GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER – NAIROBI’S LEADING 5 STAR HOTEL
(Posted 22nd November 2016)
East Africa’s leading hotel group, Tourism Promotion Services (TPS) trading as Serena Hotels has earlier today announced that the Nairobi Serena Hotel – a member of the Leading Hotels of the World and consistently voted Nairobi’s leading business hotel and receiver of a number of National and International awards and accolades – is set to undergo a extensive expansion and refurbishment program in two phases over an 18 month period, commencing 1st December 2016. Acknowledged for exceptional quality, efficiency, service and five-star hospitality, the Nairobi Serena Hotel has been operational for over 40 years.
The expansion and refurbishment program will make Nairobi Serena Hotel the premier city hotel in Nairobi for accommodation, fine dining, conferencing and wellness (through the Maisha Health Club and Spa).
The renovations will significantly improve the quality of the hotel’s décor and facilities including additional guest spaces. It will reflect a pan-African flair featuring art and inspiration from Ethiopia, the Maghreb, West Africa and East Africa. The scope of works includes: better function and meeting rooms including a new ballroom; a parking silo for approximately 100 cars; reconfigured and upgraded guest rooms; a new top floor of guest rooms; a new dedicated executive lounge; a new specialty restaurant; a revamped hair saloon and guest shop; a completely refitted back of house area with improved infrastructure, security as well as arrival experience (entrance, lobby, porte cochere).
The first phase, to be completed in September 2017, will comprise new front of house areas – the entrance, porte cochere, and reception; a refurbished North Wing with remodeled guest rooms and a new top floor of guest rooms and executive floor. The new parking silo will also be ready at that time.
During construction, work will only take place from 0800H to 1700H on weekdays and 0900H to 1300H on Saturdays, with no activity scheduled for Sundays.
To guarantee the regular superior Serena guest experience and uninterrupted operations, will all affected services be relocated. Guests can still enjoy the five star accommodation, the Mandhari – our fine dining restaurant, the Café Maghreb – the hotel’s all day dining restaurant, the Ethiopian inspired Aksum bar, the well-manicured gardens for functions, three meeting rooms, swimming pool and pool bar and the Maisha Gym and Spa.
Serena Hotels, ahead of the work commencing, has carried out additional staff training and reinforced the front office and guest relations’ teams. The Management team will continue to be on call 24 hours a day at the numbers provided.
Meanwhile is work continuing at the Kampala Serena Hotel with main construction of the additional 36 suites and guest rooms nearly complete, then only awaiting the interior finish which should be completed by mid 2017. At that stage will a new executive lounge be created on the present 6th floor for guests with access privileges.
At the Dar es Salaam Serena is work also continuing on schedule with a completely remodeled hotel entrance, lobby and ground floor lounge with added work then continuing in the restaurants and other public areas before attending to the rooms for a full refurbishment. Also new is the expanded Maisha Spa which for many guests today is a regular highlight of their visits.
The ongoing works is testament to Serena’s intent to see their city hotels, in the face of upcoming added competition in the five star market segment, remain firmly entrenched on top of the big league and not just retain but gain market share in the three cities of Nairobi, Kampala and Dar es Salaam, when the construction and refurbishment exercises are completed.
