Hotels enjoy high occupancy rate over long weekend
Hotels enjoy high occupancy rate over long weekend
JAKARTA (JP): Several hotels in the capital benefited from the
long weekend, with the Buddhist holiday Waisak on Monday, as
shown by an increase in their occupancy rates of up to 30
percent.
Horison Hotel in North Jakarta, which is located near Ancol
beach and Ancol Fantasy Land Amusement Park, had an 89 percent
occupancy rate during the weekend.
"Usually on weekends, the occupancy rate is 75 percent. But it
increased from Saturday to Monday," the hotel's reservation
officer Sandra Oktavia told The Jakarta Post over the phone on
Monday.
Horison is a four-star hotel with a capacity of 440 rooms.
Most of the guests, Sandra said, were families who came from
Jakarta or other cities.
"There are also many foreigners, but they were mostly long-
staying guests," she added.
Meanwhile, four-star Mercure Hotel on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Central
Jakarta, also saw a 20 percent increase, up from its usual
occupancy rate of 60 percent on the weekend.
"On weekdays, we only have around 20 percent occupancy rate,"
duty manager Reza Kurniawan told the Post.
"Besides guests who were enjoying their long weekend, there
were also a group of athletes from the Indonesian Tennis
Association (Pelti)," he added without elaborating.
Pelti will start its World Youth Cup on Saturday.
According to Reza most of the guests were Jakarta residents.
Enjoying a similar increase to Horison and Mercure, Ibis
Kemayoran in Central Jakarta had almost 90 percent occupancy
during the weekend.
"Most guests checked in on Friday night and left on Monday,"
said Yudi, a reservation officer at the three-star hotel.
However, the increase apparently did not occur at five-star
hotels.
Hotel Mulia in Senayan, South Jakarta, for example did not see
any significant increase in the number of the guests staying over
the weekend.
"There was an increase, but very nominal. You see, our hotel
is a business hotel, so it's usually booked for business people,"
said Rini, a receptionist.
A similar situation was noted at Hilton Hotel and Shangri-La
Hotel in Central Jakarta as there was no significant increase in
the number of guests.
The capital itself on Monday was unusually quiet until
afternoon; the major thoroughfares looked a lot less crowded than
usual.
Along Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta to Jl. M.H. Thamrin in
Central Jakarta, where traffic jams are a daily occurrence, there
were only several cars seen passing by.
Similar conditions could also be seen around Kramat and the
National Monument in Central Jakarta, and also around Blok M and
Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta. Shopping arcade Plaza Senayan
was also less crowded than usual.
Areas in which Chinese-Indonesians live and run their
businesses, such as in Kota, Central Jakarta, and Mangga Dua in
North Jakarta, were also quiet as many shops were closed because
the owners were celebrating the Buddhist holiday of Waisak.
Crowds were seen only in amusement parks like the Ancol
Fantasy Land and Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta.(hdn)