Patra Bali strives to repeat past glory<\/p>\n
Pandaya, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali<\/p>\n
The black and white pictures on the wall of the eclectic Cellar
\nUnderground emulate the sense of classicality.<\/p>\n
U.S. defense secretary Caspar Weinberger chats with his
\nIndonesian counterpart Gen. M. Yusuf while their wives sit idle
\nside by side, looking like they have run out of topics.<\/p>\n
Other pictures show numerous world leaders on various
\noccasions while staying at the hotel: the youthful Prince Charles
\nin the early 1970s, Burmese president Ne Win, Australian prime
\nminister Gough Whitlam, Yugoslavia president Peter Stambolic,
\nQueen Beatrix from the Netherlands -- to mention just a few.<\/p>\n
The pub at the Patra Bali Resort and Villas lies a few meters
\nunder the surface of the nearby large swimming pool and the famed
\nKuta beach and under the shade of an odd coconut tree which has
\nbranches.<\/p>\n
The pictures, many of those look like family albums, are a
\nrecord of the hotel's past glory that its present managers
\nsweetly remember and want to repeat.<\/p>\n
Then, the palm-fringed hotel was a favorite place for world
\nleaders and businesspeople to convene or just to stay while they
\nwere on holiday in Bali which, of course was not as developed as
\nit is today.<\/p>\n
\"We want to repeat the success of the Pertamina Cottage,\" said
\na determined Djinaldi Gosana, The Patra Bali Resort and Villas
\ngeneral manager.<\/p>\n
The 10.5-hectare resort in Southern Kuta Beach started as a
\nmodest guesthouse back in 1972 destined to accommodate employees
\nand guests of the state oil company Pertamina, the owner of the
\nfacility.<\/p>\n
In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, Pertamina built such
\naccommodations, which became the Patra hotel chain, near the site
\nof their major operations.<\/p>\n
The Bali Patra hotel, the most successful of the Patra chain,
\nhas been renovated and renamed several times before it was
\nrelaunched as The Patra Bali Resort and Villas on Sept. 10, 2003.<\/p>\n
It made its international debut as a world class conference
\nvenue when it hosted the 1976 ASEAN (Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations) and OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting
\nCountries) conferences.<\/p>\n
PT Patra Jasa and the hotel's management know only too well
\nthat their yearning to bring back the old glory is no easy job
\nnow when new world-class hotels and resorts have sprung up over
\nthe past decades on the holiday island, offering a similar wide
\nrange of facilities.<\/p>\n
The plummeting visitation to Bali following the 2002 Kuta
\nbombing and the global SARS scare do not seem to erode their
\nconfidence of a bright prospect ahead.<\/p>\n
\"We are optimistic that this venture will break even in
\nBetween five and seven years,\" said Patra Jasa president director
\nTony Purbowo. \"We expect the occupancy rate will jump to 60
\npercent by the end of 2004.\"<\/p>\n
The target would surely force the management to work harder
\nbecause, as Purbowo acknowledged, the occupancy rate of hotels in
\nBali have dropped to 15 percent since the bomb and SARS.<\/p>\n
PT Patra Jasa, which is also planning to rework its hotels in
\nSemarang, Bandung and Anyer Beach in Banten, has been working to
\nreshape its management to make the best of the hotels competitive
\nedge.<\/p>\n
\"We are striving to shed our image as a state-run company,\"
\nPurbowo said, referring to the stereotyping of such companies,
\nwhich are often associated with inefficiency, poor management and
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
The Patra Bali, which is doing some finishing touches, has a
\nwhole lot of brand new facilities and promises services that
\nother hotels elsewhere in Bali may not have.<\/p>\n
The vast complex located just five minutes drive from Ngurah
\nRai International Airport boasts 228 rooms with a touch of regal
\npalatial club offering the semi boutique and resort concepts.<\/p>\n
The Resort has 169 rooms and the \"Resort within the Resort\"
\nhas 59 semi-boutique villas.<\/p>\n
The resort rates range between US$150 for the deluxe room to
\nUS$800 for the presidential suite -- all excluding the 21 percent
\nservice charge.<\/p>\n
While the villa rates start from US$400 Club Suite to the
\nUS$1,500 royal villa with three bedrooms - plus the service tax.
\nThe guests may choose to stay with 24-hour butler service at the
\nvillas.<\/p>\n
Discounts are offered for domestic guests, club members and
\nthose on group tours.<\/p>\n
Guests are pampered with a wide range of services and
\nfacilities, from spa, kids club, convention halls, three swimming
\npools, sunset mezzanine, library, amphitheater, games room
\nforeign food restaurants, to mention some.<\/p>\n
Although it is located just outside the airport, the noise
\nfrom the roaring aircraft is not a factor thanks to the great
\ndistance from the runway and the rooms' well-designed soundproof
\nsystems.<\/p>\n
Rooms are spacious and the cozy interior decorated in the
\nmodern Balinese style. The Balinese symbols like statues,
\nentrance gates, community meeting hall and deity statues,
\ndominate the whole landscape -- assuring the guest \"this in
\nBali\".<\/p>\n
A lot of effort has been made and a lot of money has been
\nspent to repeat Pertamina Cottage's past glory now when time has
\nchanged a lot.<\/p>\n
\"The market is wide open,\" Purbowo said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/patra-bali-strives-to-repeat-past-glory-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }