The City Hotel

Short overnight stay. Mostly okay - good Wi-Fi, room service food reasonably good, comfortable bed, great shower. Airport transfer service excellent. Aircon in the room was a bit noisy, as was the external machinery outside the window. Also, a really bright light outside the window made it impossible to sleep but fortunately the reception staff managed to turn it off for us.

We stayed for one night in Ambon after a very long jounrney. A pre Check in at 9 o clock was possible for 100.000 IDR per person incl breakfast. The transfer from the airport (150.000 IDR) worked well and the driver was friendly. The hotel gave us the number of a guide (Dave) to organise a tour. He showed us some places around Ambon in the afternoon, which was nice (Natsepa Beach, world peace gong, statue on a hill with nice view). The room was not big, but overall good with internet, comfortable bed, TV and it was clean. You could hear the traffic even through the closed window, we did not like that. And the shower had no water pressure. Breakfast was Indonesian and Western, there was an egg station and sweet bakery and nasi goreng etc. We did not like that we were asked about four times about a Cappuccino we never ordered (must have been the guys who stayed in our room before us) and were called from the restaurant in our room at 9:30 pm when we were already sleeping. I told the staff in the morning at the reception and they apologised (in the morning in the Restaurant we were asked again, although we already told them 3 times…). We liked the Restaurant in the 7th floor with a great view. Except from that we were happy with our stay and can recommend it to people who don’t want to spend too much money, but have a comfortable shorter stay in Ambon.

The restaurant's foods are simple Indonesian food, but they are pretty tasty. The service was good. I asked for extra pillows and got them for free. The bed sheets are clean and tidy, but only 1 pillow is provided. On the other hand, the room requires some refurbishment. I found rusty towel rails and several rusty-like mirror holes in the bathroom. Not many amenities are provided in the bathroom. I got an unpleasant view from my room. The window was not soundproof. I can still hear the noises from moving vehicles outside. The television provides handy information for tourists, but I couldn't watch any channel.

This hotel clearly understood the needs of European travelers and travelers from the North American continent. Everything seems suited to provide a hotel experience that resembles that from the West. Excellent: breakfast, diner, Skyview bar, service, price. Staff is genuinely friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable. The Skyview bar provides a great view over Ambon city, a good atmosphere and an excellent menu, with plenty of space for guests, inside and outside. Car service to the airport is reasonably priced, as well as the laundry service and the rooms. Good: Clean rooms and toilets. Just fine! The towels smell amazing. Decent: The shower took a while to heat up, but once it did, it worked like a charm. The City Hotel is definitely better than some of the 4-star hotels that Ambon has to offer. Keep it up!