Carlson Rezidor could make an entry into Kampala at the expense of Hilton

IS THE NEVER FINISHED KAMPALA HILTON SET TO BECOME A RADISSON BLU?

(Posted 21st January 2017)

Information has emerged that the hotel on Kampala’s Nakasero Hill, long – for the past 10 years – said to become the Kampala Hilton, is now being taken over by management of the Carlson Rezidor Group, very likely under the Radisson Blu brand.
As reported here precisely a year ago already had Hilton’s management team, while preparing for the opening, left Kampala in haste after – according to insider reports – falling out big time with the Hamid brothers, locally known as the AYA brothers, who have become a byword for difficult owners with more ambition than capacity.

Should indeed Carlson Rezidor have come into play could it be a mere months before the hotel can conceivably open its doors under a new brand, leading to the removal of the Hilton logo which had been put on the building itself, giving the Kampala public the misguided impression that indeed a Hilton Hotel would soon open its doors in Uganda’s capital.
Some significant work remains to be done in finishing the hotel’s interior but given Carlson Rezidor’s capacity should the challenge not be too great for them to live up to.
The hotel group under adverse circumstances last year managed to open the Radisson Blu in Kigali together with the adjoining Kigali Convention Centre in time for the African Union Summit. The year before did they pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat when they opened the Radisson Blu in Nairobi, also under adverse construction conditions, a testament to the ability of the respective management teams to deliver.
Armed with such know how could the hotel’s owners count themselves lucky that Carlson Rezidor decided to, as has been suggested from sources close to the owners, enter into an agreement with them, given their track record over the past ten years. Since 2006, their hotel was due to open for the 2007 Commonwealth Summit, did the building remain a construction site until about two years ago when the completed exterior work and window fitting finally weatherproofed the structure.
Watch this space for further updates as and when added information becomes available.

Link to the article written a year ago about this hotel: https://atcnews.org/2016/01/21/the-never-ending-woes-of-what-was-to-become-the-kampala-hilton-hotel/