KENYA: Hotel Grading Goes On

Eight hotels in Nairobi County have been ranked five-star by the Tourism Regulatory Authority.

According to results published in a gazette notice on November 18, town hotels in Nairobi which were rated five-star were Villa Rosa Kempinski, Hemingways Nairobi, Sankara Nairobi, Fairmont The Norfolk and The Sarova Stanley.

Other hotels in Nairobi that got the five-star rating were Radisson Blu Hotel, Dusit D2 and Tribe Hotel. Of the more than 80 hotels classified by the agency, only 30 establishments were awarded star ratings.

Hotels that got the four-star rating were Crowne Plaza, Ole Sereni, House of Waine, Weston Hotel and Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi. Others rated four-star were Sarova Panafric, Fairview, Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club and The Boma.

In the three-star category was The Clarion Hotel, Ngong Hills Hotel, The Heron Portico, Panari Hotel, Marble Arch Hotel and Mountain Breeze Hotel.

Establishments ranked two-star were Central Park, Fahari Gardens, Eton, Boma Inn, Jacaranda Nairobi, West Breeze and After 40 hotels.

In other regions, Amboseli Sopa Lodge and Kibos Safari Camp in Kajiado County were rated three-star along with Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos County.

Westwood Hotel in Nyeri County was rated two-star and so were Ibis Hotel Nanyuki in Laikipia County, Ibis Hotel Nyeri, Maxoil Hotel in Laikipia. Ibis 2000 Hotel Karatina in Nyeri County got a one-star rating.

Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi was rated four-star while Bollywood Bites in Mombasa was ranked three-star.

The results were for the remaining six counties of Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Kitui, Makueni and Kajiado whose hotel classification was completed last month.

On Sunday, the agency’s director-general Kipkorir Lagat said the exercise was conducted fairly and the assessors had been certified by the East African Community secretariat.

Sarova Stanley general manager Paolo Marro was delighted with the results, saying the establishment was ranked a five-star due to its quality services. “The five-star rating is a confirmation of our commitment to offering our guests the true African experience,” he said.

In the previous results of hotel classification which was conducted in 41 counties across the country by the agency, only seven establishments had been rated five-star.

The agency had rated hotels from the regions of Nyanza, Western, North and South Rift, Central and Upper Eastern and at the Coast.

Those ranked five star establishments were Leopard Beach Resort and Swahili Beach Resort from Kwale County and Medina Palms, Watamu, in Kilifi County. Others were Mara Serena Safari Lodge and Olare Mara Kempinski from Narok County, Segera Retreat Lodge in Laikipia County and Lake Elmentaita Serena Camp in Nakuru County.

Mombasa County tourism hub did not feature in the list of five-star winners as its popular hotels were ranked four-star.

In Kisumu County, the top rating was a three-star with establishments such as Kisumu Hotel, Sovereign Hotel, The Vic Hotel and Imperial Hotel rated three-star.

Of the 228 establishments which were inspected by TRA certified assessors in the 41 counties, seven were rated five-star, 31 as four-star while 42 were ranked three-star.