Hilton Garden Inn hotel under construction on Mombasa Road. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
The Sh2.3 billion hotel on Mombasa Road near the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is set for opening in March next year.
The hotel, which sits on 1.3 acre land hived off from Modern Reliance warehouse land, is a mix of equity and a bank loan advanced by Diamond Trust Bank.
The Hilton Garden Inn will have 175 rooms. It will be priced at a lower rate than typical five-star hotel in the city centre.
Global hotel chain Hilton Worldwide is set to open its first Kenyan Hilton Garden Inn shortly after the construction of a Nairobi outlet by a franchisee is completed in December.
The Sh2.3 billion hotel on Mombasa Road near the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is set for opening in March next year.
Hilton Worldwide also manages the Hilton Nairobi, a 287-room luxury hotel in the central business district.
“The structure of the building will be complete in December but the hotel will be opened in March next year,” said businessman Noorali Manji, the Hilton Garden Inn developer.
The hotel sits on 1.3 acre land hived off from Modern Reliance warehouse land.
The investment is a mix of equity and a bank loan advanced by Diamond Trust Bank, according to the developer.
Mr Manji confirmed that his company, Modern Reliance Industries ltd, has signed a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide.
“We are expecting the name to sell the business,” said Mr Manji.
The prime location is likely to attract business travellers and tourists checking in and out of the JKIA.
The developer said future expansion would depend on the success of the current investment.
Hilton Worldwide in 2013 said that it had ceased owning hotels and instead had adopted a franchise model that is less expensive and more efficient for expansion.
The Hilton Garden Inn will have 175 rooms. It will be priced at a lower rate than typical five-star hotel in the city centre.
Modern Reliance is a business group that specialises in manufacturing agricultural equipment, mainly wheelbarrows.
The company is owned by two directors- Noorali Manji and Sachedina Sabdrudin. Mr Manji is also the owner of Furniture Palace along Mombasa road.
The Hilton Garden Inn will be operated as an airport hotel targeting sophisticated travellers seeking convenience of accommodation that minimises their chances of being held up in Nairobi’s notorious traffic jams.
“We are also targeting factories that are close-by like Kapa, the Nation Media Group and others in the industrial area,” said the developer.
Modern Reliance becomes the latest developer to seek a hotel franchise from a globally recognised brand.
Other recent investors in the industry include the Popat family which owns Kempinski and Best Western Nairobi. Michael Kaiiru, a businessman, won the Radisson Blu Nairobi franchise.
Administrators of household items seller Tile and Carpet won a franchise deal with Bangkok-based hotel and resort chain Dusit International located it Riverside and Radission Blu budget hotel.
Park inn in Westlands is owned by AMS properties.
Lonrho Group, which operated iconic hotels like The Norfolk, also secured the American easyHotels franchise. The easyHotels is a budget hotel franchise.
Lonrho is yet to announce details of agreements with developers. They have, however, been providing temporary accommodation to oil companies in Northern Kenya.
Emaar, a Dubai-based hotel, is expected to operate the Address Mara in Maasai Mara.
Accor and Marriot have been eyeing the hospitality market in Kenya but are yet to announce their local partners.
The government is in the process of selling its stake in Hilton Nairobi, but the international chain has already said it will not exercise its pre-emptive rights to buy out the State’s ownership of the Kenyan business.
Hilton Garden Inn will begin recruiting staff in November ahead of the March opening.
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