Nigeria: Southern Sun Hotel Berths in Lagos.
Location:
The hotel is centrally located in the mixed and prime business and residential neigbourhood of Ikoyi, Lagos not far from Lagos lagoon and Bar beach. The location is also not far from Lagos Central Business Districts of Marina and Victoria Island, home to several banking institutions and oil companies. It is therefore strategically sited to attract the high net worth clients that crave for a hotel of such high class.
Construction:
Once the new owners were handed over the sealed deal of the purchase, preparation commenced in earnest for the upgrade and redevelopment of the complex to a four and a half star hotel; befitting the area. Demolition of two old structures started immediately.The old hotel had 4 major blocks namely Azikiwe, Jaja, Uthman Dan Fodio and Oduduwa
The first phase of the project was to develop the Oduduwa block into a 195 key four and a half star hotel, comprising of standard and executive rooms, standard suites and executive suites.
Construction came on stream with a package signed by Dori Construction Limited after a competitive bidding in December 2004. The ground breaking was done in 2005 and the contractors moved to site. The consultancy team was a collaboration of Nigerian and South African firms. The agreement as signed with Dori was to cost N1.9 billion (67 million USD) with a one year construction program. The first block has been completed with the hotel commencing operation in May 2009 under the management of Southern Sun Hotel Group.
The new Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos, is a redevelopment of the old Ikoyi Hotel purchased from the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the Privatisation of Public Institutions Scheme (PPSI) embarked upon by the government in 2004 by a group of Nigerian investors under the name Beta Consortium Limited. The hotel was one of the over twenty chain of hotels managed by the now moribund Nigerian Hotels Limited, a hospitality company owned by the Federal Government.
Facilities:
Facilities in the hotel complex compares favorably with what obtains in the best of Nigerian hotel industry. Apart from the luxuriously furnished rooms, the hotel boasts of lounges, gymnasium, water fountain, sauna, restaurants, function and meeting rooms, swimming pool, board room, steam room, changing room among other amenities.
Finishing:
The interior design theme is a mixed African ethnic and contemporary styles that create a warm and appealing ambience in the public places as evidenced in the interplay of pastel hues and striking primary colours. The fitting out of the interior is a Nigerian and South African collaboration.
Porcelain tiles and granite were employed in wet areas and high quality lights were installed to create the right ambience within and outside the complex. Due consideration was also given to the environment with strategic and lush landscaping.
Construction challenges:
Though construction is still ongoing on the second phase, a number of constraints came up due to some extraneous factors. Project cost and time duration for completion were overrun due to poor information, ordering of materials with the associated headaches, statutory challenges from town planning authority and fluctuating foreign exchange rates.
The project that was initially hoped to be completed with N3.5 billion(26 million USD) has shot to N5 bilion(33 million USD) due to cost overuns.
Second Phase: The second phase of the entire project is a mixed residential apartments and office blocks with provisions for a shopping mall and entertainment complex.
Project Team:
Project Owners: Beta Consortium Limited.
Contractor: Dori Construction Limited.
Architect: Klif Consultants Lagos and Stauch Forster Associates
Electrical Consultants: KOA Associates & RWP Associates
Mechanical: CA Consultants& Spoormaker & Partners.
C&QS: Tillyard Ltd Lagos & MLC
Structural Engineers: Morgan, Omonitan and Abe
MEP: Etco Ltd.
Project Managers: JHI Ltd.
Furniture: Malaika Design Furniture Ltd, Lagos.
