Food priced in dollars
My family and I left for a five-day vacation on the beautiful island of Bali on Jan. 28. We were booked in to the Melia Sol Hotel on Nusa Dua Beach. My choice of hotel was based on two reasons. First, we wanted to be in the Nusa Dua Area and second, this was one of the hotels offering all Indonesian citizens rooms priced in rupiah. Little did I know that I was in for a shock.
We checked into the hotel and almost had a heart attack. The food and beverages on the room service and restaurant menus had prices charged in U.S. dollars. Unbelievable. Were they importing their food from Spain?
I decided to go and see the manager, Mr. Frederick Arul, who very firmly told me it was "Management Policy". He assured me that all the hotels in the Nusa Dua area applied the same policy and particularly referred to the Hyatt and restaurants in the Galleria area. Anyway, I had no response thinking I was outdated, since my last trip to Nusa Dua was five years ago. Once again, my mind raised the question -- how can management (the brains behind the business) sell you a room in rupiah and charge for food and beverages in U.S. dollars? Or is it a dirty trick designed to fill the rooms and to hell with the guests -- let them eat in a warung!
There was no way I was going to pay U.S. dollars (equivalent to Rp 70,875 based on their book-keeping exchange rate of Rp 14,175 to one U.S. dollar) for a measly plate of lumpia. We decided to go and eat at the Galleria. And to my surprise we could not find even one restaurant that was charging in U.S. dollar.
The next day, out of curiosity, I decided to call a few hotels in the Nusa Dua area, and again was shocked to find quite the opposite of what I had been told by the manager of my hotel. The Grand Hyatt, Aman Nusa, Nikko and Aston all charge for food and beverages in rupiah.
What's going on? This hotel is 12 years old. Surely all their U.S. dollar loans must have been paid off by now. How can a foreign establishment come to Indonesia, sell rooms to the citizens in rupiah yet charge the same people for food grown in Indonesia by Indonesians in U.S. dollars? It's a mad, mad, mad world!
While the country drives on with the "I Love Rupiah" campaign, the management of the Melia Sol probably have their own campaign "I Love Rupiah but I prefer Dollars."
L. MAHTANI
Jakarta