CNN TRAVEL NAMES THE KAMPALA SERENA HOTEL AS ONE OF SEVEN IN THE WORLD LOVED BY ROYALTY
(Posted 20th July 2019)
Selina Julien of CNN has listed seven hotels and resorts around the world, she says are fit for royalty and in fact loved by them.
Clivenden House in the UK is among those as are the Gstaad Palace in Switzerland, the Spice Island Beach Resort in Grenada, the Cheval Blanc Randheli in the Maldives, the Tivoli Palácio de Seteais in Portugal and the Emirates Palace in the United Arab Emirates. Notably was the Kampala Serena Hotel named too in this listing, a huge compliment of course for Serena Hotels, which owns and manages what is no doubt Uganda’s finest 5 star property. It is also an endorsement by CNN of Destination Uganda, which over the past several years has been named repeatedly in key travel media as a must visit country, including baggingthe title ‘Best‘ in several instances and categories.
Says Selina about the hotel: ‘Uganda, fondly known as the Pearl of Africa, has been welcoming royal dignitaries for years with [the] Kampala Serena Hotel hosting the likes of the Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko of Japan, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, H.R.H. The Aga Khan and Mswati III, King of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family.
Surrounded by 17 acres of manicured water gardens, the resort is a peaceful sanctuary in the heart of Uganda’s vibrant capital, Kampala. With architecture and design influenced by the country’s cultural and natural heritage, the 188 guests rooms and suites are elegantly furnished boasting an impressive collection by local artisans.
High-profile guests praise the exceptional service, as it’s impossible to leave this much-loved flagship Serena resort without being enchanted by the genuine warmth of Ugandan hospitality‘.
During a recent rebuilding was in fact a second and arguably the best Presidential Suite available in Uganda created in the hotel, when Serena added a further 36 rooms and suites in a new wing over the Maisha Spa.
The hotel now also sports an Executive Lounge on the main wing’s fifth floor, accessible by guests entitled to use the lounge by staying in one of the hotel’s suites or for having reached the top tier of Serena’s client loyalty programme.
The Champagne Bar of the hotel is the only one of its kind in Uganda with dozens of leading bubbly brands available from the sommelier and the Pearl Restaurant, also located on the mezzanine floor of the hotel, has been repeatedly named as Uganda’s best fine dining restaurant.
Executive Chef Eshton has earned his keep time and again when preparing meals for the very royals Selina Julien has been talking about and receiving their rave reviews for his culinary creations.
Uganda’s tourism industry has been on an upward curve for many years now with visitors not only coming to track the famous mountain gorillas – Uganda is the only country in the region with two gorilla national parks – but also to see some of the other 13 additional species of primates, the country’s rivers – including the Source of the River Nile – lakes and mountains.
And of course, when royalty thinks highly of a destination and a particular hotel, those should be added reasons for ordinary folks to also get on a plane and visit the Pearl of Africa.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/hotels-where-royals-stay/index.html
