Sarova Group to open Sh1bn five-star hotel in Nakuru early next year

The Sarova Group is set to open a Sh1 billion five-star hotel in Nakuru in an expansion that will increase its total number of facilities in the country to nine.

The hospitality chain is putting the final touches to Sarova Woodlands, a 142-room facility scheduled for opening in March next year.

It is located near the State House Nakuru — about a kilometre to the town’s central business district (CBD).

Sarova is owned by the family of the late businessman G.S. Vohra and John Ngata Kariuki, a former Kirinyaga Central MP and brother to former spymaster the late James Kanyotu.

A source close to the Vohra family confirmed the facility’s capital outlay, adding that the new “business hotel” will target clients from major towns such as Nairobi in search of an out-of-town conferencing facility as well as those on transit.

“Nakuru is growing; tourism in the county is rebounding. The new hotel will target people who are in town for business as well as those who are on passing through from places like Kisumu or Uganda,” the source said.

“The project cost about Sh1 billion and it will be opened in February or March next year. After that, we shall embark on refurbishing other facilities even as we seek out opportunities for new properties.”

Sarova Group consists of hotels, resorts and game lodges.

They include the Sarova Stanley and the Sarova Panafric in Nairobi, the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa and Sarova Mara Camp in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

Others are the Sarova Shaba Game Lodge (Samburu), the Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge (Nakuru), the Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge (Tsavo) and the Sarova Taita Hills Game Lodge (Tsavo).

Sarova Woodlands, the hospitality chain’s second investment in Nakuru, will be become the second five-star facility in the county after Lake Elmentaita Serena Camp.

Nakuru is Kenya’s fourth largest city with a population of about 1.6 million, according to the 2009 national census.

The town’s hospitality needs in the CBD are currently served by boutique facilities such as Merica Hotel, Hotel Cathay, Bontana Hotel and Midland Hotel.

Some of these hotels have been operating for decades, mostly targeting tourists, and the entry of Sarova Woodlands is set to raise the completion bar for these clientele as well as business travellers.

The hotel chain has now invited interested candidates to fill key job positions at the upcoming facility including in departments such as front office, stewarding, housekeeping, finance, security and health club.

“We are in search of…individuals with a natural flair for hospitality, focused guest interactions and a high degree of integrity,” the hotels chain job advertisement stated, adding that applications should be sent on or before December 16.

Sarova’s decision to invest in Nakuru comes at a time when Nairobi is experiencing significant activity in the hospitality scene, underlined by a growing number of conferences and business meetings.

This has attracted global hotel chains to set up in Kenya with several of them setting up in the capital city over the past six years.