Swiss-Belhotel International to open 6th RI property
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hong Kong-based hotel manager Swiss-Belhotel International is expanding its property network in Indonesia with a plan to open its 6th Indonesian property worth Rp 150 billion (US$17.6 million) in Mumbul, Bali.
The 3.5-hectare property will be an apartment complex cum hotel, consisting of 68 apartments, a total of 156 rooms and 43 villas. Construction will begin in September 2004 and is expected to be complete by the end of June 2006.
Swiss-Belhotel International's president Gavin M. Faull said that he was confident the property business in Indonesia, especially Bali, would be booming again soon.
"I've been to Indonesia since 1970s and it's not as dangerous as the television has been telling us. I'm confident that the property business in Bali will thrive again after the Bali bombings," said Faull.
The Bali bombings in October 2002 claimed 202 lives. Since then, the number of tourists visiting Bali has been declining, causing occupancy rates of as low as 10 percent in hotels.
The apartment hotel, which will be named the Swiss-Belhotel Bay View, will be owned by PT Bali Bay View, a subsidiary of the Surabaya-based Property 21 Group. Marketing will be handled by sister company PT Homeland Indonesia.
The property will comprise four floors, with each floor having 17 two and three-bedroom apartment units. The villas will have range in size from 300 square meters to 600 square meters.
Each apartment will be sold for between $120,000 and $200,000, depending on the type, while the villas will be sold at between $180,000 and $470,000, depending on the size.
Apartment buyers, however, will have to sign a six-year contract, during which time their apartments will be managed and leased by Swiss-Belhotel.
As a trade-off, the buyers will receive lease-back guarantees of 9 percent of the apartment price annually for two years. They will also receive 92.5 percent of the leased price for their apartments.
Bali Bay View chief commissioner Roy Sindhunirmala was also optimistic, saying that "as investors, our worst nightmare is to suffer loss. But for the property business in Indonesia, I'm optimistic that it will start booming again next year."
In Indonesia, Swiss-Belhotel manages and operates five properties: the Hotel Ciputra in West Jakarta, Hotel Ciputra Semarang in Central Java, Swiss-Belhotel Borneo in Banjarmasin, South kalimantan, Swiss-Belhotel Bali Aga in Nusa Dua and Pat- Mase Residence in Jimbaran, both in Bali.