No-maid days good business for hotels

No-maid days good business for hotels

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The thought of cleaning the house, washing clothes and cooking
without the assistance of domestic helpers has already brought on
a headache for Elisa, a 33-year-old mother of three. That does
not include taking care of her children without the help of her
two nannies.

Since the nannies and domestic helpers are all going to their
hometowns to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday, which falls on
Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, Elisa must think of a solution to solve her
domestic problems.

"I don't want to handle all the household chores during my
vacation, but I don't want to hire temporary nannies and
housemaids either as I cannot trust them. It's too risky," she
said.

Staying at a hotel is the most feasible solution for her, and
also for other Jakartans who face the same problem.

The tradition of mudik (returning to ones hometown) will see
around 2.7 million city residents leave the capital.

Working parents, whose children and households are taken care
of by nannies and maids, will be left with the task of running
their households alone. These people are the target of many
hotels in the city as reflected in the jump in hotel
reservations.

"There has been a significant increase in room reservations at
our hotel during the Idul Fitri holiday," Shangri-La Hotel public
relations manager Ratna Sjamsiar Idris told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday.

She refused to give details but only said that it could be
seen from individuals making reservations instead of companies.

Raddin Hotel at Ancol Dreamland Park, one of the city's
popular tourist spots, will also enjoy robust business during
Idul Fitri.

"We have secured an 86 percent occupancy rate as of today,"
the hotel's public relations manager Ruth M. Tyas told the Post.

She said the hotel was expecting to fill its 292 rooms, four
of them suites, as the celebration drew near.

"Based on our experience in the past years, many people come
to our hotel just a day before Idul Fitri," she said.

Guests have reserved rooms for a week from Nov. 14 onward.

Ruth said the high reservation level was a relief for the
hotel, which has been under pressure during the Ramadhan fasting
month when most of the hotel's rooms remained vacant.

However, not all hotels, especially business hotels situated
in the city's business districts, enjoy a windfall profit during
Idul Fitri.

Public relations manager of the Gran Melia Hotel, Hanna Hoed,
said that the number of guests saying at the hotel, located in
Kuningan which is home to office buildings and embassies,
slightly declined during the holidays.

"It has been an annual occurrence. Hotels whose most guests
are businesspeople usually experience a slight decline in their
occupancy rates. I think most Jakartans will go out of town for
vacation," she said.

To attract more guests, hotels are giving discounts and
special packages.

For Elisa, what's important is to be able to relax during the
holiday with her whole family and to enjoy the hotel's
facilities.