The Westin Surabaya

TA - STAFF: very impressed with all the staff in the Club Lounge. Not just the front of office, but the people looking after you at the tables and the chefs - all super polite and helpful. Without them I could well have downgraded my review of the hotel. - LOCATION: whilst it is connected to a large Mall, it isn’t easy at all to walk outside - there are very limited paths to explore around - and crossing the road is daunting (although oddly quite safe if you choose your crossing sensibly). There is another mall not far away, but empty (confused me why it was open at all….). ALSO…. The pollution index is always high - as of right now it is 10 times the WHO recommended maximum. I regularly saw it much higher on my stay. - LIFTS: there are only three for the entire hotel, and you have to wait a few lift arrivals at busy times. In addition, the lift buttons to call a lift don’t work correctly, as if you want to go up, the lift will be called for all lifts going down as well as up. I ended up using the emergency stairs to get up the two levels to the club lounge (I used the stairs daily instead of the lifts - much easier). - CLUB LOUNGE: on the 39th floor. Great panoramic view. GREAT STAFF - couldn’t fault them at all - they made my stay enjoyable. Tian was super helpful, got IT up to get my laptop connected to the WiFi. The variety of food is also very good for a club lounge, perhaps the best I have experienced. The chefs prepared some excellent food (the Chefs were also super helpful - making pretty much anything you wanted). As standard there is a great variety and tastes. So good that we never bothered eating outside of the lounge despite being able to use the main restaurant if I wanted to. Coffee, tea, cold drinks & snacks looked to be available most of the day. - MAIN RESTAURANT: very busy at peak times - I tried it once for breakfast and couldn’t get a seat - so went back to the Club Lounge - where they prepared exactly what I was after anyway. - CELLULAR SIGNAL: this was quite poor, even high up in the club lounge (I wonder if this is a city-wide issue?). Thankfully, the free WiFi was good, in the lounge and the rooms (and the lifts!), so I used WhatsApp calling all the time (voice). I didn’t use much video calling, so can’t update you on WiFi bandwidth. Oddly (but happily), there is full 5G when in the mall (in the new part - TBC re. the old part) and your GPS works well despite being inside a covered building. - ROOMS: nice enough but nothing too special given I was on the club floor and paying good money per night. Lighting was poor, I tried to iron one evening and had to manoeuvre the table and chairs to place the ironing board under a spotlight. The lighting in the bathroom also isn’t great, there was a magnifying mirror but the lighting was too poor to use it properly.. No screen casting to the TV. I didn’t bring a Firestick but the rear of the TV was accessible. No bath and only one hook to hang towels / washing (my running gear which I rinsed out each day). Hotel dry-cleaning typically expensive. Instead I used the dry-cleaners in the mall and the one outside at the rear of the mall (ION Laundry - very good value). At times the shower took a good while to get hot. The water also doesn’t get very hot. - POOLS: there are two on the 6th floor. I would hope this helps lift you up from the outside pollution but unclear. One pool is shared with the hotel next door. One is for Westin only and very few people use it. Never a problem getting a sun-bed. Of course, the sun doesn’t shine that much in December and when it does, you can’t / shouldn’t stay out in it too long. The pools are nice and fresh and clean. The shared pool has a bit of a cooking smell coming from over the side (under the large canopy). Wasn’t too off putting. - TRAFFIC NOISE: despite being on the 37th floor, I could hear the traffic, which got worse late at night as the motorbikes and unsilenced mopeds, sped up and down the road (I am a light sleeper so others may not suffer the same). I would recommend getting a room on the other side of the hotel if you are a light sleeper (the view is great on the road side though). I soon got used to the call to prayer at around 03:15, the call was quite melodious. At the weekend, there was loud base thumping, right though to 5am. I couldn’t work out if this was a different call to prayer or parties in the hotel, outside the hotel (I stayed late December). They certainly woke me up. - TAXIS: unlike Jakarta, there doesn’t appear to be many Silverbirds available. The hotel does have a Goldenbird stand just outside of the main doors. Goldenbird is a half decent taxi that is a fixed price for the journey you are taking. This can be billed to your hotel account but it is half the price if you pay in cash (no ezi-pay available through the Bluebird app). The taxi rates are very affordable compared to European city costs. - LASTLY - a MASSIVE shout out to the hotel staff, especially the men and women in the Club Lounge - they made us feel very welcome - THANK YOU!

"We had an amazing stay at The Westin Surabaya. A special thank you to Philip, the Concierge. He was extremely helpful and polite throughout our visit. Philip is excellent at solving problems and provided expert advice that made our trip much smoother. His professional service truly elevated our experience. Highly recommend!"

Amazing hotel in Surabaya...with good and nice staff especially Mr Hervan, chef Felix, Mr Hendy..... .. The room was very clean and superb......

My wife and I spent a few days at The Westin Surabaya and it turned into one of our most memorable trips. The whole stay felt simple and warm. What stood out the most wasn’t the room or the hotel itself. It was the people. Every team we met made us feel welcome in a genuine way. Club Lounge Team Thank you Nila, Evan, Tian, Rozy, Sara and April. Each visit to the lounge felt relaxed and warm. You took such good care of us and we appreciate every small thing that you did. Concierge Team Big thanks to Filip, Tegur, Dika, Zam and Bayu. You made everything easy for us. Our Mount Bromo trip was arranged smoothly and became one of the highlights of our holiday. Filip, thank you very much for recommending the cakes specially baked in Surabaya. We loved them! And Bayu - thanks for arranging the cakes delivered to our room. GRO Team We’re especially grateful to Sania, Caroline, Nindiya, Rahma and Mellyana. The handwritten notes, the mirror messages, and the birthday and anniversary decorations really touched us. It felt personal and sincere. We will remember it for a long time.

Very nice experience stayed at this hotel. The hotel staff are all friendly, helpful and full of smile. The room is spacious and clean. Hotel facilities are great. Hotel location is attached to largest shopping mall in Surabaya.

Chef Bagus was very friendly... I appreciate that

The Westin Hotel has always been the most comfortable hotel during my time in Surabaya, friendly staff, comfortable rooms, fun playground, and delicious food.