Medan to get four-star Sahid hotel

JAKARTA (JP): PT Putrimega Asriindah is building a four-star hotel in Medan, North Sumatra, with investment of about Rp 45 billion (US$18.75 million).

Putrimega's president, Yansen Susanto, said here yesterday that the hotel would be built on 7,400 square meters and would have 12 floors and 292 rooms.

Yansen said the hotel would be operated and managed by Sahid Group's PT Sahid International Hotel Management and Consultants.

It will open in October this year.

The hotel would be called Hotel Sahid Angkasa, he said.

He said that about 70 percent of the investment was financed by a syndicated loan.

"The syndication loan was arranged by Bank Sahid Gajah Perkasa, a subsidiary of the Sahid Group," Yansen said after the signing of the management agreement with Sahid International.

Sahid International, under the agreement, will manage and operate Hotel Sahid Angkasa and offer technical assistance while the hotel is being built.

The hotel will have a ballroom big enough for 1,500 people, three meeting rooms big enough for between 50 and 300 people, restaurants, bars and a health center.

Yansen said he was optimistic that under the Sahid's management the hotel could compete with Medan's other star-rated hotels.

"We are confident that Sahid will operate and manage our hotel very professionally, it has years of experience," he said.

Medan has about 54 star-rated hotels.

The chairman of the Medan branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association, Ruslan Hasyim, said yesterday the hotels had an occupancy rate of about 60 percent a year.

He said about 300,000 foreign tourists visited Medan last year.

The Sahid Group will operate 25 hotels in Indonesia and two in Saudi Arabia by next year. Nine are owned by other companies.

Hotel Sahid Angkasa will be the first Sahid hotel in Medan and the fifth in Sumatra.

At present Sahid manages and operates two hotels n Riau, one in Bangka island and another one in Bandar Lampung. (das)