Singapore hotels filling fast with evacuees from Indonesia

Singapore hotels filling fast with evacuees from Indonesia

SINGAPORE (AP): It may be all woe in Indonesia, but Singapore
seems to be profiting in part from the chaos of its riot-torn
neighbor.

The small city-state's previously low hotel occupancy have
been receiving a boost from an unexpected source in recent days
as people fleeing the bedlam of Indonesia are swiftly filling
service apartments and hotels, according to industry officials
contacted yesterday.

Indonesians and foreigners have been leaving in droves from
the troubled Southeast Asian nation -- in the grip of its most
dramatic upheaval of three decades -- for the safety of nearby
Singapore.

Hotels and service apartments are nearing full capacity,
according to owners and representatives of the numerous lodges in
tourist-oriented Singapore.

"We are extremely full at the moment, obviously because of the
crisis in Indonesia" guest relations officer Merlin Chelliah of
Westin Hotel, the country's largest five-star establishment, told
The Associated Press.

She said the hotel, which has 2,046 rooms and a capacity for
well over 4,000 people, expects to be fully occupied by the end
of Saturday. Most of those staying at their hotel who fled
Indonesia are foreigners, though about 30 percent are Indonesian
nationals, and many are families.

In the two months before the Indonesian crisis intensified,
the Westin was suffering from low occupancy of about 60 percent
due to the tourist slump affecting the region.

Those fleeing Indonesia are typically booking their rooms for
about a week, allowing them to observe the situation from a safe
distance before deciding whether to return, according to a Four
Seasons Hotel manager.

Service apartments, which offer a long-term alternative to
pricy hotels while still offering some amenities and choices of
room size, are also quickly filling.

Singapore's Far East Organization, which operates a number of
service apartments in addition to several hotels, said they have
seen a huge jump in bookings from people escaping Indonesia. Some
of their business is coming from companies which have evacuated
their staff from the country.

Since the turmoil worsened recently, over 100 service
apartments run by Far East have been occupied, and requests for
rooms are coming in everyday, according to public relations
officer Chia Boon Pin.