The Luxe List 2015: Raffles Jakarta, Indonesia
For its seventh Asian hotel, the Raffles group has, at the behest of the property’s owner—Indonesian tycoon and art collector Ciputra—assembled a lavish tribute to the late Hendra Gunawan, one of Indonesia’s most acclaimed modern artists. While no actual canvasses by Gunawan adorn the hotel (to see his works, guests can visit the adjacent Ciputra Museum, part of an impressive new arts center that includes a 1,200-seat theater), his oeuvre is well represented in enormous tile mosaics that reinterpret some of his best-known paintings, as well as in motifs from his vivid, expressionistic paeans to village life that appear in carpets and chandeliers and etchings. This being a Raffles, there are also nods to the brand’s old-world heritage in the form of distressed mirrors and the wooden shutters that line the walls of the Writers Bar (pictured). More than anything, though, this sophisticated newcomer is about modern comfort. Starting at 60 square meters, its 173 rooms and suites are among the biggest in the city, decked out in pale woods and creamy marble alongside a host of thoughtful amenities: Asprey toiletries, bars of artisanal Indonesian chocolate, batik yukata robes by fashion designer Oscar Lawalata. Guests will have to wait until the end of the year for the hotel’s spa to open, however. Also in the works? The Long Bar—Jakarta’s answer to the iconic establishment at the original Raffles in Singapore.
62-21/2988-0888; Raffles; doubles from US$480
Australia
- Intercontinental Sydney Double Bay
- The Langham, Sydney
- The Larwill Studio, Melbourne
- Pumphouse Point, Tasmania
- The Old Clare hotel, Sydney
China
- The Grand Mansion, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nanjing
- Ritz-Carlton, Macau
- Rosewood Beijing
- Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain, Chengdu
- The Temple House, Chengdu