New hotel strives to give guests a taste of Jakarta

New hotel strives to give guests a taste of Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Are you sure that you will get your meal order even though you place the order with a technician in a hotel where you are staying?

Yes, if you are staying at a hotel operated by Radisson.

One of the world's major hotel chains, Radisson is committed to their world famous "Yes I can!" standard of service. So, there won't likely be any disregard or reluctance if you ask for help from the "wrong" staff member when you are staying in any Radisson hotel, including the newly-opened Radisson Jakarta.

"We are always holding training for our staff to improve service. We provide courses on English language, telephone manners and cultural knowledge," says Brigdet Liu, an executive of Radisson Jakarta.

In addition to the high standard of service, Radisson Jakarta tries to offer other specialties to succeed amid the fierce competition in the city's hotel industry.

The hotel's general manager, Alan Featherby, who is also Radisson's chief operations officer in Indonesia, says the hotel in Jakarta -- which claims as the first pure business hotel in the city -- features a selection of accommodation options for the business traveler.

All guest rooms are designed with the special needs of the business traveler in mind. Standard features include full-size writing desk and additional electric outlets for laptops and other office equipment and additional data ports for E-mail, facsimile machines or modems, which are available on request.

The hotel also offers a Kartini Floor for female travelers. The floor comprises both guest rooms and suite accommodation. The facilities have been tailored specifically with the comfort and the security of female travelers in mind, offering an all-female housekeeping staff.

Special food is prepared in the hotel's three restaurants: The Gallery, Prasart Thai and Wang Palace. Radisson's director of food and beverages, Micky Y.S. Wong, said that Prasart Thai, for instance, offers authentic Thai cuisine prepared by Thai chefs Somist and Sopha Chinpala, a husband-and-wife team.

"The staff of the Thai restaurant also dress and greet guests Thai style," he added.

Such an arrangement will be interesting and attractive for the restaurant's guests, provided the Thai style is applied properly. However, it is odd to see Indonesian personnel pretending to be Thais.

Another advantage of the hotel is its location. The 390-room hotel is located on Jl. Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, the commercial trading business district in the historic heart of the city.

Pecenongan is actually well-known as an area lively with various automotive showrooms and workshops. In the evening, the street turns into a culinary center, with the many food stalls, mostly offering Chinese cuisine and seafood, packed every night.

The hotel, which is the only new property in the area, strives to bring to life the atmosphere of a past era of Jakarta. In the hotel lobby there is a large stone carving portraying the Jakarta of old.

The wooden poles in the lobby give the impression that the property is located somewhere other than Pecenongan -- an area which is very busy and noisy.

The US$50-million hotel is part of the Red Top Square, a 4- hectare mixed-use complex comprised of apartments, offices and shop/houses. The hotel is owned by PT Sanggraha Dika, a subsidiary of the diversified Ongko Group, which owns stakes in a number of Radisson Hotels.

While swimming or resting at the hotel's Terrace Pool Bar, guests can see how the other half lives in Jakarta -- in a crowded slum area under a railway overpass. The hotel describes this as the real, "historical" view of the Pecenongan area.

Radisson Hotels is a part of the Carlson Hospitality Group, which includes Colony Hotels & Resorts, Country Lodging by Carlson, T.G.I. Friday's restaurants and Country Kitchen restaurants. The name Radisson was taken from a leading French voyager named Piere Esprit Radisson, who explored America's Upper Midwest and Canada in the 17th century. The first Radisson hotel was opened in 1909.

Radisson operates, manages and franchises hotels, inns and resorts in nearly 400 locations in 39 countries around the world. The hotel in Jakarta is the third Radisson in Indonesia after the Radisson Plaza Suite which was opened in Surabaya, East Java, in 1993. The second Indonesian Radisson hotel was opened in Yogyakarta early this year. The Surabaya and Yogyakarta hotels are both owned by the Salim Group, the country's largest conglomerate.

Radisson, which has teamed up with strategic partners throughout the region to develop hotels, expects to operate a total of five hotels in Indonesia by early 1996. The other two hotels will be located in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi (owned by Salim) and in Sanur, Bali (owned by Ongko).

"1996 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for Radisson Indonesia," said Featherby. "We'll be looking to open more hotels in Bandung, Puncak and Cilegon in West Java and in Bukit Indah City -- in the Jakarta greater area -- in the next two years.

"The goal is to achieve a total of 75 Radisson properties in Indonesia by the year 2000." (icn)