Marriott coming soon to Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Marriott Corporation, an American hotel, resort and suite management firm, will expand its business in Indonesia by operating a luxury hotel in Jakarta.

Sarah Simon, a spokesperson for Marriott in Washington D.C., told The Jakarta Post by telephone Saturday that the 436-room hotel is being constructed by PT Duta Anggada Realty (DAR), a subsidiary of the Gunung Sewu Group.

She said that work on the hotel, which got underway last week, is based on an agreement signed by her company and Gunung Sewu on October 30, 1991, requiring Marriott to manage and market first class hotels developed and constructed by Duta Anggada.

Under the agreement, which was signed by Marriott's chairman and president J. W. Marriott, Jr., Gunung Sewu's founder and chief commissioner, Dasuki Angkosubroto, and Duta Anggada's president, Hartadi Angkosubroto, the first hotel will be J. W. Marriott Hotel on Jl. Sudirman, the capital's main business thoroughfare.

Marriott executives Charles A. Kelley and Bruce Wolff told the Post recently that construction of the Jakarta hotel will be completed by the end of 1996, and opened in early 1997.

Simon refused to specify the construction costs. Gunung Sewu's top executives were away from their desks over the weekend.

Marriott, which started its international business in 1972, operates 800 hotels and resorts in 24 countries. The hotel chain began managing the Marriott Royal Garden in Bangkok in March.

Two other Marriott hotels, in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, are under construction and will be opened in 1996.

Kelly said that his company's goal is to have at least 100 hotels outside the U.S. by the year 2000. (icn)