MRA Group to open Bvlgari resort and hotel in Bali

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian media company MRA Group is expanding its business by entering the hotel industry in a venture with Italian hotelier Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts.

Their project, Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts Bali is located in Uluwatu and comprises 58 five-star villas. To be equipped with Bvlgari amenities and Balinese antiques, it is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

The resort is the second luxury hotel project under the Bvlgari brand after the first was opened last year in Milan, Italy.

"I hope this second hotel will further enhance the Bvlgari brand image," group chief executive Francesco Trapani said.

MRA subsidiary PT Jimbaran Villas, responsible for the resorts, received a US$3.5 million syndicated term loan facility last week.

The five-year loan was disbursed by Singapore-based DBS Bank and through Bank Bukopin, Bank NISP, Bank Permata and Bank Panin locally, while Bank DBS Indonesia was appointed as the manager.

"The total investment for this project is $28 million, in which 60 percent came from bank loans," MRA group CEO Soetikno Soedarjo said on Friday.

PT Jimbaran Villas is a joint-venture company with a 20 percent share owned by MRA -- also the license-holder of Bvlgari Hotels in the country and the owner of the franchised Bvlgari jewelry stores in Indonesia. The remaining 80 percent is in the hands of foreign partners.

The resort complex is designed in a contemporary Balinese style by Italian architect Antonio Citterio. It will offer a large spa, a private beach, two restaurants, a library, meeting rooms and a Bvlgari store.

The resort will be run by the luxury Marriott International Group, Inc.