Food priced in dollars

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 Anyway, I had no response thinking I was outdated,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