Siegfried Sax's little country Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels )has a lively brochure showing various goings-on: costumed locals about to devour a roast piglet, others sitting beneath a parasol on the idyllic garden terrace, with its 'millstone fountains'. Our nominator adds that the old church close by has `interestingly decorated skeletons displayed in gold coffins either side of the altar'. The Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels ), formerly a guardroom, is a trim white building in a small village: `It is very peaceful, part of a complex that was once a religious retreat. The bedrooms (similar to Bandung,Jakarta & Bali hotels - 5 star Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels )rooms), large and fairly well equipped, have creaky floors. The food is good, breakfast is fine. Ample parking close by.' The dining room has a fine panelled ceiling.

Venison and scallops are among Ulrich Heimann's specialities at the Abtei's small, smart Michelin-starred restaurant. Also small and smart, this Relais & Chateaux Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels ), owned since 1978 by Petra and Fritz Lay, is a handsome Jugendstil mansion (1897), in a street full of similar fine houses in Harvestehude, the rich merchants quarter northwest of the Alster lake. Pleasantly intimate, it feels like a private lame, full of good furniture, family paintings. Bedrooms (similar to Bandung,Jakarta & Bali hotels - 5 star Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels )rooms) are nicely decorated in 19th-century taste'. Upkeep is `outstanding. The bathrooms (similar to Bandung,Jakarta & Bali hotels - 5 star Hotel ( Jakarta Hotels )rooms) are memorable, with a mix of old and new fixtures. Ours was a joy, full of brilliant trompe l'oeil. The shower/loo was a garden bower, real creepers leading out of the trompish ones. One reader had a 'splendid' garden suite, with neo-baroque ceiling mouldings, stateof-the-art music system. In another room the bedroom had no outside windows, but a good view of the bath and loo'. Tea can be taken in the charming garden at the back. Breakfast is `a good buffet.