ITT Sheraton chain opens new five-star hotel in Yogyakarta
ITT Sheraton chain opens new five-star hotel in Yogyakarta
JAKARTA (JP): International hotel chain ITT Sheraton
Corporation has opened its 11th hotel in Indonesia, the Sheraton
Mustika Yogyakarta, in Central Java.
The five-star hotel, about 10 kilometers from downtown
Yogyakarta, is owned by PT Mustika Princess Hotel, a subsidiary
of the Mustika Ratu Group, which is owned by Mooryati Soedibyo
whose main interests are in traditional cosmetics.
Mooryati said yesterday the US$75 million hotel had a 3,000-
seat convention center and traditional spas.
The convention center was the country's largest outside
Jakarta and Bali, she said.
The Royal Heritage Spa would offer beauty and health care
treatments using Javanese herbs.
The Sheraton Mustika, on a five-hectare plot, has 246 rooms.
The hotel's lobby is on the building's seventh floor facing the
famous Merapi mountain.
Hotels have been popping up all over Yogyakarta in recent
years. Several international chains have entered the city
including Aquila, Radisson, Melia-Sol, Golden Tulip and Choice.
The United States' Hyatt chain will open the five-star, 269-
room Hyatt Regency in Yogyakarta in September. Holiday Inn and
several other chains also plan to set up in Yogyakarta.
Several domestic chains, such as Santika, Sahid and HII-
Natour, also run star-rated hotels in the city.
Last year, there were 665 hotels in Yogyakarta with 8,918
rooms. This was up 1.4 percent on 1995.
The number of foreign tourists staying in Yogyakarta between
January and November rose from 242,000 in 1995 to about 265,000
in 1996. The number of local tourists rose from 142,000 to
164,000.
Foreign visitors spend an average 1.7 days in Yogyakarta and
domestic visitors an average 1.8 days. Foreign tourists stay in
Indonesia for an average 10 days.
Several hotels have opened in Yogyakarta since the Adisumarno
airport in nearby Surakarta was upgraded to become an
international gateway serving wide-body jets.
A toll road is planned to link Yogyakarta, Surakarta and
Semarang, the capital of Central Java.
Sheraton Mustika's director of sales, Giri Sarnanto, said the
hotel opened for soft operations on March 24 with only 44 rooms
available.
"The grand opening is scheduled for the third quarter this
year. We expect to see 50 percent occupancy rates within a year
of operating."
He acknowledged that competition among the city's star-rated
hotels had become stiffer in recent years.
"Room rates will range between $50 and $90 or even $65 and
$70," he said, adding that his hotel would charge $65 during soft
operations.
Sheraton operates 10 other hotels in Indonesia: Some are in
Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Timika in Irian Jaya, Bali and
Lampung. Sheraton is planning to manage another hotel, owned by
Danamon Group, in Jakarta.
Mustika Ratu's finance director, Putri Kuswisnu Wardani, said
the Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta was her company's first hotel but
another was planned.
"We will develop a three-star hotel in Jakarta. Construction
of the 180-room hotel which is located on Jl. Wahid Hasyim,
Central Jakarta, is scheduled to begin in the third quarter this
year," she said. (icn)