Nairobi’s Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence Nairobi Arboretum is marked for a Sh1.43 billion expansion with an eye on the resurgent hospitality and tourism industry fortunes.
Regulatory filings seen by the Business Daily show that the hotel, through Leisure Park Development Limited, plans to construct a three-storey block adjacent to its existing facility on Nairobi’s Arboretum Drive.
“The proposed project aims to supplement the existing hotel by providing more affordable, modern, and easily accessible accommodation and conference facilities by adding 80 more rooms and associated facilities, for both local and international guests,” the company said in a filing to the National Environment Management Authority.
The new block will have 80 new guest rooms, indoor and outdoor restaurants, four ballrooms, four exhibition spaces, four meeting rooms and four board rooms, among other facilities.
The Radisson brand in Kenya is part of the Radisson Hotel Group, which has been expanding in Africa, with a presence in other countries such as Tanzania, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Zambia, and Ethiopia. The group had nearly 100 hotels in operation and development in Africa by mid-last year.
In Kenya, Radisson has three facilities—Radisson Park Inn in Westlands, Radisson Blu in Upper Hill, and Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence near Arboretum in Nairobi.
Kenya’s hospitality sector has been on a recovery from the Covid-19 disruptions, encouraging expansion or set up of new brands as well as acquisition deals.
Many investors are now taking on expansion or greenfield as well as operator and acquisition deals as they seek to capitalise on rebounded room sales.
For example, a private investor, The View by the Park Limited, plans a new Sh1.3 billion mixed-use hotel complex in Nairobi’s South-C area, targeting to tap into the city’s budding hospitality industry.
The facility, to overlook the Nairobi National Park, will comprise 170 hotel rooms and 126 apartments of between two and four bedrooms.
Global hospitality firm Marriot International also plans a new 180-room hotel at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), targeting both local and foreign guests. Disclosures showed that the Courtyard by Marriott Airport Hotel would cost approximately Sh1.19 billion to construct.
