Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali shuts down and lays off employees, making way for six-star Trump Tower project

Photo: Pan Pacific Bali
Photo: Pan Pacific Bali

The Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali has officially ceased operations, shutting down and laying off employees to make way for the beginning of a new era with Trump at the helm.

The five-star hotel, overlooking Bali’s Tanah Lot temple, is now in the hands of Indonesia’s MNC Group, which has partnered with the Trump Hotel Collection to redevelop the resort into a six-star Trump Tower hotel. The resort’s 18-hole golf course is also getting revamped by PGA pro Phil Mickelson.

With MNC’s term beginning on August 1, Monday was the last full operational day for Pan Pacific at Nirwana. The resort’s last guests had to leave by the standard check out time at 2pm.

pan pacific closed
It’s official when even the Google listing has been updated.

The shut down saw the laying off of about 800 employees, local newspaper Tribun Bali reports.

Though around 170 employees have reportedly been contracted back for a brief interim period to help with various jobs around the hotel, like moving furniture and settling payment issues.

“The contracted periods vary from two to eight months, depending on the need. There are engineering, housekeeping, accounting, and security staff,” said Ketut Sunarwa, chairman of the Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali hotel’s workers’ union.

Demolition of the hotel is slated for some time this year, under MNC’s three-year redevelopment plan. Construction is expected to begin in 2018.

The Pan Pacific Hotels group had managed the resort since April 2010.

Like basically everything under the Trump name, the hotel development in Bali has not come without controversy.

The resort sits on over 100 hectares of cliff-top with sweeping views of the Indian Ocean and Tanah Lot—which is considered as one of the island’s most sacred temples by the Balinese.

The spot where the resort sits has a sordid history. The land had belonged to small-scale Balinese farmers for generations. But they were ultimately forced off by Indonesian dictator Suharto in the 90s to make room for not a military operation as they had been told, but for the construction of a resort under the Bakrie Foundation, headed by one of Suharto’s closest pals.

There have been reports of MNC trying to buy up even more hereditary land around the resort at unreasonably low prices. MNC is lead by Indonesian business mogul Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who now happens to be under investigation for allegedly violating the electronic information and transaction law.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on