Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel Review @ Bandung [Indonesia]

I am confused - there appeared to be three different ways to identify the Bandung hotel that we stayed in; should it be considered as the La Grande Hotel that is managed by the Best Western group under its Premier category?

Never mind, for the sake of this post, let's just take it by the entire chunk; Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel, a four-star establishment with over 190 rooms / suites that just celebrated its first birthday early this month. 

An L-shaped building; i understand that the section with balconies facing us in the above photograph was a condotel which would be different from the full fledged hotel we had booked for.

Reception area was a disappointment given the number of rooms under their care - it was small and can be crowded at times. However, extra points must be given for the decorations put up for the upcoming Christmas! 

Not sure what was the reason behind the signpost pointing to renowned Lord of the Rings' locations (Rivendell, The Shire and Fangorn Forest) as the space was insufficient to have even a tiny replica of those famous places. 

Within the same reception, the operator had managed to squeeze in two Macintosh for those who need to surf the web, read their emails etc. I couldn't find the mouse though even though i presume i could always request from the friendly, always smiling front desk staff. 

That's not all; you could also find a container filled with healthy fruit / vegetable infused water to quench your thirst when you return to the hotel. At night, the infused water would be replaced with a pot of coffee and a pot of tea!

Should you ever feel a slight pang of hunger in your tummy, do help yourself to the tray of cookies! I honestly don't require any definition on cookies, which by the way were rather tasty with a nice, aromatic crunch! 

Superior Room

The room on the 16th floor (1611) that i shared with my elder sister as my younger sister would be bunking in with my mom; it was decently sized (said to be 29 square meters) with two super single beds.

Another view to give a better visual representation of the size.  

Dressing table and a 32-inch LED television with numerous cable channels (claimed to have 62). There's a stark difference to having Joyce, instead of the usual Alex, as my bunk mate. We only switched on the television on day one and for the rest of the days; it was just a black box staring at us when we went to dreamland. 

There's a safe for you to keep your valuables; personally, i don't keep money in the safe, only items like passport, lens, iPad etc. 

Complimentary two bottles of mineral water (already taken by my sister who is an amazing water guzzler), sachets of coffee and tea, an electric kettle and a mini fridge right underneath.

Mountain view from our room - for those who have been to Bandung, could you identify the mountain right ahead with a rather flat top? It's the famous Tangkuban Perahu (known also as upturned boat due to the shape).

Spick and span washroom with a bidet spray, hair dryer, hot and cold water shower; common items found in most hotels above three stars. Would have loved it better with a rainfall shower! 

I was more impressed with the amount of freebies housed in a box; aside from the usually-given bottles of shower and shampoo, conditioner and body lotion, there were also shaving kit, grooming kit, dental kit and sewing kit! 

Before i forget, good-speed WiFi was provided in the room! 

Other Amenities

Fitness centre on level four which was mentioned to be small in one of the tripadvisor reviews. I thought it was okay as i had been to an even tinier one at Seoul's Manu Hotel. 

Nevertheless, the weights in the gym would be sufficient to keep me happy. Pity the hornet sting i got on my finger on day three totally ruined my plan to keep my biceps in shape! 

One of the main draws for Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel was the swimming pool on the same floor as the fitness centre. As with the hotel, it featured the same L-shaped.

In addition to its sheltered yet open concept, the water in the pool was also heated! As expected, families with children love it and i did chance upon them rather frequently on weekends when the hotel filled up with vacationers. 

Breakfast Buffet

Situated on the third floor of the hotel, Parc De Ville restaurant would be the place for our daily buffet breakfast that's scheduled from 6 to 10 am.

Spread was extensive; featuring local delights like Nasi Uduk, stewed beef, local porridge, mie goreng, butter chickens, kuehs, local fried fritters yet maintained the common cereals, egg station, pancakes, breads and toasts, salad bar etc. 

Help yourself to the spices and maybe you can come out with a delicious concoction as in the case of my elder sister who thought up a superbly good fried egg with acar and sweet spicy onion soy sauce! 

Numerous drinks were available; including infused water! And if you are looking for local herbal beverage, you can go for the two pots next to the Nasi Uduk station; one tasted like honey drink while the other has a ginger tinge to it. 

My mom enjoyed the breakfast so much; she literally spent two hours there every morning. To be fair, she was also waiting for her lazy bum son to get ready and for her gym-crazy daughter to finish her gym regime. 

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Location

Jalan Merdeka No. 25-29, Sumur Bandung, 

Babakan Ciamis, Sumur Bandung, 

Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40117, Indonesia

Website

http://www.bwpremierlagrande.com/

Additional Information

There's a KFC that's less than 40 steps from the hotel's entrance! 

The hotel is also right across Bandung Indah Plaza; a good sized mall with plenty of dining and retail options. If you are keen to catch a movie, there's a cinema in the same shopping centre and when i checked the pricing for Underworld: Blood Wars; it's only 25,000 rupiah a ticket! 

For the itinerary of my five days, four nights inaugural trip to Bandung, please click here.

Joyce's Innovation - Fried Egg with Acar @ Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel [Bandung]

I dislike hotel breakfast and those who have been following my travel itineraries in this blog would realise that the 'standard package' doesn't really go beyond toast and omelette. 

In my most recent trip (to Bandung), things have changed slightly; of course, i must admit that the breakfast served in Best Western Premier La Grande hotel was indeed one of the better ones but there's another reason. 

This special fried egg with toppings that didn't come from the egg station! Joyce, given her years of experience as a mother, had innovated and added ingredients she thought would improve the rather plain fried egg. 

She literally "stole" the acar that's supposedly for the rice, went to another section where there were numerous sauces and helped herself to the sweet yet spicy onion soy sauce! Nevertheless, i love it so much; i had multiple helpings over the next few days! 

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For the itinerary of my five days, four nights inaugural trip to Bandung, please click here.

SilkAir Studio - Wireless Inflight Entertainment on Your Mobile Devices

I am a cheapo when it comes to airplane tickets and hence, prefer budget airlines that has no meals, no in-flight entertainment; conveniences i am willing to sacrifice for a significantly cheaper ticket. 

Therefore, you can imagine my surprise when i boarded the SilkAir plane to Bandung and couldn't find the dedicated screen that's supposedly right in front of my seat! In anticipation that it would be provided, i didn't download sufficient movies on my phone app and i bet the ceiling screen would likely be a common channel for a bigger audience. :( 

Nothing's lost yet - while flipping through the airline's magazine, i chanced upon a schedule for movies. Strange thing to have when there's no in-flight entertainment and that's when i noticed the word "wireless". 

There's an instruction leaflet stuffed in the seat pocket in front and i diligently followed the instructions. No more cloud watching which can get boring after a while! 

Instructions - switch on your phone, leave it on airplane mode, activate your wireless and connect to either silkair1 or silkair 2. Once connected, go to your browser and type www.silkair.com. 

Voila! 

Although the use of technology is commendable, there are several shortfalls to SilkAir Studio; screen size is obviously much smaller if you are using a phone as i did, the amount of content also appeared to be a lot more reduced (under action, there is only two movies) and lastly, we are draining the battery of our mobile devices and i didn't see any USB charging ports around me.  

Whatever the case, i am happy to be able to watch Expendables 3; a two-hour movie that i couldn't complete on the plane as the flight to Bandung was only two hours and as you know, announcements would disrupt the playing of movie and mobile devices are required to be switched off prior to take off and landing. 

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For the itinerary of my five days, four nights inaugural trip to Bandung, please click here.