Novotel Jakarta Mangga Dua Square

A great hotel with clean amenities and a good breakfast selection, however, the reception wasn't too accommodating to our requests. Firstly, upon checking in, we were given 2 rooms side by side but were given a third room at the other end of the building. Even the porter who was transporting the luggage ended up panting upon reaching the room. When we requested a room closer to the lift/elevator, we were surprised that there was an available room right across from our first room. The second issue was concerning our request for a late checkout, i.e., from 12 to 1 pm. When we approached the reception with our request, we were told to request it on our last day and not a day earlier. When we did that, we were told that we should have made our request earlier! Also, we were informed by the manager at the reception that our request could not be accepted as the hotel was running at full capacity. When we explained our reasons as to why we needed the extention (7.55 pm flight and to say our prayer at between 12 - 1 pm, we were given an extention for just 1 room instead of 2 rooms (the 3rd room had already checked out at 10 am). We were asked to share a bedroom with another couple for the 1 hour duration, something my husband was reluctant to do due to privacy issues. We ended up checking out slightly after 12 pm. Needless to say, we were unhappy with these 2 issues which could have been easily resolved if the reception had been more accommodating and receptive to our requests instead of saying a definitive "No". This would be our first and only stay at Novotel Mangga Dua Hotel.