Global hotel brands fight for piece of Nairobi pie

What you need to know:

  • New York-based hotel group Carlson Rezidor is set to open a second high-end Radisson Blu hotel in Nairobi in 2016.
  • Swiss-based Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts will open its first 223-room facility in the middle of next year in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
  • Last month, South African hotelier and developer Mantis announced a partnership with the Kenyan-based Monarch.
  • Other hotels looking to open in Kenya over the next two years include easyHotels by Lonrho and Hilton Garden Inn.
  • Four Points by Sheraton is among the latest entrants into the Kenyan market joining key names such as the Villa Rosa Kempinski, Crowne Plaza, Hemingways and the Sankara.

A number of international hotels targeting the high-end consumer are jostling for a space in Nairobi as the city‘s status as a regional commercial hub continues to rise.

New York-based hotel group Carlson Rezidor is set to open a second high-end Radisson Blu hotel in Nairobi in 2016.

The facility, with 123 units, will be Carlson Rezidor’s third project in Nairobi, and the group’s fifth Radisson Blu brand in Africa.
This year, the chain opened its first Nairobi hotel, with 271 rooms, in Upper Hill.

HIGH-END HOTELS
By the end of the year, five other hotels, including Park Inn Nairobi, a business and leisure facility, are expected to be unveiled.

“When Hillary Clinton came to Kenya (in 2009) she could only be hosted by Intercontinental Hotel, but when John Kerry and President Obama came this year they had several choices at their disposal, which tells you so much about the quality of hotels coming up,” Nairobi County Tourism Executive Committee member Anne Othoro told Smart Company.

Swiss-based Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts will open its first 223-room facility in the middle of next year in Nairobi’s Westlands area.

The facility owned by Golf Course Hotel will target business travellers and local big spenders.

The firm will also offer 54 spacious contemporary one- and two-bedroom apartments targeting long-stay couples and families.
Last month, South African hotelier and developer Mantis announced a partnership with the Kenyan-based Monarch.

MANTIS

Mantis is seeking to gain a foothold in East Africa.

The group will refurbish the 84-room Chester House Apartment Hotel in Nairobi CBD to include luxury five-star suites.

Once the Chester hotel has been revamped, it will be renamed The Mantis Chester Suites.

The facility will boast conference rooms and a luxury health and wellness spa. Mantis will also develop, manage and market other Monarch properties outside the City.

LONRHO

Other hotels looking to open in Kenya over the next two years include easyHotels by Lonrho and Hilton Garden Inn.

Lonrho Group, which had established itself in Kenya’s hospitality industry with several iconic hotels several years ago, made a comeback in the market last year after a long absence.
Marriot, a five-star international hotel brand, also intends to start operations in the country. It plans to spend a total of Sh127 billion ($1.5 billion) in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Benin, Gabon, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Four Points by Sheraton is among the latest entrants into the Kenyan market joining key names such as the Villa Rosa Kempinski, Crowne Plaza, Hemingways and the Sankara.

CITY LODGE HOTEL
Johannesburg-listed City Lodge Hotel Group has also been allowed by the Competition Authority to fully acquire Nairobi-based Fairview Hotel and Country Lodge, boosting its Africa expansion plans.

Mrs Othoro said three South African hoteliers have expressed interest to set up luxury, business and ecological hotels in the last one year.
He said the latest survey shows that Kenya has a 12,000 bed capacity with 60 per cent of these in Nairobi alone.
It’s projected that in three years Nairobi will have 1,437 additional bed capacity.

Currently, the country needs between 10,000 and 15,000 additional bed capacity.

WTO SUMMIT
Nairobi will host the 2015 World Trade Organization Conference (WTO) in December. Hotels are angling to cash in on the event, which is expected to attract about 7,000 delegates from all over the world.
The city will also host the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in September next year bringing together about 5,000 delegates including the World Bank, the African Union Commission, the private sector, academics and representatives of the civil society, from more than 20 countries.

GLOBAL SUMMIT

In July Kenya hosted 3,000 investors during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit including the United States President Barack Obama.

Interestingly, Nairobi was not part of the top 10 opportunities for investors keen to develop hotels in Africa, according to the African Hotel Report 2015, released on Thursday last week at the African Hotel Investment Forum in Addis Ababa.

MIDDLE CLASS

However the city remains lucrative due to limited bed space and buoyed by the fastest growing middle class in the region.

“This data shows that despite difficulties related to falling commodity prices and currency values in various countries in sub-Saharan Africa, hotel ownership provides an exciting investment opportunity where rewards can be in excess of the risks involved,” said Head of property services at Hotel Partners Africa, David Harper.

“Investment is moving past the traditional markets of Egypt, South Africa and Morocco, where rewards are not as high, because of the larger existing supply,” said Mr Harper.

This year Kenya is aggressively packaging Nairobi to endorse its portfolio as a lucrative market for hotels including a Chefs Delight and Bar & Mixology Awards 2015 pooling together 200 high-end hotels across the country for this year’s competition that will run for the next three and a half months during which diners will vote online for the best chefs and mixologists.