Majapahit
Opened in 1910 by a relative of the Sarkies family of Raffles Singapore fame, it became an Indonesian landmark. In 1945 on Sept. 19 it was the site of the famous flag incident when Indonesia showed its resolve from the previous colonial administrators. This incident became the revolution which inevitably pushed forward the Independence battle of 10.Nov.1945 from which Surabaya earned its proud reputation as "City of Heroes".
The hotel reflects its original traditional Dutch period style with Art Deco elements.
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1869
1910 This unique colonial building was built as the Oranje Hotel in the heart of Surabaya by Lucas Martin Sarkies. Lucas was a member of the famous Sarkies family whose hotel empire included “Raffles” in Singapore, ”The Strand” in Burma and the “Eastern and Oriental” in Penang, Malaysia.Martyrose Ter ‘Martin’ Sarkies, the engineer, settles in Penang.
1876
Lucas Martin Sarkies is born in Penang as the son of Martin Sarkies.
1887
Lucas Martin Sarkies, now eleven years old, joins his brother Aratoon in Malang, Dutch East Indies. Aratoon has a grocery store. The same year the Sarkies brothers acquire a bungalow in Singapore and open a hotel, called Raffles Hotel.
1900
Lucas Martin Sarkies moves from Malang to Surabaya and opens a grocery store.
1910
Eugene Lucas Sarkies opens his new Oranje Hotel.
1936 The front of the hotel was extended, using an Art Deco architectural style. The new facade included the addition of the Dutch “Van Dorp” stationery shop and the “Hoen Kwee” cake and ice cream shop.
1942 In the midst of World War II, the Hotel was occupied by the Japanese and used as a military barrack and temporary prison camp for Dutch women and children who were to be relocated to other camps in Central Java. “Yamato Hoteru” or “Hotel Yamato” was the name of the hotel during the 32 years of Japanese occupation.
1945 On September 19, 1945, at 6.00 am, the leader of the Mastiff Carbolic Party, organized by the Anglo Dutch Country section, together with other Dutch from the Social Contact Commission raised the Dutch’s red-white-blue flag on the main flag pole of the hotel. It was a symbol to retake Dutch colonial control after the allies’ victory in World War II.
By 6.30 am, a crowd of angry Surabayans was gathering at the front of the hotel. They considered the raising of the Dutch flag on top of the hotel an insult to Indonesia’s proclamation of independence, which was made in Jakarta on August 17th.
Tempers flared and eventually the Dutch were driven from the area of the flag pole and the young Indonesians yelled “Merdeka” (Bahasa Indonesia for freedom) and tore the blue stripe from the bottom of the flag, turning it into Indonesia's own “red and white”. The crowd rejoiced and sang Indonesia’s national anthem “Indonesia Raya”.
For the next few months, while the revolution carried on in Surabaya, the hotel was known as “Hotel Merdeka” or the “Liberty Hotel”.
1946 The hotel was again managed by the Sarkies Brothers and its name changed to Hotel L.M.S. (Lucas Martin Sarkies).
1969 The L.M.S. Hotel was renamed Hotel Majapahit, by its new owners, Mantrust Holding Co.
1993 On April 29, Hotel Majapahit was purchased by Sekar Group, an Indonesian conglomerate who specializes in food production, real estate development and a wide variety of other business interests.
Three months later, Sekar Group and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group signed a mutual agreement for the hotel's management, and formed a joint venture company “PT. Sekman Wisata” with Mandarin Oriental holding 25% equity in the Hotel and Sekar Group 75%.
1996 On January 19, after a 2 year, US $ 35 million complete restoration job, the Hotel Majapahit re-opened as a 5-star Deluxe Hotel and regained its position as Surabaya’s premier hotel.
Bradford Zack Gerd Knaust