Santika Indonesia Hotels & Resorts opened Hotel Santika Palu, Central Sulawesi on July 13. The hotel is Santika’s 17th hotel and the group’s 49th property in Indonesia. During the opening ceremony, director of the owning company PT Narata Palu City, Johnny Limbuan passed the tumpeng top to Lilik Oetama, executive director of PT Grahawita Santika as the management of Santika Indonesia Hotels & Resorts. Also at the event were Aminudin Acho, the city regional secretary; Sudaryano Lamangkona, the head of Palu Culture and Tourism Board; and Alain John-John Siwy, executive assistant manager of Hotel Santika Palu.
The three-star hotel has 144 modern minimalistic rooms, divided into superior, superior pool access, deluxe junior suite, family suite, santika suite and penthouse types. Every room is inclusive of Safe Deposit Box, Tea / Coffee Maker, LCD TV and Wi-Fi facilities. The hotel’s Rubbi Ballroom can accommodate up to 400 guests. Other facilities include Spinel lobby lounge, Topas Kafe, fitness centre, adult and children swimming pools, and meeting rooms for 20 and 40 people. Until 15 August, staying at Santika Hotel is Rp. 475.000,- nett including breakfast for two adults.
Like other Santika hotels in Indonesia’s big cities, in building and operating Hotel Santika Palu, the group combines local tradition with a touch of nature, introducing the guests to the beauty and richness of Indonesia’s nature, while embracing the hotel’s service principle: “home away from home.”
Santika Indonesia Hotels & Resorts include four-star properties listed as Hotel Santika Premiere and three-star business hotels listed as Hotel Santika. The group currently develops the Amaris brand which caters to a wider clientele base, from two-star budget hotels to luxurious villa properties. They also develop brand of unique boutique villa properties listed as The Royal Collection under the property names of The Samaya and The Kayana.
Located at Jl. Mohamad Hatta 18, Hotel Santika Palu is nestled at the heart of this capital city. The hotel is 10 minutes away from Mutiara Airport and 15 minutes away from the island’s most beautiful beaches including Talise Beach. Talise Beach is the city’s most popular tourist destination and a popular place for water sports such as surfing, wind surfing, water skiing, diving, fishing and many more. Stretching from Palu to Donggala, the beach shows picturesque view of mountains against its bay. Aside from nature, the city is also known for Palu IV Bridge, a curving bridge that connects East Palu and West Palu. The bridge which was opened in 2006 is a popular spot for locals to see sunset.
As the capital city of Central Sulawesi, Palu is growing in terms of business and tourism. The Central Statistic Agency (BPS) showed that the room occupancy in star-rated hotel in Palu reached 64, 51 percent in May. Palu is currently renovating its airport due to increasing demand from airlines to add Palu as one of its destinations and to accommodate bigger airplanes from International flights. The renovation is scheduled to complete construction in 2013.
Published in The Jakarta Globe on July 15, 2012.
