紅門飯店@拉旺(RedDoorz @ Lawang)

According to a history at the Kartika Wijaya Hotel (which used to be the Sarkies Brothers holiday home) in Batu, the Niagara Hotel in Lawang was developed by a cousin, also called Sarkies. Having stayed at all (or all but one) of the Sarkies family hotels, we had to have one night here. Unfortunately, it is now part of the RedDoorz booking group and the original name is subsumed by that. Anyway, to the hotel. We booked the most expensive category of room but that was unfortunately at the front of the hotel overlooking the noisy main road. Although the room was large, it was very sp****ly furnished. The bathroom had been added into the room and had quite a large step to get in. We had to ask for a bathmat and toilet paper. There is a lift but it looks as though it hasn't worked for many years. The architecture and the internal walls and windows are excellent. This could be an excellent hotel if it was refurbished (similar to the Sarkies Brothers hotel, the Majapahit in Surabaya or even Raffles). The staff were really helpful and friendly.

The only reason we stayed here was because it was supposedly started by one of the Sarkies family (who opened Raffles and other luxury hotels). Having said that, this hotel has not maintained its luxury status. The achitecture and interior design are great but the facilities are very basic. We selected a deluxe room (301) but it was at the front of the hotel overlooking a noisy road. Try to avoid rooms ending in 1 or 2. The bed was slightly less hard than most beds in Indonesia. However, the curtains were thin and pale, letting in early morning light. The water was hot. We had to ask for toilet paper.