Glutting away the holidays at a hotel near you

By David Eyerly

New Year's Eve is just around the corner and this year it brings with it something special: the new millennium (except for cranks who think the third millennium starts in 2001).

For many of us, this holiday is filled with the stress of trying to arrange an evening of such amusement as to properly bid farewell to a wonderful year and greet an even more promising one.

Maybe you are considering simply staying at home, and at the stroke of midnight making your New Year's resolutions. Personally, I've always skipped the resolutions, thinking myself rather perfect already.

This year, though, I resolve to be kind and generous to everyone, no matter how virulent they may be or, in some cases, how bad they smell.

But because this year ushers in the next millennium, not to mention that not a few people believe this New Year's Eve could be the last day of all of our lives, spending a lonely night at home is not an option.

Which begs the question: what will you do?

Luckily, options abound in Indonesia.

Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta, for example, is drawing people from across the globe, and they would be advised to stay at the Melia Purosani Hotel.

The hotel boasts a renowned Chinese restaurant and the hopping Ria Pub Bar with its Cabaret Extravaganza Show every Saturday night. And I know most people share my belief that it is just not a Saturday night without a cabaret extravaganza.

In Jakarta you would be advised to enjoy the year-end festivities at the city's numerous hotels. I have celebrated 26 New Year's Eves, although I really couldn't work up much enthusiasm for the first few, and only once have I, how can I say this, had a special night on that special night.

And, I believe by no mere coincidence, the New Year's Eve which I like to refer to as "the New Year's Eve I had sex" occurred the one time I celebrated in a hotel.

Finding the right spot

Mind you, guests at the city's finer hotels can enjoy more year-end activities than just that activity. The Aston Hotel, for example, offers not only all the amenities one expects from a five-star hotel, it also has JAMZ Nightclub for those wishing to celebrate with the finest jazz in town. And don't miss out on Porta Venezia, serving up the best Northern Italian cuisine outside of Skokie.

Personally, Mulia Senayan Hotel is a favorite. Walk into the lobby and you feel like a Lilliputian, which is always a special treat. Mulia boasts great restaurants and the lively CJ's Bar, and as a special treat, is putting on the Millennium Gala Dinner. This spectacular event will feature composer and choreographer Guruh Soekarnoputra, Indonesia's answer to Roger Clinton.

The Sheraton Media Hotel and Towers and the venerable Jakarta Hilton are offering plenty of special activities throughout the holidays. Visitors to either of these hotels will surely not go away hungry. From special breaking of the fast buffets, to Christmas and New Year's set menus, you will certainly eat your fill.

After your holiday glut, why not dance the evening away. The Sheraton's Yacht Club is putting on the Millennium Celebration to end all millennium celebrations, while the Hilton, with its many clubs, restaurants and lounges offering live music and other swell entertainment, will keep you amused well into the New Year.

The Hotel Gran Mahakam is also pulling out all the stops to help you celebrate the holidays. There are Ramadhan Fiesta buffets, the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve buffets and, naturally, great live entertainment.

So please, keep in mind that all the crackpots may be correct and the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1 will signal Armageddon. If this be so, spend your last few moments on earth with vats of liquor, one or two special millennium trifles and some great entertainment at Jakarta's finer hotels.

And when you wake up the next morning to find your brain trying to hammer its way out of your skull and a couple of people in your bed whose names you can't quite remember, but don't they bear an unsettling resemblance to your fat Uncle Bob, you can be thankful you have a plush hotel room and room service to nurse you through the first day of what apparently is going to be a very bad third millennium.