When the State Fails to Execute the Ibnu Sutowo Family Hotel
A land dispute over a plot in Jakarta’s Gelora Senayan complex, the site of the Hotel Sultan, is expected to drag on indefinitely.
Pontjo Sutowo, owner of PT Indobuildco, the company managing Hotel Sultan, has chosen to hold his ground whilst pursuing various legal channels to obstruct the government’s planned enforcement action through the State Secretariat Ministry (Kemensesneg).
The State Secretariat Ministry’s (Kemensesneg) efforts through the Gelora Senayan Management Board (PPKGBK) to forcibly evacuate Hotel Sultan from Indobuildco have yet to succeed to date.
In the latest development, the Central Jakarta District Court has conducted a constatering process—or verification of the execution object—at Block 15 of the GBK complex on Monday, 17 March 2026.
This verification step was undertaken to confirm the boundaries and condition of the land included in the enforcement request concerning the Hotel Sultan dispute.
The process followed the Central Jakarta District Court’s determination of the former Building Rights (HGB) land objects numbered 26/Gelora and 27/Gelora in the Gelora Bung Karno complex.
A court team traced several boundary points alongside officials from the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN).
The verification aimed to ensure that the property requested for enforcement genuinely corresponded with the physical conditions on the ground.
For context, Hotel Sultan Jakarta was previously known as the Hilton Hotel. This five-star establishment stands on land that has long been the subject of dispute between the government and PT Indobuildco.
PT Indobuildco is a private company owned by the Ibnu Sutowo family and has since been passed to the second generation, namely Pontjo Sutowo.
The company is known to control and manage approximately 13.7 hectares of land in the Gelora Senayan complex, which constitutes state-owned assets.
This control is based on Building Rights (HGB) numbered 26/Gelora and 27/Gelora granted by the state for 30 years, which expired in 2002.
Hotel Sultan itself has stood since the early 1970s, coinciding with the New Order government’s efforts to develop the Senayan area as an international-standard activity hub.