Sheraton Solo hotel to open tomorrow

JAKARTA (JP): ITT Sheraton Asia Pacific plans to open the Sheraton Solo hotel in Surakarta, C. Java, tomorrow. President Soeharto and several cabinet ministers will attend.

The Sheraton Solo, which commands 4.5 hectares of tropical landscaped gardens between the city and the airport, has 114 rooms, suites and luxury bungalows, according to the hotel's public relations executive, Evie Casino Brata.

"The hotel is the ninth ITT Sheraton property in Indonesia and the 35th in the Asian region," noted ITT Sheraton's public relations manager for Indonesia, Cindy Bengardi.

According to the international hotel chain, the Sheraton Solo is the only international standard hotel in the city.

The hotel, less than an hour's drive from the temples of Prambanan and the Borobudur, is owned by PT Hotel Anomsolo Saranatama, which is controlled by President Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra.

"The hotel, therefore, is an ideal base for visitors to Central Java, from which they can explore the sites of ancient courts of royal families dating back to the 10th century and the region's historic temples," said Lloyd Donaldson, the hotel's general manager.

ITT Sheraton said it would add two more hotels to its chain before the end of this year: The Sheraton Media Hotel and Towers in Jakarta and the Sheraton Mustika in Yogyakarta.

The other ITT Sheraton hotels are located near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, in Surabaya, Timika (Irian Jaya), Lampung (southern Sumatra), Bandung, Lombok and Bali.

The Boston-based hotel chain also expects to open new properties in Bogor, West Java next year and in Medan, North Sumatra in 1998. (vin)