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)