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Amid blackouts, Greater Jakarta residents find solace in hotels
Long queues of people seeking to spend the night were seen at several hotels in Jakarta on Sunday evening.
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Hotels across Greater Jakarta saw rising occupancy rates following major blackouts since Sunday afternoon. (Shutterstock/Dragon Images)
M
ajor blackouts across Greater Jakarta and West Java since Sunday afternoon have prompted some residents to find solace at nearby hotels.
As reported by kompas.com, people seeking to spend the night were lining up at several hotels in Jakarta on Sunday evening, including Merlynn Park Hotel in Central Jakarta and Holiday Inn in North Jakarta.
Many also opted for online reservation, according to Pramita Sari, director of corporate communications at hotel management company Parador Hotels & Resorts.
"Many guests who came to the hotels didn't get to spend the night, as [the hotels] were already fully booked," Pramita said, adding that most of the walk-in guests had come to the properties after 7 p.m.
Santika Premiere in Slipi Hotel, West Jakarta, was also fully booked on Sunday; some chose to spend only one night, but most planned to stay until Tuesday.
“[Our occupancy rate increased] since Sunday afternoon,” said Violla Andrea, public relations manager of Santika Premiere Slipi Hotel. “We’ve anticipated the outage with generator sets as well as other alternatives for any future [blackouts].”
Santika Premiere ICE-BSD City in Tangerang, Banten, enjoyed a similar increase in the number of guests.
“Our occupancy was 60 percent prior to the blackouts, and we’ve seen a 38 [percentage point] increase afterwards, hence bringing our occupancy to 98 percent,” said Ajeng Larasati, public relations coordinator of Santika Premiere ICE-BSD City. Most of the guests arrived around 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Harris Vertu Harmoni and Yello Harmoni, both in Central Jakarta, recorded a significant increase in occupancy. Many of their guests arrived at the hotel after 1 a.m. on Monday.
“We handled them with a faster check-in process, so they could quickly get some rest in their rooms,” said Evi Rumondang, marketing and branding manager of Harris Vertu and Yello Harmoni.
The hotels had sufficient supplies of [diesel] and water for their guests, Evi said. “Our guests have been safe and comfortable since the blackouts last night.”
Read also: Jokowi disappointed at PLN crisis management
Hotels at Ancol Dreamland Park in North Jakarta, namely Putri Duyung Resort, Discovery Hotel & Convention and Mercure Convention Center, are all operating normally. Theme parks in the complex, such as Dufan, Sea World and Atlantis Water Adventure, also claimed to be unaffected by the blackouts.
“All of the parks and events in Ancol operate as usual with the help of generators,” Agung Praptono, vice president and corporate secretary of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, said in a statement.
Ancol Dreamland Park is said to have 23 generator sets placed in several locations with capacities ranging from 250 to 1,250 kilovolt ampere (kVA).
Read also: Millions affected by major blackout to be compensated: PLN
The Sultan Hotel in Central Jakarta also reported no issues with welcoming guests, as each tower of the hotel complex was equipped with a generator. “The guests were fine, though the check-in process slowed down a little because of the large number of guests,” said Indira Puliraja, marketing communications manager of The Sultan Hotel.
Similarly, Central Jakarta's Artotel Thamrin and Artotel Wahid Hasyim are using generator sets for their guests.
“Our hotels’ gensets [can] usually run for 15 hours,” said Yulia Maria, assistant director of marketing and communication of Artotel Group. (kes)
