Post-Lockdown Staycation Experience: Blackbird Hotel in Bandung, Indonesia

In case you didn't know, I barely left the house from April to September. Since I fell ill on my way from Pakse to Vientiane in February, I was hesitant to travel. Even domestically.

It was only a couple of months ago when I decided to go out once in a while, mostly for work, as I found an ideal coworking space at Eduplex in my hometown. So, after half a year of spending the whole time at home, I decided to finally book a hotel room for a staycation again last month.

I took my family for a post-lockdown staycation at Blackbird Hotel, a boutique hotel situated around Cihideung in Bandung, my hometown. At the time, I booked both the medium and large room as I went with my siblings and my mom.

So, how was my experience for having a staycation at Blackbird Hotel?!

Table of Content

Blackbird Hotel, Bandung

Blackbird Hotel wasn't my first option for my post-lockdown staycation at the time. I was actually booking two rooms at the other hotel in the city center through Traveloka, but it turned out the hotel was under renovation. Hence, they suggested me to change the hotel with terms and conditions applied.

Initially, I wanted to have a staycation at Grand Hotel Preanger, another legendary hotel used for the Asian-African Conference in Bandung back in 1955. Since I had a staycation with my mom at Savoy Homann the other day, Preanger was my only choice to stay at the city center.

Traveloka suggested a few alternatives to replace my booking, but then I wasn't really interested in staying at some franchise 5-stay hotels around the city center. When they said that I could take the liberty of choosing any hotel with a price range up to 125% of my paid booking, I decided to pick a hotel in the other area.

Blackbird Hotel is located at Jalan Terusan Sersan Bajuri, which is closer to the northern part of Bandung that is quite famous for its beauty of nature and chilled weather.

The lobby area at Blackbird Hotel, Bandung.

Parking area at Blackbird Hotel, Bandung.

Medium & Large Room at Blackbird Hotel, Bandung

Since the four of us are having a staycation together, I initially booked two separate rooms at the Grand Hotel Preanger. One was for Naripan Wing Room, and the other for the Deluxe King Room.

At the time, my Indonesian compilation book was just published, and I'd like to take some pictures for promotional content in the bathtub. I already got the concept, so I just had to incorporate it while having a hot bath.

So, when Traveloka said that my booking would be voided as the hotel was under renovation, I browsed some other hotel alternatives that could provide a room with a bathtub in a similar price range.

I then requested to change my booking into two separate bedrooms in Blackbird Hotel: one for the large room with the bathtub, and the other for the medium room.

In total, I spent IDR 1,601,597 (around $112.5 USD) for both rooms. The rate includes free breakfast the next day.

Post-lockdown staycation in Bandung, Indonesia.

Medium room at Blackbird Hotel, Bandung.

One of the promotional pictures I took at the bathtub for my book.

Why Blackbird Hotel Might Be Suitable for Your Staycation

Blackbird Hotel is a family-friendly boutique hotel with a spacious area and playground that can be an option for your next family staycation. There's no elevator available, but they only have a two-stories building in each location for the rooms.

Apart from a small playground close to the lobby, there's also a small swimming pool where you can spend quality time with your beloved ones during the staycation.

Now, in case you don't know yet, I always look forward to a staycation because that's the only way I felt like I could have a normal lifestyle. I mostly spend my days as a quarantine queen slash couch potato. No exercise, nothing.

One of the things I was looking forward to in my first staycation after the lockdown was whether I could use the swimming pool. Apparently, the swimming pool area at Blackbird Hotel is open from 8 AM to 4 PM every day.

As I didn't have time to swim in the afternoon, I decided to go swimming in the morning before breakfast the next day.

The swimming pool area in Blackbird Hotel, Bandung.

The playground area in Blackbird Hotel, Bandung.

Some random golf cart in the lobby area.

Some announcement regarding to the health protocol at Blackbird Hotel.

Review: Staycation at Blackbird Hotel, Bandung

Since I was the one who paid for the staycation, naturally I got the large room because I deserved it. LOL.

I stayed in the large room with my mom while my siblings got the medium one. Apart from the bathtub, there's also a balcony in the large room. While it's forbidden to smoke inside the room, smoking is permitted on the balcony and other open-air areas in the hotel.

Both rooms have a minimalistic yet unique design that is quite instagrammable. I mean, these days right? What's a boutique hotel if not instagrammable, am I right?! 😛

Large Room at Blackbird Hotel

The minimalist capsule closet in the room.

I was welcomed by a study space when I entered the room. Behind it, there was a king bed in the center facing a cable TV. There's also a small swing inside the room.

I figure that could be used to rock a baby to sleep or something, but I tried to sit on the swing, and it could carry me just fine although my legs were too long for that. LOL.

(+)

This is a typical modern room with a minimalistic design that is quite cozy to stay in and instagram-worthy, if that matters. Apart from the king bed in the center of the room, if you book with an extra, one could also sleep on the couch in the other corner of the room that is quite comfortable to chill as well.
Don't worry about the amenities as everything is provided. From the teapot to boil the water (it's vital since I was staying with an Asian mom! LOL), teabags and coffee, slippers, and toiletries!
It's a good room option to choose if you're a smoker since you're allowed to smoke on the balcony. The other room types at Blackbird Hotel don't have this facility.
The water heater works perfectly. I had a relaxing bubble bath twice during my short stay there!
The room is both family-friendly, as well as romance-friendly if you know what I mean. LOL.

(-)

There was some problem with the bathroom door when I stayed there. It was slightly hard to open it.
I'm not a fan of the bathtub. The hot tub's design isn't really comfortable to have a relaxing bubble bath because I couldn't lie down.

Medium Room at Blackbird Hotel

The mirror at the medium room in Blackbird Hotel.

Some corner in the medium room in Blackbird Hotel.

As I didn't sleep in the medium room at the time, I could only tell you my experience based on seeing it with my own eyes. And to be fair, I love the simplicity in the interior design than the large one.

The only difference is that there's only a shower in the bathroom with no balcony. The room is slightly smaller too, but it has everything else the large room has to offer. The amenities, the toiletries, and also the capsule closet and all that.

Each room comes with a phone as well, so I could just pick up the phone to tell my siblings to come like a boss I am. LOL.

(+)

The room might be less spacious, but the minimalistic design is lovely to see! The bed size is the same as the one in the large room, so is the TV.
The toiletries, especially the shower gel, is in full size. I even had to borrow the shower gel to my siblings' room for my hot bubble bath.

(-)

I find the bathroom is way too small.

Sea Como Sea Cafe and the Breakfast at Blackbird Hotel

So, apart from Blackbird Hotel, there's also a cafe in the same location called Sea Como Sea. Due to the lockdown imposed a few months ago, they now changed their operational hours so that the cafe is closed at 6 PM every day.

Since the street around Blackbird Hotel isn't really pedestrian-friendly, our option is to either walk in this quite dangerous street to the nearest nasi goreng (fried rice) stall next to Indomaret around 100 meters from the hotel, order the food online through apps like Gojek or Grab, or dine-in the cafe.

Sea Como Sea Cafe

We decided to have lunch at the cafe to see what they can offer. The menu varies from Indonesian to Western food, and since I was quite hungry at the time, I had sop iga, which is Indonesian oxtail soup for meals.

My mom ordered nasi goreng, and since my siblings already had their lunch since they left home early to go to the bank, they only shared some chicken wings at Sea Como Sea in the afternoon.

I personally love the interior design at the cafe, but the interior design doesn't really matter compared to the food, does it? 😛

I personally don't think that there's anything special regarding the food we had at Sea Como Sea. I may be biased, but I think my mom made a better oxtail soup than the one that I had at the cafe.

I also tried the chicken wings, and I'm not exactly a fan of sweet-and-spicy marination on the wings. But it was probably just me since I'm not exactly a sweet tooth. I suppose for those who like honey-roasted chicken and other things similar, they'd probably like this Sea Como Sea's special.

Price-wise, I wouldn't say it's super expensive for my budget. The average food on the menu starts from IDR 40,000 (around $2.8 USD) to IDR 80,000 (around $5.7 USD), while you could get as low as IDR 20,000 (around $1.4 USD) for the drinks.

However, given the idea that I had it better for a lower price, I don't think I'd go there for the sake of their food. Hmm.

Breakfast at Blackbird Hotel

So, before operating the Sea Como Sea Cafe for the public at 10 AM, the cafe becomes the breakfast venue for the guests at Blackbird Hotel. They serve breakfast starting from 7 AM, and they offer a la carte menu where we can choose either Indonesian or American breakfast style.

Since I went swimming before breakfast, my sister shouted at me from the restaurant to the swimming pool to check what I wanted to have. The cafe is facing the swimming pool, so it's quite easy to act like you're at home when there are no guests other than your family. LOL

Since there's four of us in total, we got a chance to try different options on the menu. I chose the American breakfast style with a croissant and Danish bread for the side and a scrambled egg. I also had orange juice and tea for the drink.

Indonesian and American breakfast style at Blackbird Hotel.

At first, I was a bit hesitant about the orange juice since I was afraid it would be more like an artificial orange juice, which I'm not a fan of. But as it turned out, it's a glass of fresh orange juice, and it has the sourness that I like in orange!

The breakfast menu is not so bad either. Except for the croissant and the bread that have some sweet texture that I don't really like, I was quite satisfied with what they had to offer breakfast.

For the Indonesian breakfast style, it's fried rice with satay that is quite tasty as well. Plus they also serve fresh fruits for the dessert. There's no dessert option on the menu, but they gave us a plate of sliced fresh fruits like watermelon and cantaloupe.

I don't eat cantaloupe, but I love watermelon… So I guess I'm more satisfied with the breakfast menu served at Blackbird Hotel than the regular menu at Sea Como Sea.

Swimming Pool at Blackbird Hotel

As you probably know based on some of my staycation stories, swimming could be a highlight of it because that's the only way I exercise as I'm a lazy ass by nature.

When I decided to book a staycation at Blackbird Hotel, I wasn't sure whether the swimming pool would be operative now with the corona and whatnot. That's why the first time I checked in, that was my first question to the receptionist.

Lucky for me because swimming is allowed from 8 AM to 4 PM. They clean up the pool after 4 PM daily, so I think I can trust their hygiene whatsoever. That's why I decided to go swimming early in the morning.

That's because I assume no one would use the swimming pool before me at 8 AM. And actually, yeah, I was the only person swimming in the morning, so it became my personal swimming pool. LOL

My first step into swimming pool after a million years. LOL

The view of the swimming pool from the cafe.

Although the swimming pool looks long rather than big, there's actually 2 parts of the pool. The bigger one is around 1.5 meters in depth, while the smaller one is more suitable for kids. So again, this only shows you how Blackbird hotel is a family-friendly accommodation for a staycation.

I got around 15 rounds swimming in the pool because not so long after that, some people came around the pool area, and I got anxious about having to share the pool with someone else. LOL

As it turned out, these people seem to come to the area for some photoshoot. It looks like Blackbird Hotel also offers some photoshoot package, such as for pre-wedding or just some photoshoot for influencers. And apparently, the pool is one of the most favorite spots for the photoshoot.

My Final Verdict of Staycation at Blackbird Hotel

I had a pleasant staycation with my family at Blackbird Hotel. It was such a great experience, given the idea that I barely left my house for almost half a year.

While I'm still hesitant to travel out of my hometown, I think a staycation could definitely help the fact that I miss traveling. Even better, I figure that having a staycation could help the local economy, especially those running in the hotel and tourism industry.

I even got a chance to ask the receptionist how the business has been after the lockdown, and he said that it was nothing from May to July. However, it's slowly getting better because people start booking accommodation again after the lockdown in West Java, Bandung in particular.

Blackbird Hotel is suitable for a short staycation for Bandung natives and visitors who come to town with their family. If you have some major tourist attractions in Lembang like Maribaya or the volcano Tangkuban Perahu for your bucket list in Bandung, this can be a good option for your accommodation.

The accommodation is closer to Lembang, but also relatively not too far from the city center. The weather in the area is also more chill, but not too cold as in Lembang. It's a win-win!

Also, if you're planning to bring your vehicle, the parking area there is spacious, so you don't have to worry about where you should park your car.

I had a good experience for a staycation after the lockdown, that I've even booked for another staycation next week. So, have you gone for a staycation after the lockdown? Where are you at, and how was your experience?

Share your story in the comment, and cheerio! 🙂