Santika, a hotel with a clean image

Santika, a hotel with a clean image

Dewi Anggraeni
Contributor
Semarang

Regardless of how secure your marital relationship is, whenever
your spouse is away, the thought of them staying at a hotel often
stirs a degree of concern. The temptations to be unfaithful for
someone temporarily single, rightly or wrongly, are presumed to
be strong.

Who is going to stop your loved one from walking into the room
with an attractive member of the opposite sex?

If it is any consolation, in Hotel Santika Semarang, someone
will.

Apart from wanting to keep a clean image of its hotel, located
on Jl. Jend. A. Yani, the management has also had something to
prove. The Kompas Group, which owns Santika hotels across the
country, bought an existing hotel, which was well known for its
image as a center for having a "good time". As if having an in-
house disco was not enough, which in Semarang could raise
people's eyebrows, it also had a policy of letting out its rooms
by the hour.

Asked if they never had any problems enforcing the "keep it
clean" policy, Yulianti, the hotel's general manager confessed:
"Oh yes, we have had complaints from guests who were put out when
we stopped them from taking their female escorts to their room.
But we'd rather lose the patronage of those guests than spoil the
image that we've established."

The idiosyncrasy does not stop there. Once, as the story goes,
when a guest became agitated about being given monastic
treatment, the management politely offered to take him and his
lady companion to another hotel where the management had a less
stringent policy. And, the story continues, that when this
particular guest returned to Semarang, he chose to stay at Hotel
Santika again!

A two-star hotel, Santika Semarang is known as a "house that
grew". It has a homely feeling of a guesthouse, or a rather
lavish home. On the ground floor, where all the standard rooms
and restaurant are situated, there are ponds with running water,
the sound of which helps create a relaxing atmosphere.

"When we bought it, there was only the main building. We then
gradually built on the extensions." It now has 77 rooms, a
restaurant, a convention hall, a VIP lounge bar, and a general
purpose room where guests can hang around if they find themselves
too exposed in the lobby.

Originally it was known as the Grand Hotel, whose owner, now
living in the Netherlands, sold it to a company who named it
Hotel Mutiara, before the Kompas Group bought it in 1985.

Curiously, there are two Santika hotels in Semarang. Yulianti
explained that building the other hotel, known as Hotel Graha
Santika located on Jl. Pandanaran, was a business decision.

"This hotel became so popular we wanted to maintain it just
the way it was. Yet we were aware that some businesses wanted to
send their representatives to four or five-star hotels, so in
order not to miss out on that market, we built Graha Santika."

It appears to have been the right decision, because the
original Hotel Santika has maintained its dedicated clientele. It
certainly has vibes and atmosphere rarely found in other two-star
hotels.

True to Javanese form, the management keeps the image clean
without leaving its courtesy behind. The employees are always
ready with a smile. The service is personal and delivered with
unrelenting politeness. Presumably, for someone with a less than
innocent intention, being greeted by name as you come and go
could be a daunting prospect. But for sure, your spouse will be
happy. So will you, if all you need is rest, a good sleep and a
warm welcome.