LONRHO PLANS RETURN TO KENYA’S HOTEL SCENE WITH EASY HOTEL BRAND
The emerging partnership between Lonrho and Sir Stelios, already evident in the aviation sector with the joint venture called ‘FastJet’, appears set to intensify when plans became known during the just ended Africa Hotel Investment Conference at the Nairobi InterContinental Hotel, that the two corporate giants were about to introduce the ‘Easy Hotels’ brand to Kenya.
Lonrho had sold their hotel interests to Fairmont, a brand of Kingdom Hotels, before then divesting of a number of other key holdings in Kenya, reducing their corporate footprint in East Africa considerably while maintaining if not increasing the same in West Africa. It is expected, that the hotel deal, which reportedly is valid for the entire continent, not just Kenya, will see a number of these branded hotels come up in future years, probably alongside the roll out of ‘FastJet, covering the destination cities the new airline is aiming to fly to. Information from Nairobi in fact speaks of an advanced stage of these plans with the first hotel already coming on line in the second quarter of 2013, though no specific location has been given at this time other than a wish list of places where the promoters are looking for suitable spaces or available buildings, if not operating hotels which could be acquired and converted. Watch this space for regular and breaking news from East Africa’s vibrant hospitality sector.
7 Responses
The name sounds so corny…”Easy Hotels” eeek…
The name was chosen by Sir Stelios following the huge success of EasyJet, creating a chain of hotels in the UK and elsewhere … I hope that explains it a little. Thanks for reading my blog.
W.
Quick question – was Q2 2013 floated as the projected date for entering Kenya, or opening the first easyHotel on the continent? Easyhotels claimed earlier this year it would be opening a Jo’burg property in Nov 2012, but the brand is being awfully quiet if that is still the case. Thanks!
They have gone quiet here too but yes, indication given at the time of filing that article was first half of next year … time will tell.
Thanks for reading my blog.
W.
does anyone have an update on whether they have started and/or when they might start construction..
Gone notably quiet and even my Nairobi based sources are unable to dig up any further news or developments. Thanks for reading my blog.
W.