At over 80, Outspan gracefully weathers the years

It was on New Year’s Day in 1928 when Sherbrooke Walker offered a bottle of Champagne to any of his invited friends who could coin the best name for a new hotel he had just built in Nyeri town.

One of the friends, Grace Barry, suggested The Outspan, meaning “Where at the end of the day’s journey, the traveller outspans the harness from weary oxen.”
And so the Outspan hotel, a traveller’s haven and one of the oldest tourist facilities in Kenya was born.

Unknown to Sherbrooke, he had just started a major tourism brand that would have a deep connection to British royalty.

Since then, queens, dukes, duchesses, earls, princes and even presidents have all visited the hotel.

Tucked between the Aberdare ranges and snowcapped Mt Kenya, the Outspan has since 1928 managed to maintain its vintage colonial look and changing times and management.

Visitors to the hotel are greeted by beautiful tropical gardens with peacocks wandering on well trimmed grass lawns.The exteriors of the old tile-roofed buildings are deceptively rustic -looking but the interiors are comfortable, modern and well designed.

Relics of the past which include photos and antique furniture are exhibited throughout the hotel.

From the Sherry restaurant, the hotel’s main banquet area, one can easily visualise Sherbrooke’s desire to create a relaxing luxurious place for visitors.

The baronial style restaurant is flanked on the east by beautiful grass lawns with flower gardens and on a clear day one can see the majestic snow capped Mt Kenya.

“His dream was to have a luxurious hotel where travellers could relax. In those days it was actually the only hotel with a bathtub and bidet,” said Mr Daniel Kariuki the hotel’s general manager.

The Kirinyaga tavern is a local pub at the hotel that offers guests drinks and la carte dishes.

Being taken through the Paxtu, a cottage built on the hotel grounds by the founder of the scouting movement, Lord Baden Powell, takes visitors back to pre-colonial Kenya.

“Baden Powell had come here as a messenger of the British army in 1906. He fell in love with the place and the climate and in 1933 he came back and indicated to Sherbrooke his desire to make this his second home,” said Benson Njoroge, the Paxtu guide.

Paxtu, now a gazetted national monument, attracts hundreds of scouts from all over the world every year on their annual pilgrimage to Baden Powell’s grave which is only two kilometres from the hotel.

Within the 45 acres of the hotel are three cottages with double bedrooms and bunk beds for children, 14 deluxe rooms and 28 spacious standard rooms.

The rooms are fitted with satellite TV, telephones, tea/coffee making machines and fire places. For active visitors, the hotel offers a swimming pool, tennis court, squash room and snooker room. A river along the Chania River provides visitors with an opportunity for birding.

Changing ownership
Now more than 80 years old and having changed ownership three times, the hotel is working to renew its image to stay on course in the competitive tourism world.

From a “Whites only” outfit referred to as Kwa woka by the locals, (kikuyu for Walker’s place), the hotel is now transforming itself by opening up to the local market. “We have tried to open up to the local market while still maintaining our high standards,” said Mr Kariuki.

By increasing its local marketing, the hotel has managed to boost its share of the domestic market which now accounts for up to 70 per cent of its total earnings, said Mr Kariuki.

The hotel is counting on the growing trend by Kenyans to eat out. Outspan has also become a major conference hub in the region, hosting training sessions and corporate gala nights.