Santika, hotel with a squeaky-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.