The decision to relocate in the time of pandemic is a big decision for so many reasons. To be honest, this was the most complicated and the most expensive trip to Indonesia we ever had. Particularly because we were obliged to do the so called quarantine. If things were different, I would rather do a 14 days self quarantine rather than 8 days in a hotel. But because it was not an option, we wanted to make sure that the quarantine would be at least a part of our smooth transition.
That was why my husband and I had a long discussion about where to do the quarantine. We have nothing against the Government facility actually, because the reviews that we heard were mixed. Some say it’s not that bad, some say it’s a big no. But for us, the reason why in the end we chose hotel instead of Wisma Atlet, was because of the Wi-Fi availability.
Since everyone in the family, except the littlest one, needed a reliable internet connection for work and school, the fact that there is no Wi-Fi in Wisma Atlet was a big problem for us. We knew from a friend that we could order a local sim card for our phone there and then buy an internet quota to set a personal hotspot. But for us, that option was a bit risky so we decided to just check the list of the quarantine hotels, even if that meant we had to pay the expense by ourselves.
Why Novotel Tangerang?
At the time when we arrived in Indonesia, there were 40 something hotels that were approved by the Indonesian Government to accommodate repatriate and travellers coming from overseas. We narrowed down the option by focusing on the hotels that are located in Tangerang, not Jakarta. Tangerang is an outskirt city of Jakarta in which Cengkareng Airport is actually located. The city happens to be where my parents in law’s live also, so by staying in Tangerang, it would make it easier for us to go there once the quarantine was over. There were only 6 quarantine hotels in Tangerang in the list that time and 3 of them are located very close to the airport so they were not the best option for us who were not going to have a transit.
I sent emails to the three hotels, asking for the price, facilities and so on. Unlike regular booking, the price for a hotel quarantine is a package price. You pay for the room, the three meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), the laundry, the PCR test and other facilities depending on the policy from the hotel, then multiply that by the days and the number of persons. So yes, the price is not cheap! 😀
Our criteria for the hotel were simple: the distance from my in law’s house and the size of the room. We knew that it was not staying for a holiday or something so we kept our expectation low. But we still want to have some spaces so we would not feel too suffocating for being in a room 24/8. From the internet research, the reviews from previous guests, and my impression when I was in regular contact with the person in charge from the hotels, we decided to do the quarantine in Novotel Tangerang. And honestly, that was one of the best decisions we made during our long journey home.
A quarantine story
Novotel Tangerang is located very close to my parents in law’s house so it’s already on the top of the list from the very beginning. But it wasn’t until I talked to Maria, the front office manager about the room facilities that we finally decided, this is it.
Since we are a family of four, we prefer to have a not too small room. Fortunately, the suite room in Novotel Tangerang is quite big and it is designed to be like a studio apartment (minus the kitchen). They divide the main room into two: bed room and living room so we can manage to have the space for working or studying and for sleeping.
The quarantine package already included a pick up service from the airport. So once we finished all the process in the airport, we were led by the hotel representative to wait for the pick up. After an hour drive (the driver took the wrong exit so it took longer than it should to get to the hotel), we arrived at the hotel. The hotel took covid procedure seriously so we didn’t get off at the entrance. Instead, we went right away to the basement where we were welcomed by the COVID-19 task force and the hotel receptionist. They then led us to a room where we took on arrival PCR Test. While waiting for our turn, we also did the check in and the front officer explained to us all the procedure we need to follow during our quarantine. Once the test was taken, we went to the room and ordered dinner. I told Zaki not to open our luggages right away because we were still waiting for our test results. If they were positives, we would need to move to the Government facility for Covid patients so I thought it was better to wait.
The next morning the results came out and they were NEGATIVE! Yay!
From the second day of quarantine onwards, we were busy with work and school, while the youngest just playing around and sleeping wherever she likes :D. Unlike some other hotel quarantine stories, we didn’t have any bad experience in terms of food . The hotel took care of our belly very well 😀 . Even in the first two days we were kind of over supply because the hotel provided too much foods. Later we decided to order 2 or 3 packages only even though we are a family of four so we didn’t waste the foods. There were also many variations in terms of menu. We could select Indonesian or Western menu, or even mixed. We could also order something extra like milk, ice cream or yoghurt because my little one is a big fan of yoghurt.
For the other services, we didn’t have any problem either. We used the laundry and dry cleaning service, and I even asked them to get a toothpaste for K because I accidentally left hers in the airport. In short, everyone in the hotel was really helpful.
During the quarantine, sometimes there were random checks from the COVID-19 task force, making sure that we complied with the protocol. On the 7th day, we took another PCR test. This test determined if we could leave the quarantine or moved to Government facility (if the results were positive). Luckily, the results were negative so we could leave the hotel and were returned to the community 😀
Again, if things were different, I would rather do a 14 days self quarantine rather than 8 days in a hotel. But staying in Novotel Tangerang for a quarantine was not a bad experience. If anything, it was one of the best decisions we didn’t regret during our long journey home.
Hayu Hamemayu 
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