This is my review of the Mulia Jakarta, one of the grand hotels of the Indonesian capital. It is the city sister to the group’s beach flagship, which I have reviewed separately — see the Mulia Resort in Nusa Dua, Bali. I stayed in a Junior Suite for five nights. Read on for a review of the room, the food and the service, plus practical tips to make the most of a stay.
Why Trust This Mulia Jakarta Review?
I stayed at the Mulia Jakarta myself, and everything in this review comes from that stay, photos included, shot on my own camera. Indonesia has been my home for the past ten years, and I’ve traveled it far beyond the resort islands: more than 20 trips to Raja Ampat and Komodo, expeditions through Halmahera, Alor and the Banda Sea, road trips across Sumba and Flores — sleeping in everything from Nihi Sumba, once named the best hotel in the world, to remote island guesthouses with no running water or electricity. That range is what my ratings are measured against: I know what world-class looks like here, and I know what the journey to reach it really costs you. Add a career of near-weekly hotel stays as a management consultant and travel to 135 countries, and you’ll understand why I judge places on what actually matters and publish the cons alongside the pros. More on how I review on my author page.
Review of the Mulia Jakarta
A Mulia receptionist was waiting for me in the corridor with all the check-in papers. She also processed my payment for the entire stay. Within 5 minutes, they showed me to my room.
The whole process from the airport to my room was absolutely seamless.
Review of the Junior suites at Mulia Jakarta hotel
The Junior Suites are sophisticatedly beautiful. The suite is elegantly furnished. It is large, about 57m2, but it has only one large room.
The welcoming bedroom includes a super comfortable king-size bed. The bed is enormous, and the bedsheets are amongst the softer I have seen.
I slept very well and loved lying there playing solitaire and reading my book.
The electricity control panel is next to the bed so you can control all the lights and the AC straight from your bed.
The room has an office desk right by the window.
Other than this, there is also a comfy sofa set along with a table. The whole vibe and architecture of the room are modern and luxurious. The color theme of the room is brown with a combination of gray. It gives a very subtle air of grandeur to the room.
There is a 55-inch High-Definition LED TV that you can watch from the bed
Tip: the TV is not a connected TV, so if you plan to watch Netflix or other online TV, bring a TV stick
As the room is spacious, I had enough space to put a Yoga mat and exercise during my stay.
My suite was a corner room and had two large panoramic windows. The windows are covered with curtains so you can set the mood of your space according to your likings. The two windows let prolific natural light in and invite you to the views of the city that include the hotel’s outdoor pool and the city skyline I was a bit disappointed with the view but I guess being on a low floor and in the middle of a large city makes it harder to view greenery. The rooms on the other side of the building faced the golf course, which might be nicer if you like to see green. The Mulia Jakarta hotel pool looked huge and very inviting.
The room windows did not open, so it was hard to get fresh air into the room. The air-conditioning temperature in the room was not easy to adjust. Whenever it was on, it would blow cold air into the room. The room was too cold for me, so I ended up switching it off totally.
The room is exceptionally well soundproofed. During my whole stay, I have not heard another person staying in the rooms near me.
Review of the bathroom at the Mulia Hotel Jakarta
The bathroom has an oversized bathtub and a separate rain shower. 
They provided plenty of extra amenities like soaps, shampoo, body lotion, …
Review of the Food at the Mulia Jakarta hotel
Food is one of the most important aspects of any longer hotel stay, and the Mulia excels with the options provided.
Many hotels serve a fixed set menu when you eat in your room, delivered as a food box. Some of the better ones let you choose amongst various options: the western meal, the Indonesian meal, the Japanese meal, … Mulia really distinguishes itself because the food offering is very flexible.
At first, I was confused that they could not show me the set menu for the week as I wanted to know what I would be eating. But then I realized that they provide so much flexibility that you don’t really need the set menu. You can choose to eat the set menu with an appetizer, a main, and a dessert or order from the room service. You get a credit of 200000 Rp. Per meal which was enough for most dishes on the room service menu.
The Mulia Jakarta has eight restaurants so that you can order all kinds of cuisines. I stayed for five nights and didn’t have enough time to try all the dishes I wanted to sample. The café is the main restaurant with a mix of continental and Indonesian food. Table 8 is the Chinese restaurant. Orient 8 is a French and Pan Asian restaurant. Il mare is an Italian restaurant, and it has more than just Pasta and Pizza. Edogin is the Japanese restaurant.
You can see the Room service menu by clicking here or scanning the following QR code:
The sushis from Egogin were particularly delicious.
But I also enjoyed the Pizza, salmon teriyaki, and tenderloin dishes.
Mealtimes are also flexible. You can basically eat what you want where you want it.
For drinks, water bottles are provided for free in large amounts and can be replenished upon demand.
Tip: The tea and coffee making facility in the room was very limited so if you are staying several days, I recommend bringing your own
On one day, they even brought me a healthy Jamu juice made of Tumeric
Usage of plastic and the environment
In many hotels, in-room meals are served in boxes with plastic cutlery. This is not the case at Mulia, where all the meals are served on regular plates with regular metal cutlery. It is much more comfortable but also more environmentally friendly.
They, however, use plastic wrap on all the dishes. That, combined with the 500 ml plastic bottles provided for drinking, created a lot of unnecessary plastic wastes. I was horrified at the end of the first day to see my trash bin full of plastic. After mentioning it, they agreed not to use plastic wrap on my food and gave me glass water bottles. It is with small gestures like this that we can make a change in the world.
It was a great response from them, but I think providing a refillable gallon of water to guests staying several nights would be even more environmentally friendly and would likely save the hotel money too!
If you care about the environment, mention it to the hotel. Hotels are usually very attentive to customers’ needs and will make changes to their operating procedures if there is enough demand.
Review of the sports program at Mulia Jakarta
Besides the food options, another great feature at the Mulia Jakarta is their online sports program. A sports instructor does gym and yoga classes three days per week so that you can keep active. The classes are via zoom so that you can join from your room. I did two classes and was alone each time, so it was like doing a personal training session online.
They lent me a mat free of charge during my stay.
Review of The Service at Mulia Jakarta
I spent most of my stay in the room, so this is a review of the in-room service rather than of the restaurants and public areas.
There was no daily housekeeping during my stay. The room was sparklingly clean when I arrived. It was stocked up with extra towels, amenities, and garbage bags. I would just leave the trash and dirty towels outside the door, and they would be picked up.
Tip: The package I booked included five pieces of laundry per day. You can’t accumulate them, so you need to put your five pieces in a bag every day and leave it outside the door.
The hotel staff was very responsive to any of my demands. I was always greeted by name. What amazed me the most was their proactivity. If I forgot to order a meal, they would call me and check what I would like to get.
In conclusion of my Mulia Jakarta review
The Mulia is a fantastic option that distinguishes itself by its food and service quality. I also enjoyed the online sports classes offered. It is a comfortable, well-run and very peaceful base in Jakarta, and I would happily stay there again.
Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy.
