TIME LAPSE

The newly revamped Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta interweaves the present with blasts from the past.

Standing at the openair sky garden of Alto restaurant in Four Seasons Jakarta, I’m greeted with panoramic views of the city’s CBD and residential areas that stretch for miles. The view from above, needless to say, marks a stark contrast compared to centuries ago. In the 1200s, Jakarta was known as Sunda Kelapa, a port that thrived on the international spice trade between Indonesia and Europe. It was conquered and renamed Jayakarta, then Batavia by the Dutch.But even as progress threatened to overshadow Jakarta’s past, the city now has a monumental reminder of its glorious heyday in the form of the Four Seasons. Together with award-winning interior designer Alexandra Champalimaud,