Windfall unlikely for luxury hotels

JAKARTA (JP): Despite fears of unrest during the four-day Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly which starts here on Tuesday, most five-star hotels in the city have not recorded a surge in bookings by anxious residents seeking safe havens in which to weather the coming political storm.

Hoteliers said on Monday that no extraordinary increase in bookings had been recorded in the run-up to the session.

However, the Hilton and Mulia hotels in Central Jakarta are fully booked by MPR members, who are staying there for the duration of the session.

Hoteliers said that occupancy rates in the city's five-star hotels fell to between 20 percent and 40 percent in January of this year in response to a worsening in the monetary crisis that first hit the country in July, 1997.

Occupancy rates jumped substantially when Jakarta was struck by bloody riots in May, with several hotels registering 100 percent occupancy. Many of the additional guests were Chinese- Indonesians fleeing the unrest in which they were the prime targets.

"People were afraid to stay in their own homes then, but now it seems that there is no sense of crisis," Novi Wallad, the promotions manager of the 267-room Le Meridien Hotel on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, said.

"We are expecting an occupancy rate of between 25 percent and 30 percent this week," she said, adding that guests in her hotel were mainly European, with an especially large French contingent.

Erwin Ahmad, an assistant manager of the 438-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, said his hotel had an occupancy rate of 23 percent on Sunday, rising slightly to 31 percent on Monday.

"People staying at our hotel are the usual mix of Europeans, Americans and Asians," Erwin said.

Erwin said that his hotel was fully booked during the riots on May. 14 and May. 15, with 60 percent of guests consisting of Chinese-Indonesians and at least 80 rooms occupied by journalists covering the unfolding events.

"This time, at least five foreign journalists are staying with us at a negotiated rate of US$95," he said, adding that they were from BBC radio and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Nuni Sutiyoko from the Regent Hotel's publicity department said that her hotel, which is located on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, is prepared for an extraordinary increase in the occupancy rate.

She mentioned that groups from at least three multinational companies had made reservations for the week in anticipation of possible chaos here, but refused to disclose any further details about the firms.

"Sorry. That is strictly confidential. I can only say that they have made reservations in response to the possibility of rioting in the city," Nuni said.

"People coming in will also see a five-meter fence has been erected around the hotel garden for security reasons."

She revealed that the hotel's management has brought an extra two-weeks worth of food and toiletry stocks.

"We are just playing safe. In May, not only did we need the extra stocks, other hotels in the vicinity informed us that they had run out of toothpastes, for instance," Nuni said.

Meanwhile, Emilia, a reservations operator at a major travel agency, said there was still "lots of openings" for Denpasar in Bali, a destination that has so far proved to be an oasis of stability in an otherwise chaotic and unpredictable country.

Emilia said that during the May riots, many Chinese- Indonesians had also sought refuge in Singapore and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

"There are still openings for both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. A rush in bookings for international and domestic flights has only been recorded around Nov. 17, the day which marks the Ascension of Prophet Muhammad," she said. (ylt)