TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thirty minutes before midnight, a karaoke room on the third floor of the Alexis Hotel, Ancol, North Jakarta, on the second Wednesday of January, was far from empty. In the dim glow from three large flat television screens on the wall, the 3 x 6-meter room throbbed with the sound of house music. Two women with long hair nodded their heads and shook their bodies in time with the beat.
Together with four other men enjoying Jakarta's nightlife, Tempo was present in the room. Jesica and Jenifer-not the two women’s real names-began pulling the arms of two men sitting on the sofa. The four of them danced and laughed with abandon. Ignoring the cold blast from the air conditioning, Jesica and Jenifer started to undress peeling off their garments one by one.
Less than three months ago, the Jakarta government had sent a notice that it was not renewing the license for the Alexis Hotel and its massage parlor. At the time, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan appeared enthusiastic at fulfilling his campaign promise to shut down Alexis. Anies said Alexis’s license was not being renewed because the hotel was a nest for prostitution.
Read: Alexis Hotel Resumes Business Changes Name to 4Play
As it turns out, prostitution is still taking place at Alexis, even though the spa area on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors - said to be the location for sexual services - had been shut down. From the outset, visitors can select a lady companion (LC) from a group dancing in a room closed off by a thin curtain behind the receptionist area on the third floor. That night, about 40 women sat around on red sofas.
The four men who went there with Tempo chose which women would accompany them in the karaoke room. This is called the ‘contest’. "We chose the prettiest," said Hidayat, a private-sector employee. In the end, Jesica and Jenifer were selected out of the 10 women who took part in the impromptu contest.
After one hour, the two women ended their naked dance. Hidayat’s friend whispered something to Jesica. The two left the room and returned an hour later. The man later said he had had intercourse with Jesica in a room on the same floor. "Just like it was before. It was great," he said.
Read: Hotel Alexis Management Responds to Prostitution Allegations
Met at a hotel in South Jakarta on Thursday last week, Lina Novita from the Alexis Group’s Legal and Corporate Affairs denied that prostitution was taking place at the hotel. "There is none," she said. She also denied that there are any LCs who are also sex workers. "We provide the LCs according to their function, which is to accompany guests who want to sing karaoke."
Last January, Tempo looked into five nightclubs which-according to some sources who observe nightlife, as well as some current and former officials of the Jakarta Tourism Office-are among the largest and most popular in the capital. Anhar Nasution, a former chair of the Association of Nightclub Owners, believes that prostitution is taking place at nearly all the nightclubs. "Alexis is merely one of them," said Anhar.
In Pecenongan, West Jakarta, about a kilometer from the State Palace, stands the Emporium Hotel. This hotel holds striptease performances on the third floor. Unlike the Alexis, the striptease in this hotel is not done in a special room, but in front of visitors. Dancers start out wearing minimal clothing, dance around, sometimes hanging from the four metal poles there.
One club customer said the strippers can be paid for sexual intercourse for Rp2 million per hour. On the second floor is a massage service which costs Rp1 to 1.2 million per hour. That price includes sexual services in a special room. Two staff members questioned by Tempo verified the information about those prices.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
