Tune Hotel opening marks entry of more budget brands targeting Nairobi consumers
Tune Hotels Group CEO Mark Lankester. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
Malaysian tycoon-owned Tune Hotel is set to open mid next month, marking the entry of yet another budget operator in Kenya’s hospitality industry.
The hotel operates on a no-frills model similar to that of low-cost airlines Jambojet and Fastjet. Customers are charged for any add-on services.
The budget hotel operators are targeting short-stay customers and business travellers seeking a place to sleep without having to pay for additional utilities.
Located in Westlands, the Tune Hotel will have an initial bed and breakfast rate ranging from Sh5,000 upwards. In addition the hotel will run a promotional booking of Sh995 bed only for the first month.
The 280 rooms across the 11 floors of the hotel come with the option of double, twin, triple and family rooms. The standard design means no wardrobe storage.
Instead, under-the-bed storage is available for luggage, hangers are available on a few hooks on the wall for hanging suits, the bath consists of a shower only with no bathtub, and the tables are retractable for space efficiency.
The stay will offer a standard room, a single or double bed, WiFi, a common ironing bay and does not have room service.
“We often check into hotels when we travel and we really don’t get to use all the facilities a room or indeed a hotel can offer, like lounge chairs or baths, most times you’ll drop down to the restaurant to grab a meal and not even think about using room service. We don’t want to charge you for these amid other things you don’t use,” said Stuart Clay, Tune Nairobi’s general manager.
The model has proved successful for small time players as the no frills model means that any add-ons including early check-in, late checkout and luggage storage come at an additional fee.
The budget pricing model is similar to that of no-frills airlines where those who book early get low rates with the prices increasing to closer to the check in date.
If one was to book a December stay at the hotel in June, for example, they pay a minimum rate of Sh5,000, yet one booking a week to the stay may end up costing Sh18,000 for the same room.
The budget model has been fruitful for Jambojet which says it now has a 37 per cent market share on domestic routes. In the half year to September 2015 it recorded a profit of Sh57 million, having broken even from a loss of Sh237 million for a comparable period in 2014, after only two years of operation.
The hotel will be filling the niche for the traveller seeking basic standards as those in five-star facilities but on a smaller budget.
Tune Hotels currently has about 45 outlets in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the UK and India.
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