We put on makeup and threw on our elegant sequin dresses, matched with heels ready for a night out. It is the most dressing we have done for clubbing.
The next stop is the Cats Club at Safari Park Hotel and Casino in Nairobi.
This establishment adjacent to the hotel’s Nyama Choma Ranch is not your usual hangout joint. Still, our burning curiosity took us there.
The vehicles parked outside give one the impression that those who come here for a drink have deep pockets. But they do not necessarily show it by wearing layers of make-up or even sequin dresses.
As you walk to the bar area, you catch sight of individual tables surrounded by leather couches.
The walls are a gallery of photos, many in sepia – presumably of patrons of the yore – and fine print décor.
At the centre is a gigantic dance floor designed like an orb with rail-like pathways in between for entry.
The floor, glossy and with a smooth blend of forest brown and naked oak square panels, spread across the room. Everything in here screams ‘‘old money’’. But not flashy.
The only constant element here is the strategic positioning of the disk jockey (DJ). But even so, the music that played on the night validated my initial notion of old money.
The Cats Club features a pub, a discotheque, a beer garden, karaoke, a pool room and a snack bar.
To tell the truth, this is the last place my friend and I would have thought of visiting. It was the case of Generation Z [Gen Z] in a rich, old man’s club.
The DJ is playing pleasant jazz with a dash of Rhumba and other classics as the attendants move from table to table waiting dutifully and politely to a fault.
We have our glassfuls of the bar’s signature cocktail, which is served only once in a while, and sit to enjoy the evening.
We follow that up with a whisky sour here and there and then my favourite gin cocktail with mint. I am drinking Gordon’s London Dry gin with tonic. I am even not sure if this is an appropriate drink to order in an old man’s bar.
The drink menu features only premium whiskies. I am a Gen Z and we tend to have little interest in premium whiskies unless they are mixed in innovative, colourful cocktails.
Research shows that Gen Z globally favours champagne and drinks with little or no alcohol over whiskies and beer. They just want to have fun with a higher percentage of Gen Z money spent on sweeter spirits like cognac, flavoured malt beverages, newer niche cocktails and wine.
Price is also a factor.
At this Cats Club, cocktails are selling for between Sh800 and Sh1,100. We had planned to join the VIP party area, just to get a feel and taste of how the rich think about and spend their money. We would later learn that in this establishment, the term ‘VIP’ does not apply. Only ‘important people’ relax and, possibly, cut deals.
Young people with drinks standing by counter while enjoying in a night club. PHOTO | POOL
Impeccable service
Unlike local estate establishments, most of these bars have more men than women. If these men were to swoop places, they would be shocked by the high number of female revellers in Nairobi.
Overall, the impeccable service, the ambience and the quality of the drinks exceeded our expectations. A true value for money, as they say.
One thing about such bars, Cats Club, and others in old high-end hotels, is loyalty, meaning longevity. Most of the bars that attract Gen Zs and millennials close down as fast as they are opened because we are rarely loyal to a name.
It is the fun, or perhaps DJ, that we chase. A spot check by BDLife shows that the maximum number of years that such clubs last is three years.
However, some of the old bars are making effort to attract young revellers.
At Fairmont The Norfolk, also a hotel with a rich heritage, things are changing. Mehdi Morad, the general manager says their approach to bar service is now intergenerational.
“We accommodate GenZs, millennials and the older generations,” he says.
However, Randy Ngala, public relations and marketing manager at Mövenpick Hotel & Residences in Nairobi says many Gen Zs are not so drawn to five-star hotel clubs because they do not fit into their energy. They would rather travel and explore different places and food than sit in a high-end bar and pay for expensive whisky.
GenZ in an old rich man’s bar. PHOTO | POOL
“I cannot say that we really are focused on attracting the Gen Z, because the kind of music, the energy they have doesn’t fit a five-star hotel. Some come but more of our clientele are business-focused and corporate so we tend to attract mature people. However, we have a different clientele who are okay with spending Sh10,000 on a bottle of whisky a night,” says Mr Ngala.
