Hotels in Bogor fully booked for APEC

JAKARTA (JP): Hotels and motels in Bogor, a scenic town in West Java about 80 kilometers south of Jakarta, are almost fully booked for the coming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.

Suara Pembaruan reported yesterday that embassies in Jakarta had booked 95 percent of all hotel rooms in Bogor where room rates range from Rp 40,000 (US$19) to Rp 93,000 per night.

"The embassies as well as the organizer chose strategic places," it said, referring to the Bogor Palace.

Eighteen leaders from 18 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Papua New Guinea and the six ASEAN countries; Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia are scheduled to have informal talks at Bogor Palace during the conference.

The daily said that Hotel Pangrango and Hotel Ririn, two of the most well-known hotels in town, are fully booked by the United States, the Dutch and the Chinese embassies. The two hotels have between 40 and 50 rooms each.

A chain hotel, Hotel Mirah, which runs two locations on Jl. Mandalawangi and Jl. Megamendung with 74 rooms, was booked solid two months ago.

Spokesman for the Bogor administration M. Basit said that the government will prepare guest houses for foreign visitors during the summit.

"If the hotels available cannot accommodate more visitors, we will invite the foreigners to stay in guest houses throughout Bogor," Basit was quoted by Suara Pembaruan as saying.

Around 3,000 foreign journalists are expected to cover the conference. (09)