Sankara Hotel
New luxury hotel set to open in Nairobi
Site considerations
According to the Project Head, Mr. Shyam Mohan Gahuri, in choosing to locate the hotel in Westlands, they considered several factors: “Westlands has become the new commercial, entertainment and cultural hub of Nairobi,” says Mr. Gahuri.
“With the substantial office space under development and the high prime rents it was a natural choice. It is also within easy reach of the UN and diplomatic offices in Gigiri as well as the airport. With the construction of the new by-passes and the upgrading of Thika Road into a super-highway, access to the airport will improve further.”
Situated on Woodvale Grove at the heart of Westlands, the seven storey contemporary Sankara Nairobi is a welcome addition to Kenya’s hospitality industry. With an impeccable modern design, the hotel has set new standards on how to construct within a confined and busy neighbourhood. Construction work commenced in May 2008 and the US$30 million, 156-room, 5-star hotel is scheduled to open its doors in mid 2010.
Design aspects
The hotel’s modern design can be credited to the clear concept the developers wanted to create; skillfully executed by architects Beglin Woods as well as an international interior design firm. Together they deftly accommodate all the required facilities and amenities within the confined area. The hotel primarily targets business travelers coming or transiting through Kenya. It also caters for the local Kenyan community with excellent entertainment facilities. Sankara Nairobi will combine international five star standards with personalized service and authentic new African flavour.
The tranquility of spacious rooms, stunning rooftop pool and world class spa creates the ideal environment for guests to relax and unwind – while the tempting choice of dining areas and carefully designed meeting spaces puts the hotel at the centre of Nairobi’s vibrant social and business life.
The windows are double-glazed to ensure rooms are sound-proof, guaranteeing guests a quiet and stress free time at the hotel. In addition there is basement parking for 100 cars, 156 guest rooms including seven junior suites and two executive suites, all ranging in size from 32sq metres to 76 sq metres, four restaurants, three large multi-functional meeting rooms, a spa with nine treatment rooms, a club lounge and a gym... Sankara Nairobi will also feature the most authoritative collection of contemporary Eastern African art.
The rooms feature many unique amenities including a plug and play panel that allows for seamless connection between the flat screen TV and technological devices, ergonomic chair, posturepedic mattresses for optimum comfort and Italian marble bathrooms with separate glass-walled showers and bathtub.
Environmental considerations and safety
To conserve energy, low emission solar controlled glass has been used, and excess heat from the air-conditioning system is used to heat up water. The hotel has a reverse osmosis plant to clean borehole water to portable levels. In fact, the cleaned water is of the same quality as bottled water. The water treatment plant is a first for Nairobi. There is also a building management system that is centrally controlled for the lights and air-conditioning; this will be a key energy conserving tool.
Sankara maintains the highest international standards in health and safety. All areas can be exited through five fire escape routes. It is supplied with a sprinkler system backed by smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and hose reel system. For enhanced security, the hotel has installed a complete access control and CCTV camera system.The kitchen too meets the highest international standards. Already, management is working with SGS to get the HACCP standard.
Challenges
Being located within a confined space has posed several challenges: access to the site by contractors has been problematic affecting construction work. Importing most of the material has been tough with regards to shipping and clearing at the port. It has also been logistically challenging to coordinate the many foreign contractors and suppliers. Recognizing that much of the design and facilities on offer were innovative for the market, the developers needed to use the skills of experienced contractors which can often be expensive.
Unique features
One of the hotel’s unique features is the adventurous seventh floor roof-top swimming pool, which has a partial acrylic floor, the first of its kind in the East African region. The pool is built using 100mm thick clayoned acrylic imported from Malaysia and will undoubtedly set the facility apart from the rest in the industry. Once it opens its doors and is fully operational, Sankara Nairobi will no doubt leave an indelible mark on Nairobi’s burgeoning hospitality industry.
