One of the rooms at the newly opened Cloud Hotel in the Diamond Plaza shopping centre in Parklands. Courtesy
What you need to know:
According to the GM, the three- star hotel has facilities like those of a 4-star facility.
Nairobi’s latest luxury hotel is incongruously perched on the 9th floor of the Diamond Plaza shopping mall in Highridge.
Aptly named Cloud Hotel and Suites, since its expansive windows offer a clean view of the city skies, the 39 room hotel is primed to cash in on the increasing number of business tourists that frequent the residential suburbs of Parklands and Westlands.
It is the latest property venture by Leo Investments, a sister outfit of the Chatur Group of Companies, and complements the Group’s varied commercial and residential real estate offerings across the city including the Ngara Shopping Complex, Thigiri Ridge Shopping Centre, Langata Paradise Apartments and Living Stone Villas.
The views
Barely 15 months after construction on the hotel began in August 2012, Cloud Hotels opened its doors on December 1. The hotel offers 36 standard sized rooms, two executive suites and one master suite.
The feel of the rooms - although contained on one floor - are distinguished by the view that each offers: one side of the high rise faces Karura forest and the second the Central Business District. The rooms also boast two metre tall windows and high ceilings that help to create an illusion of space and light.
Together, they contribute to the pent house effect, explains Usama Karim, director of Barefoot designs who handled Cloud Hotel’s interior ldecoration including skirtings, facias and drywall patch ups.
The General Manager, Meshack Mutisya adds that it is this effect coupled with the classic modern finishings of each room that make it a four-star facility.
“We are saying we are a three-star facility but I think in reality, we are four star,” he says, noting that the study desk, 32 inch TV and minibar perfectly cater to the frequent traveller.
Electronic DND
Mutisya’s estimation of the hotel’s four star rating is also based on the quality of each room’s technology fittings which include an iHome docking platform for iPad and iPhone speaker systems, wi fi and an electronic DND (Do Not Disturb) sign - a facility yet to be introduced at any of Kenya’s five star hotels.
In addition, Mutisya believes that Parklands’ geographical placement - barely 6 kilometres from the city centre - adds to its appeal as does its positioning within a rising commercial centre.
“We are based in a shopping mall,” he says, “All the basic amenities including banks and restaurants are right here so travel costs for the resident are reduced to a minimum.”
The four towers in the Diamond Plaza shopping complex are best known as a labyrinth of over 60 businesses that include banks, supermarkets, restaurants and retail shops that specialise in Asian clothing.
Charges
Cloud Hotel is positioned just below the rooftop which houses a swimming pool, gymnasium and a bar and lounge for residents, completing the hotel’s all-inclusive package offering.
Mutisya’s over 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry in Spain, Germany and the Seychelles, make him confident that Cloud Hotel’s offerings will shortly outperform those of their closest competitors around the Westlands area.
Bed and breakfast charges for a night at Cloud Hotel range between Sh10,000 to Sh15,000.
“Luxury and economy aren’t usually mentioned in the same breath except by our customers,” says Mutisya who believes the affordability of their rates will boost occupancy.
Nevertheless, they have announced an introductory discount of 20per cent in December and 10per cent in January 2014.
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