Hotel Building Mania: Indonesia

Hospitality management firm Aston International Indonesia is set to expand with the opening of a new four-star hotel with 50 rooms in Palu, Central Sulawesi, in July.

Still in expansion mode, in December the firm will open another four-star hotel, with 300 rooms, in Denpasar, Bali; a four-star resort and spa with 105 rooms in Ambon, Maluku; and a three-star inn with 100 rooms in Manado, North Sulawesi.

Aston currently manages 10 properties, comprising four four-star hotels and residences, two five-star hotels, one three-star inn and three villas, located in Jakarta, Bali, Bandung and Palembang according to Business News.

President and CEO of Aston International Indonesia, Charles E. Brookfield, said Wednesday in Jakarta that the company would also open five new properties in Jakarta between 2008 and 2009

The five new hotels are four-star hotels in Mangga Dua (Central Jakarta), Ancol (North Jakarta) and Slipi (West Jakarta), and two-star hotels in Kota (Jakarta’s Chinatown) and Gading Serpong (west of Jakarta).

Meanwhile, Tauzia Hotel Management said it also planed to open more hotels under the Harris Hotels and Resorts trademark in a number of major cities around Indonesia.

“We expect to expand Harris Hotels and Resorts to 1,000 rooms by the end of 2007 from the current 800,” managing director and founder of Tauzia Hotel Management, Marc Armand Steinmeyer, told reporters.

Tauzia, established in 2002, currently manages four properties under the Harris Hotels and Resorts brand: the Harris Resort Batam in Riau Islands province, Harris Hotel Tuban in Bali, Harris Hotel Kuta in Bali, and Harris Hotel Tebet in Jakarta. The firm boasts an average monthly occupancy rate of between 85 and 90 percent.

Tauzia also manages resorts under the Waka International brand in Bali, the Balihai resort and spa in Tuban, Bali, and estate and serviced apartments in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Steinmeyer said Tauzia would open two more apartment projects in Bali by the end of 2007.