Last Updated on May 22, 2025
When I researched the best neighborhoods to stay in Jakarta, I got a bit intimidated t]by the size of this city. A sprawling cluster of neighborhoods, with a population of over 11 million people. A city of this dimension can feel overwhelming, no matter if you live in a big city or not – Jakarta is just on a different level, even compared to NYC (where I live).
I started stressing out, trying to find the best area to base myself in in order to explore this giant city. In the end, I narrowed it down to these three neighborhoods:
1. Central Jakarta, which is where most of city’s sights are located
2. North Jakarta around Kota Tua, the preserved Dutch-colonial part of town, which is where most of the tourists seem to congregate.
3. South Jakarta (specifically SCBD, short for Sudirman Central Business District), which is known for a more hipster vibe, places to go out, but which is also pricier.
In the end, I compromised by staying in between South and Central Jakarta, figuring this would make it easy for me to get to all the places I wanted to visit. And that’s how I ended up in a small neighborhood named Setiabudi, and discovered a part of Jakarta that turned out to be my favorite area in the entire city.
Setiabudi – a local neighborhood surrounded by skyscrapers
Now, I don’t think anyone would end up in Setiabudi unless their accommodation is located there – there’s literally nothing to see in this neighborhood, no sights or attractions per se, but that’s what I loved about it. It almost feels like a little village hidden behind the modern skyscrapers of this ever growing city.
Location-wise, I think that I made the right choice, since I was able to get everywhere I wanted to go easily, be it on a moto-taxi, in a regular cab, by bus or by subway.
So what makes Setiabudi special?
Setiabudi feels like it is a neighborhood stuck in time. There are no high rises here, even though the neighborhood is surrounded by new luxury skyscrapers and office towers on almost all sides. And yet, this neighborhood felt more like a village than a neighborhood in a megapolis.
I learned the term kampong while I was traveling around Indonesia – a term that is used to describe villages and small settlements, but also neighborhoods within a city, and in the case of Setiabudi, the term felt very fitting in both senses: it is a neighborhood within Jakarta, but at the same time, entering Setiabudi feels like walking into a small village. Most cities are a cluster of various kampongs. Each kampong is its own little community, and you can find everything you need to survive within the kampong, but it is generelly understood that most of them are pretty basic, with modest housing and simple infrastructure.
Geese and chickens were running around in Setiabudi, and families live in small houses, which date back to the 1950s, around the time when Indonesia gained independence from Britain. I was surprised that these houses were able to survive, considering how many office towers were built just west of Setiabudi: the World Trade Center, HSBC, KPMG – to name just a few of the corporate towers I could see from my hotel. You can see the glitzy skyscrapers around you, meaning you’ll never forget that you’re in a modern city, however, you feel miles away from it.
Speaking of my hotel: I was surprised that there even were hotels in this neighborhood! Homestays would be more appropriate here, but there were quite a few boutique hotels right in Setiabudi and larger hotels nearby (scroll down for some recommendations). The big office complexes on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, the main street to the west of Setiabudi, attracted a number of 5-star hotels, such as the Marriott Mayflower, Hotel Grand Sahid Jaya, and Le Meridien. I bet almost none of the people staying in these hotels would ever venture into Sediabudi though, despite its proximity.
To the southeast of the neighborhood, there is another business district, the Kuningan Central Business District, which is where in the aughts, a number of bombings occurred (JW Marriott hotel bombing in 2003, the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in 2004, and the JW Marriott – Ritz-Carlton bombing in 2009). Reading about these bombings, which I vaguely remembered, made me feel a bit uneasy at first, but then I reminded myself that Jakarta has become a lot more politically stable in the past fifteen years.
A neighborhood stroll takes you back in time
On my morning walks through the neighborhood, everyone was saying hello to me, and I watched people sitting outside their house with a drink in their hand, or chatting with their neighbors. Children were playing in the streets or riding their bicycles, and parents didn’t have to worry about them not being safe. Most houses seemed to have a small business, from small convenience stores to laundry services.
I watched many women doing other people’s laundry, and ironing clothes. There was a guy with a sewing machine who did a tremendous job fixing my beat-up jeans for US$1.83. There was a key maker, a shoemaker, a phone repair shop – I don’t think there’s any service you cannot find in this neighborhood.
There are a lot of small mom-and-pop shops in the neighborhood, as well as a couple of convenience store chains, like Circle K, Indomaret, Alfamart and Familymart, but no big supermarkets.
If you want fancy food, there aren’t many options, but there are some. Most of the restaurants in the neighborhood, however, are also small mom-and-pop shops, warungs, often run out of a garage or someone’s courtyard. The word warung translates to “roadside stall”, but it is also used for family-run restaurants, simple eateries, nothing fancy. A warung could be a food stall that you walk up to and just grab some food to go, but also a small restaurant with tables. In any case, you’ll find good food for little money at any warung.
Most people who live in the neighborhood seem to eat at the street food carts that arrive every day in the afternoon (some already in the morning), of which there are plenty. There are dozens of street food vendors setting up shop in their regular spots every day, making anything from mie goreng (fried noodles) and nasi goreng (fried rice) to satay (skewers in all variations), fruit juices, sweet desserts, and anything in between.
The coffee shops in the neighborhood are also run by locals, and I appreciated these small independent cafes, they’re unpretentious, and yet the coffee was always top-notch.
Of course, at these street food stalls as well as the local restaurants you pay a fraction of what the fancier restaurants in the surrounding business districts charge for a meal.
Another thing I loved about Setiabudi was how green it was – trees lined the streets, banana trees were growing in people’s backyards, and traffic wasn’t an issue outside of the main streets. In fact, cars were too big for the majority of the streets here, because most of them were small alleyways, just wide enough to fit a motorbike.
These little alleyways, which seemed like a maze at first, were a joy to explore. I would never know what I’d find once I turned a corner, and I aimlessly roamed these backstreets several times during my stay in Setiabudi, just observing life.
Right within the neighborhood, I found three rooftops that, in addition to great food, also have superb views over Jakarta, especially at night:
There are also a number of nicer restaurants and cafes in walking distance (or a short ride on a moto taxi, for about a dollar), for example in the Setiabudi One complex, which houses a number of restaurants, cafes, a cinema, several fitness facilities (pilates, a gym, a spa and massage studio) and a karaoke bar.
Whenever I wanted to treat myself to a really fancy coffee, or I had a craving for an Aussie brekkie, I ventured over there.
Who’s Setiabudi for?
If you’re like me and you enjoy soaking up local life, you’ll feel right at home in Setiabudi. The locals were all extremely friendly and welcoming, and I always felt safe walking around by myself (as a solo female traveler). I didn’t see many other western tourists in the neighborhood, although there were a few at the first hotel I stayed at, La Boheme.
If you’re looking for easy access to shopping and high-end dining, Setiabudi wouldn’t be the neighborhood for you (although there are plenty of these nearby – I just think a hotel like the Marriott or the Le Meridien may be a better fit). This is anything but a fancy neighborhood, and would probably more enjoyable for more experienced travelers who’ve visited a few “off the beaten path” places and have maybe visited some other places in Indonesia.
If you’re traveling solo and you’re looking to meet other travelers, this may also not be the place for you – Kota Tua, where many hostels are located, would be a better place for that.
But if you’re curious about everyday life in Jakarta, away from the business hubs and shopping centers, I’d hope you’d be as charmed by Setiabudi as I was.
Where to stay in Setiabudi
If you prefer small hotels, book one of these:
- La Boheme – small boutique hotel with a beautiful rooftop restuarnt & bar, lobby cafe and a small gym; from US$34 per night
- Treehouse Suites – serviced studio apartments, from US$49 per night
- 2-bedroom fully furnished apartment at Setiabudi Sky Garden Kuningan – a new luxury building with outdoor swimming pool and a gym, from US$49 per night
- Luxeur Setiabudi – small boutique hotel with an onsite restaurant, from US$35 a night
- Fraser Place – big, stylish aparthotel (rooms have a kitchen, living room and dining area) with an indoor sauna and fitness center, from US$106 per night
- Fraser Residence Sudirman Jakarta – modern apartments with spacious living space, separate dining area and well-equipped kitchen, gym and outdoor pool, from US$117 per night
If you’d like to stay in a larger hotel with more amenities, book one of these hotels on the outskirts of the neighborhood, closer to the main arteries surrounding Setiabudi:
- The Mayflower, Marriott Executive Apartments – spacious, luxurious suites with gym access and an indoor pool, from US$123 per night
- The St Regis Jakarta – 5-star hotel with a spa, outdoor swimming pool, several restaurants and bars, from US$232 per night
- The Orient Jakarta – a Royal Hideaway Hotel, beautifully designed, with a gorgeous outdoor pool & pool area. From US$123 per night.
- Le Meridien – 5-star hotel right across from the World Trade Center. With spa, outdoor pool, several restaurants. From US$172 per night.
Nearby Shopping & Entertainment
Kuningan City Mall is located on the southern border of Setiabudi. The mall also has a great rooftop café, Tanjakan 13 – worth checking out for the views alone! Nearby, there are a number of other malls, including Bellagio Boutique Mall, Mal Ambasador (the most “Indonesian” of these malls) and Lotte Mall. All of the malls have plenty of eateries in addition to shopping. There’s also ITC Kuningan (an electronics mall) and Hollywood XXI, a large movie theater showing films in English.
Public transportation in & around Setiabudi
There aren’t any buses inside the neighborhood – people get around on moto taxis / cabs (very cheap, especially the moto taxis).
Gojek and Grab are the most commonly used cab-hailing apps.
There are good connections to the MRT north south subway line (closest stations: Stasiun Setiabudi Astra on the northern end of the neighborhood, and Bendungan Hilir in the south. The metro opened in 2019, and thus feels very new and modern.
There are also several bus lines on the two main streets east and west of the neighborhood – Jalan Jenderan Sudirman and Jalan Hr Jasuna Said.
