The Hotel Grand Lembang is one of the oldest and well known hotels in the Bandung area. With its colonial roots you might expect this hotel to be a historical artefact. Alas, The Hotel Grand Lembang's colonial charm has lost its colour and nowadays it displays a worn-out facade and outdated facilities.

The marble lobby with glass windows might once have been impressive but now it breathes a cold ambience that is far from welcoming. The large halls that are situated in the main building, function as meeting rooms and buffet restaurants for groups. The big-scale of these business oriented spaces is probably very suitable for company related affairs, but it doesn't really add to a sense of cosiness.

Slightly more on the cheerful side is the newly built @Bistro at the back of the hotel. With a modern interior and views of the gardens and swimming pool, you'd almost start feeling at home here. Another place that is worth mentioning is The Grand Resto, with original colonial features that reveal what this hotel once was like.

The 191 rooms all share certain traits that bring history alive in the worst way: dirty windows, old curtains, dusty facilities and a musky smell. This is faded glory in full swing. When the management of this hotel just lets time do its work, mothballs are going to be their only regular guests.

Then there is the staff. Of course, generalizing is not fair, but the staff members we met were, with exception of the parking guy, utterly disinterested and displayed a ‘whatever' attitude that doesn't come in handy when working in the service sector.

It is not all bad though. One thing has to be said about this hotel; it has ample parking space, there must be room for hundreds of cars. In general, the layout of this hotel permits for a lot of space. There are fields and green patches everywhere. There aren't that many hotels with a soccer field, yet The Hotel Grand Lembang has got one.

The Grand Hotel Lembang has lost its grandeur over time. What remains is a functional, big-scale, business oriented hotel, with a charm that might only appeal to Cold War leaders. The rooms and facilities are all up for a major overhaul, and it wouldn't harm to send the staff to a course in customer friendliness.