Big hotels offer special packages to lure visitors

JAKARTA (JP): Five-star hotels are trying their best to liven up the holiday spirit by offering lunch, dinner and buffets at special prices, and special room packages to help attract more guests during a season of slow business.

Such special offers are being made because the occupancy rates at five-star hotels have declined by more than half, from an average occupancy of 45 to 50 percent in December of last year to only a 25 to 30 percent occupancy rate this year.

The average occupancy rate at luxury hotels before the economic crisis, which began in July of last year, was about 60 percent.

Dewi Widyanti, public relations manager at Hilton Hotel International, said on Wednesday that her hotel had prepared special dinners and buffets for Christmas and New Year.

"We concentrate on great cuisine... something people can afford, to attract those people who are likely to celebrate Christmas and New Year at home due to the crisis," Dewi said.

"As of Wednesday we have received at least 90 reservations for the buffets and dinners. We are expecting a lot of walk-ins though."

Dewi said that last year 419 people ate Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel, 200 people came for Christmas Day dinner and 388 people had New Year's dinner at the hotel.

"It is our sincere hope that these figure do not get cut in half or even more this year," Dewi said laughingly.

She added that the hotel was serving set dinners ranging in price from Rp 120,000 to Rp 400,000.

"Hotel room rates will see a little increase or none at all," she said.

Discussing room rates, Nuni Sutiyoko Rashad of the Regent Hotel said that deluxe rooms at the Regent were available from Rp 600,000 to Rp 800,000.

"Five-star hotels used to double or triple their room rates during the holiday season, now, however, that does not occur, in order to make sure that everyone can afford the rates," she said,

Because the majority of expatriates had already left Jakarta, she said, her hotel was expecting more Indonesians to stay at or dine in the hotel.

"The hotel's occupancy rate reached 35 percent last month. As of Wednesday it is at 25 percent occupancy," Nuni said.

The hotel is offering dinners, lunches, breakfasts and buffets for between Rp 95,000 and Rp 195,000. Also being offered is a fifty percent discount on all wines on Christmas and New Year, along with free food for children under 10 years of age.

The Shangri-La hotel is offering a special room package to its guests, mainly from Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. The hotel is quoting a special New Year's rate of Rp 750,000 for both single and double beds, complete with various benefits.

These benefits include guest upgrades, complimentary entry into B.A.T.S bar and restaurant, free local telephone calls and a 4 p.m. checkout.

Shangri-La's public relations manager Romy Herlambang said that the management was going all out with affordable prices -- considering the holiday season -- on food, beverages and rooms in an attempt to attract guests to the hotel.

The hotel's occupancy rate last month reached 44.86 percent, falling to 39.7 percent as of Wednesday.

"For the New Year's celebrations, we offer an all you can eat international buffet of Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian dishes, offered at Rp 115,000 per person," Romy said.

The Grand Hyatt hotel, host to mainly Asian, European and American guests, has already received 200 reservations for its five restaurants.

"We are expecting mostly Jakartans to dine at or stay in our hotel, considering that most of the expats must have left town due to the recent unrest," Renata said.

"Still, we expect at least a 30 to 40 percent decrease in people dining at our restaurants this year as compared to last year." (ylt)