The City of Rain: That is the most familiar name of Bogor, which has an average rainfall of 3336.8 mm/year. Bogor has a unique history with its botanical garden, Presidential Palace, and also with Hotel Salak The Heritage. Hotel Salak The Heritage is the oldest, recorded site in Bogor. It has witnessed history; from the Dutch and Japanese Colonialism, Old Order, New Order, and the Reformation Era to the period of New Indonesia in Millennium III. Various important events were held in Bogor, such as the Pre- Asia Africa Conference in 1955 at the Bogor Presidential Palace, APEC in 1994, among several other international events. Bogor has been designated as an official dining place for international events.
At a glance, Hotel Salak The Heritage looks like a new building and does not reflect its mature age since it has been renovated in order to supply the community’s need for quality.
Hotel Salak The Heritage is the only heritage hotel located in front of the Bogor Palace and next to the City Hall, at Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No. 8 Bogor. It was built on 8,227 m2 of land. Hotel Salak The Heritage consists of four main sections. First is the front section, named the Heritage Building, which is the two-story renovated historical building. The second and third sections are the left and right wings which have two and four floors, respectively. The fourth section is the back section with five floors, equipped with one service lift and two guest lifts.
During the Dutch era (VOC) in the 17th century, Bogor was named Buitenzorg, meaning “city for rest” or “city without formality” (Buiten Alle Zorgen, as the Dutch say). The Bogor Presidential Palace was used by the VOC Governor General as a place to rest. In 1908 Bogor was the central government and residential place for the Governor General. As it has beautiful scenery and cooler weather, Bogor has become the center for research on tropical plants and plantation in Sukabumi and Cianjur.
Hotel Salak The Heritage was built in the early 1900s and named Bellevue-Dibbets Hotel. It was categorized as a hotel for the elite Group of the Palace and owned by the Palace family. The hotel belonged to a Dutch man who had a family connection with the Governor General of the Netherlands Indies. It functioned as a place to rest and stay, and as a meeting place for agricultural businessmen and administrators and the government staff.
During Japanese Colonialism from 1942 to 1945, Hotel Salak The Heritage, which had 54 rooms at the time, became the headquarters of Kempeitai (Military Police). The Indonesian Independence in 1945 influenced Bellevue-Dibbets Hotel: in 1948 the name was changed to Hotel Salak as it is located at the foot of Salak Mountain (Gunung Salak).
Along with its rapid growth as a city of convention, meetings, seminars, tourism, education, and research on tropical plantation, Bogor is a potential attraction for both domestic and international visitors. Each year the number of visitors and government guests who hold conferences here increases. Therefore, Bogor requires appropriate international infrastructure. To accommodate all the requirements, Hotel Salak was renovated and redeveloped.
On 2 September 1991, Hotel Salak temporarily suspended the operations for its redevelopment. The development began again after a license from the government stated by the Decision Letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs Republic of Indonesia dated 27 January 1992 No. 539.32/359/PUOD were issued to PT Anugrah Jaya Agung to develop and operate Hotel Salak The Heritage.
According to a survey, the preferred initial type of the hotel was a Tourism and Business Hotel with international standards. The old historical and colonial architectural building was maintained as an eye-catcher for its environment, and was planned to be a boutique hotel for special tourists (Special Tourism) because Hotel Salak The Heritage is one of the few historical buildings remaining in Bogor. The back section of the hotel was originally expanded as a Business and University Hotel.
Since the renovation and expansion of the new building, the total room count is 120, consisting of the Presidential Suites, Super Executives, Salak View Executives, Deluxe Suites, Deluxe Rooms, and Superior Rooms.
Hotel Salak The Heritage is one of the vital assets for people in West Java, particularly the Bogor community, because of Bogor’s high historical value and its location at the gate of West Java (approximately 30 minutes from Jakarta via toll roads) and guarded by the government buildings (City Hall, Residency, High Court, and Samsat).
On 11 September 1998, the new Hotel Salak The Heritage, equipped with the international standard, was gradually re-opened, beginning by providing 32 rooms consisting of two Presidential Suites, four Superior Executive Rooms, eight Executive Rooms, and 18 Superior Rooms. Other supporting facilities included a swimming pool, the Kinari Cafe, the Rafflesia Bar & Lounge, the Istana Ballroom, the Galuh Meeting Room, and a shopping arcade (i.e. Business Center, boutique, florist, and drug store).
The development and re-opening of Hotel Salak The Heritage were conducted at the same time a massive monetary crisis hit Indonesia.
There was a sharp increase of the USD exchange rate, from Rp. 2,300 to 17,000 per 1 USD at the end of 1997 through the beginning of 1998. However, the crisis did not influence the hotel management to stop developing and maintaining the existence of Hotel Salak The Heritage.
On 1 April 1999, along with the growth of business in Bogor, Hotel Salak The Heritage was reopened and it operated another 40 Superior Rooms, making the total room count seventy-two. Additional facilities developed in 1999 were the Rudy Salon, Batutulis Meeting Room, Burangrang Meeting Room, Binnenhof Restaurant, and Kinanti Music Room.
By the end of February 2000, Hotel Salak The Heritage had added 24 Deluxe Rooms, bringing the total to ninety-six.
Anticipating customer demand and market development in the mid- 2000s, Hotel Salak The Heritage added more rooms, bringing the total and final count to 120 rooms.
Hotel Salak’s achievements in creating its iconic image as the center for conference is proven by the increasing demand for training, seminars, meetings, and conference arrangements at Hotel Salak The Heritage. Management has decided to build four more meeting rooms; namely Pakuan, Padjadjaran 1, Padjadjaran 2, and Padjadjaran 3. The Pakuan Meeting Room was completed with a capacity of 70 persons in March 2001. The in June 2003, we finished building three other meeting rooms with capacities of 40-100 persons per room.
In order to provide the best service and comfort for our guests, we also built several other new facilities: A fitness center, the Kinanti Kids’ Club, and the Kinanti Music Room, which have been opened since June 2000.
Ayam Goreng Fatmawati Restaurant with delivery service was opened as a traditional restaurant in 2001 to make our food and beverage offerings more attractive and various. This deed shows that Hotel Salak The Heritage cares about Indonesian traditional food, especially Sudanese, and intends to serve it with international standards.
Hotel Salak The Heritage kept innovating and developing itself by opening a new cafe, Den Haaq Cafe, in December 2003. Den Haaq Cafe is opened to fulfill the longings of our guests to the freshness of Bogor by offering them our delicious cakes and pastries.
Liza Herbal Information Center was added to provide a place where people can have free consultations for their health and explore alternative health therapies. Liza Herbal also supports and sells many medical plants as an alternative to treatment without using synthetic or chemical drugs. The Art Shop sells beautiful souvenirs and basic toiletries for our guests. In mid-2005, wedding receptions and company gatherings became more convenient for our guests because of the new pre-function room that was furnished in the Istana Ballroom.
Rudy Salon has been reformed to ChocolaSpa as a place where our lady guests can rejuvenate their bodies through spa, hair, and body treatment. We also provide Bellevue Barbershop for men.
In the beginning of 2006, we continued rebuilding the hotel by renovating Rafflesia Lounge to make it bigger, thus more convenient with a cozy interior for our guests to relax with their friends, family, and colleagues. In the middle of the year, we provided a children’s playground to make a child’s stay more enjoyable at Hotel Salak The Heritage.
The community is very proud of Hotel Salak The Heritage because it is the oldest and biggest preserved, historical evidence left in Bogor. For a group of people, re-opening Hotel Salak The Heritage also created many career opportunities during the time of the monetary crisis.
Hotel Salak The Heritage, as a historical entity, should be able to compete and improve. As a result, it has to be supported by capable management, professional human resources, satisfactory services, and appropriate facilities.
In order to make Hotel Salak The Heritage more familiar and attractive among the national and international societies, we have cooperated with several foundations around the globe. One of the foundations that support our hotel is The Heritage Bogor Foundation, which was established in 2003. This foundation is aimed at developing the society in social, economic, cultural, and technological aspects. One of its programs is to transform wind power into energy power using wind mills. Every year this foundation grants an award to someone who has dedicated a great contribution to the society.
Another foundation who supports Hotel Salak The Heritage is Saring Hadipurnomo Foundation. This foundation’s mission is to improve the lives of blind people through an organization called Merpati Putih. Merpati Putih has applied traditional culture from Mataram Kingdom of West Java and it has successfully helped blind people have vision again. This culture has become an important and unique point for tourists to visit Bogor.
Hotel Salak The Heritage is currently preparing to invite international guests, in particular from the Netherlands and Japan, so that they are able to feel the atmosphere of memories from their past. The development of Hotel Salak The Heritage is undertaken without changing the historical building as it is valuable and creates the country’s foreign exchange for tourism. Referring to its aims, Hotel Salak The Heritage is expected to grow and be able to promote Indonesia, specifically Bogor, in other countries as a tourist destination.
Some other historical buildings have been diminished by people who do not understand the meaning and importance of preserving historical values. Historical inheritance is evidence of our country’s struggle to independence which is important to preserve for our young generation’s identities.
Can Hotel Salak The Heritage, as an ex-Netherlands heritage hotel, compete in the globalization era? This question is reasonable as the crisis happened, but the hotel business in Indonesia is sparkling so competition is tough.
Hotel Salak The Heritage always honors the international norms and values and the spirit of professionalism. Its commissionaires and directors always apply the outstanding norms, values, and soul. They also always honor the fairness as the foundation to manage and operate the firm so that Hotel Salak The Heritage is able to achieve success and overcome any difficulties.