With the scarcity of presidential suites, Nairobi’s luxury hotels have been forced to improvise as they scramble to cash in on the wave of VIPs and VVIPs arriving for the Africa-France Summit.
At least 30 presidents were expected in the country for the two-day summit that began on Monday and concludes today.
By yesterday, 10 heads of state and their entourages had already landed in Nairobi, among them leaders from Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Botswana, Egypt, and Somalia, alongside Ethiopia’s Prime Minister and France’s President, with more dignitaries expected to jet in today.
Hotels with presidential suites are charging anywhere between $5,000 (Sh640,000) and $10,000 (Sh1.3 million) a night.
To meet the surge in demand, several high-end and boutique hotels have refurbished their properties, transforming executive rooms and deluxe spaces for the visiting VIPs.
‘While we do not have a dedicated presidential suite, we have executive suites and apartments that accommodate high-level delegations,’ an official from one of the properties said.
So just how many presidential suites does Nairobi actually have?
‘There are about 15. Sarova Stanley, Sankara, Villa Rosa Kempinski and Tribe each have one, then Emara Ole Sereni , Serena , Radisson Blu , Boma and Hemingway each have two. We are one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. Dar es Salaam, Uganda, Rwanda, they don’t come close. As a matter of fact, we are now competing with Johannesburg in Africa,’ Mohammed Hersi Pollman Tours, Director of Operations told BDLife.
Although that number of presidential suites is nowhere near enough for a summit of this scale, Mr Hersi, who is also a former Kenya Tourism Federation chairman, says Nairobi, is well placed to host as many as 50 presidents at any given moment.
‘A presidential suite is just a name. A president does not necessarily have to stay in a presidential suite. What matters is that you have three rooms together, a living room, a bedroom, and at no point should the bedroom be visible to anyone accessing the living room,’ he explains. According to Mr Hersi, the most important aspect that determines where a president stays is always the security features.
For the most security-conscious leaders, an entire floor would be reserved, and elevators are reprogrammed.
‘When a president is considered highly sensitive, they may even take a whole floor. That could mean a dozen rooms, including rooms for security, catering teams, and personal aides. Access to that floor is completely disabled for everybody else. If your card allowed you to go to the 10th floor, it will not now. It’s only given to these guys until they leave,’ explains Mr Hersi.
Long before any president lands, rooms are secured as early as six months in advance, often without names attached as to which high-level delegate will be staying in the suite.
‘They’ll just say, ‘we want this room secured.’ Then the hotel removes those suites from inventory, and they will no longer be available online or offline for booking. You may not even know which president you’re hosting, but you might start guessing when you notice which embassy is showing the most interest in your hotel,’ explains Mr Hersi.
For instance, Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill had its presidential suite booked in January.
‘Requests for our presidential suite and other top-tier accommodations began coming in shortly after the Africa-France Summit was confirmed earlier this year. This level of demand is consistent with what we typically see during high-level international engagements in Nairobi, where premium suites are often the first to be secured. The hotel is currently operating at full occupancy,’ Clinton Thom, the general manager of Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill, told BDLife.
Once the VIP checks in, the experience is meticulously choreographed and bespoke-tailored to the requirements and needs of the guest, which also informs the premium rates a hotel will charge.
‘Rates for our presidential suite and other premium accommodations are tailored based on the specific requirements of each stay, including length of stay, level of personalisation, and any additional security or service needs,” he said.
In most the hotels, the presidential suite sit at the very top of room categories, reflecting the level of space, privacy, and dedicated service it offers.
When a foreign president jets in, the high-level dignitary personnel detail takes over, with the hotel staff offering support when needed. A personal butler manages all in-room dining, with the food first handled by the president’s own trusted aide.
‘They will have tested what they’re going to eat and drink. Dietary requirements are shared only on a need-to-know basis by the president’s handler,’ adds Mr Hersi.
To some extent, hotels get unusual requests from guest presidents.
‘I know a president in East Africa who, the first thing they do is to order flowers to be removed from the rooms. Most presidents don’t trust flowers. A flower can contain something, you know,’ Mr Hersi adds.
Some leaders arrive with their own soaps, lotions, and amenities.
‘A head of state cannot just apply anything they find in a room. Just the way they’re careful about what they eat, they’re also careful about what they apply to their skin. Some even fly in with their own bedsheets and pillow cases,’ adds Mr Hersi.
The architecture of the suites themselves also matters. Modern presidential suites are designed almost like mini bunkers wrapped in luxury.
The windows are double-glazed and often fitted with bomb-resistant glass, while doors are fireproof. These are among the requirements for a presidential suite.
‘One of the rules is that there must be an exit route away from the main door. At Emara Ole-Sereni, for example, the suite is duplex-style. A president can enter on one floor and exit from another if there is an emergency,’ Mr -Hersi explains.
Ironically, Hersi says presidential suites are not always the biggest money-makers for hotels.
‘You sacrifice several rooms to create one presidential suite, which will only be occupied on occasions like this. So you’re not really making a business from it most of the year. But it gives you bragging rights. It gives you a five-star status.’
But for moments such as the Africa-France Summit, it changes everything, with financial ripple effects that go far beyond hotel bills.
‘When they come to town, you make sure to bleed them financially. This is when you charge the premium. Because when President Emmanuel Macron comes, he doesn’t come alone. He comes with CEOs from Airbus, Renault, Peugeot, you name them. These are high-level individuals.’