The lounge in the bathhouse at Alexis.
Officially the sale of adult services of any kind are illegal in Indonesia. As with Thailand it’s clear to see a totally different reality on the ground with the practice being widely tolerated or even embraced.
Like the previously reviewed Malioboro, the Alexis Hotel is a huge and obvious complex that countless thousands of people in Jakarta are aware of. Those who don’t know can be filled in by a quick Google search. Besides a few mentions on various sites the official website of Alexis boldly describes itself as an “adult one stop entertainment hotel. Known as the dreamland for men.”
Alexis is easy to find. Every taxi driver that has even a reasonable grasp of the mass of streets in the city can navigate to its front doors, which are behind a toll gate just off a main road in North Jakarta. New visitors may be surprised to see this large purpose built building but regulars know it’s only one of many.
The Alexis Hotel complex houses many various departments. The ground floor houses a club appropriately named “4Play.” While this may draw some civilian women at times it’s many filled with working girls who are looking for customers to take to a room upstairs. Women from all over the world are represented with plenty hailing from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. There are also sexy dancers on stage in various stages of undress and even simulated lesbian shows occasionally. Drinks are more expensive than they would be at a regular bar but they are still reasonable compared to mainstream clubs or similar establishments in other countries.
The fifth floor of Alexis houses an extravagant XiS Karaoke KTV setup that fans of drinking and off key singing with pretty women are sure to appreciate. Regular readers of this site know that I’ve never been big on the karaoke scene even though it’s often tied to adult entertainment in Asia. Because of that I can’t say much about this area other than it looks very nice.
The most famous and interesting section of the Alexis Hotel is undoubtedly the BathHouse Gentlemen Spa on the seventh floor. This place is something like a smaller version of a Macau Sauna with a local flare.
Customers who enter the Alexis Hotel will find themselves in a large lobby that looks like it belongs in a nice casino hotel. There’s a front desk but there’s no need to stop there unless one has a special request. Customers can simply walk along the path to the right and follow it to the elevators where they can be transported to their destination.
Exiting the lift on the seventh floor brings one to the lobby of the bath house. Here one picks up a numbered wrist band to track their transactions. An entrance fee of 150,000 Rupiah ($13 US) is the first charge they’ll get, though seems to be waved for customers who choose a lady inside.
And what about that inside? The main section is a long smokey lounge decorated in red and black that probably looks as much like a modern brothel as someone could imagine. As I said it’s smaller than a Macau sauna but it’s not too far off of a place like East Sauna in terms of size.
When customers enter they’ll be greeted by one of the many Indonesian mamasans on the floor. These women are usually in their 30’s, well dressed in miniskirts and with a few exceptions surprisingly good looking. Unlike places like the Classic Hotel where each mama has their own team of girls that they try to steer customers to, the mamas at the Alexis bathhouse represent the entire establishment and could care less who a customer goes with.
Whichever mamasan the customer draws will hand them a business card with their name and some kind of title like “entertainment manager.” On the back of that they’ll write two prices. The 1,375,000 Rupiah ($117 US) price is the rate for local gals and the 2,375,000 Rupiah ($202 US) price is the rate for women from other countries like Russia, Uzbekistan, China, Thailand and even Colombia.
While everyone is treated generally well there is not the same level of catering every need that one would see in a Macau establishment. The bathhouse gets crowded many evenings. Return customers who know the mamas and spend a lot of money are usually steered to nice cushioned booths where they can drink and have a good time. New guys are often left sitting on stools at small bars in the middle of the floor or thrown together with other single travelers in a shared booth. This is to be expected to some extent but it is worth mentioning.
The women who work at the bathhouse sit in different sections depending on their nationality. The most numerous are the Indonesian women who sit on a long row of couches facing the floor. The Chinese women sit together in an area on the floor. The Russian-speaking women sit in a corner in the back. The Thai women sit in a corner opposite to them.
The women will often move around for lineups or come in and out of the bathroom or a session. This allows punters to get a bit of a look. When a customer is ready to make a choice he summons his mama and tells her. She will ask which lineup he’d like to see or even make recommendations. He can ask to see a certain group of women or every single one. Interestingly the mamas inform customers who don’t hail from Southeast Asia, China, South Korea or Japan that some of the Indonesian women will not go with them because they cannot accommodate their size. While this is a big step up from places in Japan and South Korea that ban foreigners outright it’s also absurd. If one sits in the lounge long enough they’ll notice that some women who didn’t come to the lineup for one Western customers will come to the lineup for another. This shows that the Indonesian ladies on staff are free to choose which customers they’re interest in and which customers they aren’t. Rather than tell the customer that or let them figure it out on their own the management has instead decided to hide the refusal in a quasi complimentary fashion.
There are dozens of women on staff at the bathhouse in the afternoon and evenings. The Indonesians are the best represented and tend to be in their early twenties. Dressed in silky red and black outfits that match the surroundings some are quite beautiful. Others are average but very few could be called unattractive by any man with eyes. The Chinese women are the next largest group. They are mostly average in looks with a few exceptions. The Thai and Russian-speaking groups are the smallest and the women are free to wear whatever sexy outfit they’d like. In my opinion these are generally not the most attractive women though occasionally a real stunner can be seen.
Once a customer chooses a lady she will go to retrieve her bag of goods. When she returns she’ll lead him to a staircase. If the customer would like the lady will put on a bikini and join him in a very nicely appointed and very clean wet room that contains three multicolored swimming pools. A half hour will be spent in the pool playing around though nothing serious can go down there. Customers who aren’t interested in the pools don’t have to change into the provided swimwear and can instead stay in their regular street clothes.
After the pool option comes the main event. Customers are taken to one of several dozen rooms for the fun. Some of the basic rooms fill up when the place gets busy and customers may be told they either have to shell out a little more for a larger VIP room or wait.
The rooms at the Alexis bathhouse are among the nicest of any facility of this nature in Indonesia. They also compare well to similar places in other countries. They are spacious with large beds and shower areas. They also have strategically placed mirrors that add to the excitement.
The normal procedure of a mutual shower followed by a trip to the bed is followed as it is nearly anywhere else. Service depends on the lady but all the standards can be expected. The norm is for every aspect to be covered for safety but sometimes exceptions are made.
Sessions last long enough for any healthy red blooded male and there is no rush. After the real fun finishes it’s fine to lounge around for a while and talk or take in a massage. Surprisingly some of the women are quite good at that.
Once the session is brought to a close by a phone call the punter and the service provider clean up, dress and head back upstairs to the lounge where there love affair ends.
Customers can hang around the lounge area as long as they’d like. Drinks are available but they aren’t free. Prices are about what one would expect. Several rounds are possible and some guys seem to live in the place but outside of what I just mentioned there isn’t a whole lot to do.
Once a customer has had his fill he heads back to the front desk to settle his tab. After paying in full he’ll be given a slip that indicates that he did in fact pay what he owes. He’ll hand this slip to one of the security guards at the elevators and then head on his way.
The Alexis Hotel is a large complex with a lot of adult entertainment on offer. It’s run in a professional manner and there’s very little worry involved for anyone who steps foot inside. With the addition of a wide range of women hailing from all over the world the place is one of the better establishments to be found. The rooms are even kept lemon fresh! I give it a solid four stars.
Alexis Hotel, Jalan R.E. Martadinata No 1, Jakarta, Indonesia. Open weekdays 1 PM – 3 AM and weekends 12 PM – 2 AM. Phone: 02169833333. Website: http://alexisjakarta.com