Business travellers get new home in Sankara Hotel

Business travellers to Kenya have found a new home—Sankara Hotel in Nairobi, which opened its doors to tap into the growing hospitality market.

For the owners, the Sh2.8 billion hotel apart from its name, has nothing else in common with the charismatic left-leaning former leader of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara.

It just fitted with what they are offering guests— a hospitable environment.

In Sanskrit, a language in India, the name means a cause of tranquillity, a component the investors hope will lure visitors to the hotel.

“We set out to put up a contemporary vibrant hotel that caters for the modern traveller,” said Mr Rohan Patel, the director of corporate development at Sankara Hotel Group Kenya.

The high-end hotel owned by a private investment group that consists of family members who had the land for years is located in one of Nairobi’s growing commercial and retail centres, Westlands.

Sankara has set itself as an ideal home for business travellers, corporate meetings and an entertainment venue for the domestic market.

The hotel is coming into the market at a time when to accommodation in Nairobi is scarce, impeding the growth of tourism in the city.

Nairobi has become a major conferencing hub and this has demanded more beds.

Sankara Hotel Group Kenya has added 156 new rooms in the market.

“As the region opens up, Nairobi will continue growing. Our location and the under supply of rooms in the market is on our side,” said Mr Raymond Bragg, the properties general manager.

Other investors are also moving to address this scarcity with the Crowne Plaza in Upper Hill having opened its doors earlier this year while Simba Group puts up a hotel along Waiyaki Way.

Global hotel groups have also been eyeing the market in a bid to be part of the growing tourism sector in East African region.

Sankara, which sits on 1.6 acres of land, is adjacent to Jacaranda Hotel which mainly caters for corporate meetings and conferences in the city.

For Mr Bragg, there is room for these hotels as each bring in a new concepts and helps grow the market further.

Sankara only recently opened its doors and for Mr Patel, who has breathed and lived the project the past three years, it has not been smooth sailing.

Originally expected to open its doors in May 2010, the hotel project was set back by various issues including getting the concept and ideas right, managing contractors and sourcing for materials around the world.

“There were many lessons learnt,” he says, adding that in the end the concepts and ideas came together just right.

For now he is waiting.

These lessons are expected to come in handy in the future as the Group has established the Sankara Hotels & Resorts Company that plans to develop other similar projects in East Africa as well as taking up management contracts.

As the final touches of the hotel were being put together and the opening fast approached the developer was keen to acquire the land next to the hotel that was home to Deloitte, a financial service firm, for years. In less than a week the building was flattened and preparations for a garden and parking lot began.

The architecture of the hotel was done by the Kenyan firm Beglin Woods while the interior design was done by Studio B Architects based in India, which mainly works at doing interiors of premium hotels and resorts especially in Asia.

The blend of internationally experienced contractors has helped mix modern styles that appeal to international travellers with local influences.

Sankara boasts a wide range of African art, framed African textiles and sculptures found in every corner of the hotel from the foyer to the lobby, restaurant, bar and every guest room.

Paintings were commissioned from the Eritrean born and Kenyan-based artist Fitsum to form the décor of the three meeting rooms that are named after the road the hotel is located, Woodvale.

Replicas of his paintings are also found in other parts of the hotel along with Tanzania’s famous E.S Tinga Tinga fun paintings that are in every bathroom in the guest rooms.

With the help of a curator who put together the collection, guests cannot miss the works of Yoni Waite, an American artist who has lived in Kenya for decades, Morris Foit’s sculptures and the famous askaris of Cameroon in the hotel.

Mr Patel says the idea behind the art is to showcase works from this region as well as giving the guests a sense of place while the artists get the opportunity to display their work.

It’s on the first floor of the seven storied building that the hotel houses its restaurants which include a brasserie, the main dinning area, a south-eastern restaurant – Muhibah and a wine bar. For privacy groups can also enjoy exclusive dinning.

These four outlets are interactive spaces that allow one to sit in one and order from the other with the open kitchens letting guests relate to the chefs as the meals are prepared.

The wines is stored in high ceiling refrigerators that allow visitors to choose their favourite tipple as well as add to the décor of the floor.

It is here, along with a bar on the roof top, which the hotel hopes to attract the local entertainment crowd.

Westlands has slowly become a major entertainment centre in the city with major bars and clubs located in the area.

Along Woodvale Groove, where Sankara is located, is one of the longest standing bar and restaurants in the area, Gypsy which has been subdivided to boast four different bars catering for various tastes including a sports bar.

For years, Gypsy has been a major tourist entertainment destination.

From the various rooms in the hotel, including the roof top and restaurants, one gets to enjoy the various sights and sounds of Westlands.

From the shopping mall to the traffic congestion that is part of Nairobi living.

At Sankara guests will enjoy all the major technology to connect them to their homes and offices, including i-pod docking stations connected to the TV screens in the rooms.

The hotel boasts five types of rooms, ranging from $279 (Sh22,320) per night for the standard room to $750 (Sh60,000) for the executive suite.