toastina.

Yup, indeed it is a cozy place

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[Featured Post] 10 Things Which Made Sheraton The Best Family Hotel in Bandung

I seldom give "excellent" rating for my tripadvisor review, my highest review score usually "very good". However, having stayed in Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers (this is a featured post, please see disclaimer below), I gave my tripadvisor review on Sheraton Bandung an "excellent" rating.

For our family, Sheraton Bandung succeeded to get the title of "The Best Family Hotel in Bandung". There are lot of things why this hotel deserve such a title. 

I listed 10 of them:

Super cool pool at the middle of the hotel

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[Featured Post] Towers Lounge Sheraton Bandung

Upon arrival at Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers (this is a featured post, please see disclaimer below), we were ushered from the hotel's lobby to the Towers Lounge by a hotel staff. "Let me walk with you to the Towers Lounge", she said. Wow, I didn't know that guests staying at the Towers Room have the privilege to check-in at the lounge as well as entitled to access the lounge for tea and coffee throughout the day:) 

The check-in was a breeze, Miss Isma, a very helpful and friendly staff of Towers Lounge reminds us before leaving the lounge, "Please join our evening cocktails starting 4 pm at the Towers Lounge". An evening cocktails from 4pm-7pm was also included in our room reservation. Yeay! 

Our room located only few meters away from the lounge, it was handy as we could go to the lounge anytime we like. We went to the Towers Lounge for our evening cocktails at 5 pm, there were only few people inside. 

The elegance Towers Lounge

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(Featured Post) Family Buffet Lunch at Feast Restaurant Sheraton Bandung

On our weekend getaway at Sheraton Hotel & Towers Bandung (this is a featured post, please see the disclaimer below), we arrived before lunch time and found the traffic jam had already started in Bandung. So was the Dago area, where Sheraton Bandung is located.

I guess it was because that Saturday was the last day of school for the first semester, where parents go to school to take the student's report. So we decided to stay at the hotel for our lunch.

We choose to eat at Feast Restaurant as it provides lunch buffet overlooking the pool area. When we entered the restaurant, we were amazed with the variety of food provided, there were so many food inside! Not only me and Rene who were surprised, our kiddos were happy to see the kids station serving ice cream, candies, cakes, marshmallow and a tower of lollipops! "I want ice cream", kiddos request even before we decided where to sit.

A Santa cake welcomes us

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Review of Dusun Bambu Camping Ground

Have you ever imagined taking your family on a luxurious camping which has a bathroom in each tent with a hot shower? Indonesia has it! It is called Eagle Camp, a luxurious camping ground in Dusun Bambu, located in Lembang-Bandung.  

Having stayed in an executive camping ground near a beach in Tanjung Lesung, I'd like to take our kiddos to experience how it's like to camp in a cold area like Lembang. I brought jackets and long sleeve shirt for our kiddos, as I had no idea how cold Lembang would be these days.

I booked 5 tents directly to the phone number provided in Dusun Bambu's website, yup I succeeded make other 4 families to join our glamping (glamour camping) this time. But too bad my friend @diniros cancelled so we ended up booking two single tents (IDR 1,700,000 for 2 person) and one double tents (IDR 2,750,000 for 4 person).  

Our single tent with an Indonesian flag :)

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Kastuba Resort: A Great Place for an Office Outing in Lembang

Although there are so many hotels in Lembang you can choose to conduct a meeting or an office outing, still it was confusing to choose the right one. I was surprised that my friends had chosen Kastuba Resort for our what so called "family day" this year.  

After spending a half day at Lembang Floating Market, we went to Kastuba Resort. It took about 20 minutes from Lembang Floating Market. We passed "The Ranch", and continued following the road guidance from "Waze".

When we arrived at Kastuba Resort, a hotel staff approached our car, took our luggage and asked whether we would take the shuttle or just walk to the resort. Knowing that they only has one Toyota Avanza for their shuttle, we choose to walk. The greenery welcomed us. And that moment I knew we were going to love this resort.

Our kiddos at the resort

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A Blissful Weekend at Green Forest Lembang - Bandung

Looking for a place to stay in Lembang - a little town located 1 hour away from Bandung? Lembang is famous for its fresh air, fresh milk named "Susu Lembang", and nowadays it's famous for its Lembang Floating Market. 

People come to Lembang to avoid the hustle and bustle of Bandung especially during weekend. And that's why we could find so many villas and hotels in Bandung offering tranquility. One of the villa is Green Forest Lembang.

I fell in love with this place when I saw their website. I reserved directly from the website by phone, and they didn't ask for any down payment. I requested for a forest view room with a bathtub for our kiddos. And we loved our room from the first time we entered our wooden room.

Welcome to our room :)

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Villa Diamond Lembang

It was hard to find a hotel in Lembang two weeks before our departure, and during the school holiday period. There are so many hotels in Lembang, but only few available on our selected dates. Having seen some of the hotels' website, we choose Villa Diamond Lembang, located inside Kampung Gajah. Our main reason was because it's a new hotel, so we expected to have at least a clean hotel.

Villa Diamond, located beside Kampung Gajah

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Aston Primera Bandung

If you are a big fan of purple (I do), you will love this hotel! I stayed here twice, both to attend a two days meeting. From my experience, this hotel is suitable both for business and family.

When I entered the hotel, I saw (almost) everything purple: the reception desk, the sofa at the lobby, even I saw two couples of wayang wearing purple batik. From that moment I knew it's going to be my fave hotel:p 

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Golden Flower Hotel Bandung

On one of those Indonesian long weekend back in 2012, we decided to go to Bandung, booked three rooms for our families. It was not easy to book three rooms for long weekend in Bandung, only few hotels available. One of the hotels was Golden Flower Hotel Bandung. 

Actually I don't really like the surrounding area. This hotel is only good for those who wish to shop (a lot) at Pasar Baru, a place where you could bought cheap clothes in Bandung. Many Malaysian tourists stay at this hotel during my visit.

We arrived at a spacious lobby, well it's a bit strange as this building was used to be a shopping mall when I was in junior high. But nothing wrong with the lobby, the plus point is it has a direct access to a convenient store which opens 24 hours. Handy for those looking for instant noodle?:p

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Sensa Hotel Bandung

Bandung is always busy on weekends as it's one of the nearest city from Jakarta. That's why hotel business is booming, and if you happen to confuse which hotel to take, I would suggest you to read the below post.

As I have a house in Bandung, I seldom go to hotel except when I travel on business. This time I choose to stay at Sensa Bandung, a hotel located on Cihampelas street, which is famous for its clothing stores. Sensa Bandung located adjacent to Cihampelas Shopping Malls, the mall is not my favorite mall in Bandung, but still it has so many resto inside and also a cinema.

The lobby of the hotel is spacious, the reception area is close to the entrance which linked Sensa Bandung to Cihampelas Walk.

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