Nearly four years since the last terrorist bombing in Indonesia, two hotels popular with westerners–the JW Marriott and the Ritz Carlton–were bombed on Friday morning.
I stayed at the Jakarta JW Marriott several years ago during a congressional trip to Indonesia. It is a beautiful hotel with fantastic services and an attentive staff. We met with the manager of the JW Marriott who described the ’05 bombing and its impact on the employees and the city of Jakarta. He described how difficult it was to get the hotel back to normal and to reinstate a sense of safety within the hotel.
Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims and their families of this tragic incident and to the management of both hotels.
Here are two articles describing the scene at the JW Marriott and an interesting timeline of terrorist bombings in Indonesia.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124781017834156691.html