138 MORE ROOMS AND A HUGE CONFERENCE CENTRE PART OF THE OLE SERENI EXPANSION
(Posted 31st October 2017)
Location, Location and Location – how often have we heard that trio of reasons for the success, or the failure of a hotel.
The Ole Sereni, built right at the boundary of the Nairobi National Park with just the fence between park and the hotel compound, for sure cannot complain about location and is now ready to cash in some more as the construction on the plot next door progresses.
Set almost half way between Nairobi’s international airport and Wilson Airport where most of the bush and beach flights originate or return to, does the hotel offer two unique reasons for guests to choose to stay there.
One of course is the unrestricted view into the national park – a water hole is being dug just a hundred metres from the boundary fence – and will be supplied with water by the hotel at their expense. That measure alone will in the dry season attract plenty of game there, predators included, adding yet another spectacle for the guests of the hotel who can sit on the hotel terrace, drink in hand and camera at the ready, making the Ole Sereni – almost at least – the leading treehotel in Nairobi.
(The power lines, presently an eyesore, will be moved underground for the stretch outside the hotel compound to give guests unrestricted views over the Nairobi National Park – the new waterhole clearly seen from the hotel)
The other reason is the closeness to both airports and a turnoff from the Southern Bypass which allows for swift access / departure, avoiding the otherwise notorious traffic jams.
But truth told, there are more reasons to stay at this particular hotel for tourists and business / conference visitors, food being one of them. A recent visit resulted in sampling the Asian Seafood night in the hotel’s main restaurant adjoining the reception, where a large sushi selection made the choices simple. A steak restaurant on the fourth floor of the hotel too offers plenty of meat cuts and a third casual restaurant can also be found on the first floor.
(Breakfast chef Judith went out of her way to produce her first ever Egg Benedict for my morning meal and she got the thumbs up for her effort and the result)
The ongoing construction next door, smartly concealed as the picture on top shows, will provide 400 parking spaces, thousands of square feet of meeting and conference rooms and notably another 120 rooms plus 18 serviced apartments for longer staying guests who however prefer to have hotel services and restaurants attached to their patch.
When ready, suggestions have been made that part of the add on facilities may come on line in late 2018 though 2019 seems a more likely date given the challenges other hotel developers have encountered to complete not just construction per se but in particular the interior finishing to high standards, will the Ole Sereni more than double in size.
(English Point Marina and Hotel in Mombasa, now under Ole Sereni management contract)
Karl Hala, formerly of InterContinental Hotels where he worked as Director of Africa Operations and General Manager in Nairobi and Lagos among other places, has a few weeks ago joined the Ole Sereni as Group General Manager. In that capacity he also overseas the management of English Point Marina, which has come under the Ole Sereni’s management arm and it is understood that negotiations to acquire another beach property are at an advanced stage, to be announced here when the ink has dried on the contract.
Exciting times in the Kenyan hospitality industry where home grown investors decide more often now for home grown management solutions rather than handing their properties to large international chains where a hotel then often ends up as a mere number.
Also see the TripAdvisor review about the hotel via https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294207-d1586993-r534000755-Ole_Sereni-Nairobi.html
