SERENA HOTELS SIGN FINANCE DEAL WITH FRANCE’S PROPARCO
(Posted 25th August 2015)
Serena Hotels and Proparco last evening signed a 20 million US Dollar financing deal which East Africa’s leading hotel group will use to expand and refurbish its Kenyan portfolio of resorts, safari lodges and hotels.
Serena’s Kenyan flagship property, the Nairobi Serena Hotel, will next year see the addition of conference and banqueting facilities but also a facelift of the public areas and the rooms. Other investments in the Kenyan properties will continue as has been the case in the past. In a related development did the company just spend over 55 million Kenya Shillings to replace game drive vehicles in some of their key lodges like Mara Serena, Amboseli Serena, Kilaguni Serena and Ol Pejeta based Sweetwaters Safari Camp. These latest 4×4’s offer every guest a window seat and feature bird and game reference books, binoculars, a built in fridge, powersockets and even air condition, all ensuring that Serena’s discerning clientele does get the best.
It was also confirmed that the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel will also undergo a major refurbishment of rooms and public areas, starting from January next year and see additional dining facilities added to the popular hotel.
Similar plans exist for the Kampala Serena Hotel, where, also starting early next year, a further 32 rooms will be added besides more conference and banqueting facilities. In both properties, Dar es Salaam and Kampala, is Proparco a shareholder.
Serena’s CEO Mahmud Janmohamed, after signing the deal with Proparco’s CEO Claude Periou, commented: ‘Serena’s hotels, lodges and resorts distinguish themselves through their contribution to the local economy, their good governance, the training of skilled manpower, the involvement of craft industries and through sensitive conservation of the surrounding area. This includes placing priority on the hiring and training of local residents for employment at all levels’.
Indeed has the hotel group weathered Kenya’s tourism downturn better than many others, neither laying any staff off, shutting down properties or cutting salaries – something other hotel companies were forced to do – even though other benefits were reduced in line with the company’s financial performance.
With the worst now over and the tourism sector gathering momentum again is Serena the first of Kenya’s hospitality majors to announce a refurbishment programme for key properties worth 20 million US Dollars.
Serena’s investments in the wider Eastern African region cover key city, beach and safari locations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda while also owning and operating Maputo’s grand ol’ dame of hospitality, the Polana Hotel.
