Last February me and my family went to stay at the Aston Marina Hotel for a weekend. Aston Marina is located near the Ancol beach (but it's not located inside the Ancol area), in fact it is located within walking distance to the main Ancol gate.
Before checking in to the hotel, we went to the Ancol area first to have a late lunch at Le Bridge, the restaurant that's located off the shore.
We have to walk on a long boardwalk to get there, but walking the boardwalk is of course a lot of fun because of the beautiful view of the calm sea and the vast sky behind it. We were there in the afternoon so the sun was not very hot up there. The restaurant itself has a unique circular building, the food and drinks were okay, nothing really special in taste but they were all generally okay.
We have to walk on a long boardwalk to get there, but walking the boardwalk is of course a lot of fun because of the beautiful view of the calm sea and the vast sky behind it. We were there in the afternoon so the sun was not very hot up there. The restaurant itself has a unique circular building, the food and drinks were okay, nothing really special in taste but they were all generally okay.
I haven't been to the beach for quite a while so it was nice to see the sands and sea for a change. This short getaway is also what we need in the middle of our busy daily life with works and so on. I'm glad to still be able to gather with my family and spent some quality time together.
When we were young we would almost feel hesitant to go out with our parents because we would prefer to hang out with our friends, right? But at this age, when you grow older you started to realize how precious the time is, and you would be happy to be able to spend quality time with your parents and the rest of your family >>> I'm talking like an old lady here, sigh.. does this mean I'm old??
By the way, I love boardwalk photos because they give gorgeous background, and with just a little bit of editing the photos can turn out great! Maybe that's why this site is popular for a pre-wedding photo spot ;p
Do you like my editing?
And this is Le Bridge, the restaurant at the middle of the long boardwalk off the shore. From here we can see the limitless sea and the big ships at far. The boardwalk does not stop here, it continues to the deeper area of the sea and then made a circle back to the shore, so it is a pretty long boardwalk if you decided to walk on it ;p But through this boardwalk you can go to the middle of the sea and then circled back to the shore with the boardwalk trails.
the resto:
the boardwalk:
After an afternoon at the Ancol beach, we signed out and go straight to the hotel just outside of Ancol's main gate. The Aston Marina Ancol hotel is unique because it is part hotel and part apartment. So the whole area is consisted of 3 or 4 tall buildings, and one of them have been turned into a hotel while the other three buildings remain private apartments. The swimming pool for the hotel is located in different area from the apartment's pool so visitors of the hotel can enjoy their own pool without having to be disturbed by the apartment residents and vice versa.
Because it was originally an apartment building so the rooms in this hotel is more like a mini apartment, equipped with kitchen and living/dining room. Maybe this is what they called a condotel??
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| (sorry for the already messy room ;p) |
the view from our terrace:
The night view was fantastic.
The morning view was also fabulous, we can see the sea and big ships set sails far above the city border.
The morning view was also fabulous, we can see the sea and big ships set sails far above the city border.
the pool:
I also love the pool terrace. The swimming pool is located at the 7th floor (if I'm not mistaken, because I forgot) so it has a city view of it's own. The pool area is quite small but they decorate it pretty nicely so although I didn't swim but I pretty much enjoyed sitting at the rattan bench facing the pool with the lush green surrounding all over me.
Because the pool is located on a higher floor so it was quite windy and the wind makes the swimmers shivers easily, LOL (yeah, that's you bro and hubs!) ;p
Because the pool is located on a higher floor so it was quite windy and the wind makes the swimmers shivers easily, LOL (yeah, that's you bro and hubs!) ;p
You'll see below that the harsh wind kept shoving my bangs on to my face, LOL. I had to hold my hair in order to take a proper photograph or else my face would be covered with hairs due to the wind ;p
Overall, we have a pleasant stay here in Ancol Aston Marina and would recommend it to anybody whose looking for a family hotel in that area. Just remember that this hotel is located outside Ancol (marina) but it's just near the main gate of Ancol. This hotel is also close to Mangga Dua (the famous shopping area in Jakarta).
My next plan is to spend a night in one of the hotel inside Ancol area so it would be easier for us to enjoy all the facilities Ancol has to offer. Ancol is still one of my favorite local / Jakarta holiday spot because it is the closest beach we had and it is a really different view from the tall buildings of Jakarta. It is also really nice to be able to get away from all the hectic daily life once in a while :)
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