Astara Hotel Balikpapan

TThe breakfast was the best I have ever had at a hotel. It is a perfect area for us to be in the city (as tourists), and they were very accommodating for travellers who are passing through. The room was really nice, and considering the overall experience, the price was very fair. The slides are genuinely as fun as they look, and the pool area adds a really unique touch to the hotel experience. A small bit of maintenance—like a fresh coat of paint or smoothing out some of the pipes—would make them even better, but overall they’re great fun.

The pool is quite unique for a hotel, and this is where the “but” comes in, as it was one of the main reasons we booked this hotel, especially with the live waterslides and having a day before our flight to enjoy it. The slides were supposed to be open from 10 AM to 6 PM (which was confirmed at check-in and by signs near the slides). On the day we had planned to just enjoy the slides and pool (given I am a child at heart), one of the slides was broken (no big deal), but then the two most impressive ones were closed inexplicably from 12 to 3 PM (given that they are open from 10AM to 6 PM, a big window) Given that this was the whole purpose of the stay, this was quite disappointing. Especially when addressing several staff members about the opening hours not matching reality, it became clear there was staff present, but they did not seem willing to operate the particular two slides. This made me feel quite uncomfortable when asking about it, as they were all sitting together on their phones. It may be that working hours are difficult or the pay is not sufficient to motivate them, so I am not judging the staff personally but rather the hotel setup. Although everyone was generally friendly. Also, they rent cabanas, which I don’t mind at all—people enjoying extra luxury is fine. However, two cabanas had all the double tubes stored in them and did not allow anyone else to use them, even though they were just lying there. This again seemed like something the staff should have noticed, especially since some slides require double tubes.

Nothing

The room size is much smaller than stated in the website. Either misleading information or a gimmick

Location for breakfast is convenient with various foods