Hilton Hotel to open in 2019
Kaone Maje | Friday December 14, 2018 13:30
The hotel, funded by the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund, is currently undergoing final touches, its general manager, Evan Harrington told journalists on Tuesday.
Harrington said the 147-roomed hotel, which is a stone’s throw away from i-Towers and opposite Room 52 Hotel, would feature offices, restaurants, a gym, swimming pool and conference rooms, amongst others. Our focus is on ensuring that we redefine the nature of service in the hotel industry market, with every effort and investment made in ensuring today’s busy travellers have a bright and satisfying experience,” he said.
Group Five, a citizen-owned company, as the main contractor built the hotel. There were 12 other domestic sub-contractors, nine of which are citizen-owned while three are Botswana-based companies owned by foreigners. Initially the hotel was expected to be operational in the first quarter of this year following the delay by an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement about two years ago.
The general manager said about 75% of the hotel’s employees are youth with more than 90% being locals.
Further efforts have been made to empower Batswana including the use of local art designs on the walls of the hotel to beautify the building and create a more natural environment.
“We recognise that youth are very much the future of Botswana, and the high number of unemployed youth is a challenge we are privileged to help alleviate even in a small way, not only through gainful employment, but through investing in their careers with training and real experience to drive their futures,” Harrington said.
Botswana’s Hilton Garden Inn will be the Hilton Hotel group’s 12th hotel in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently Hilton Hotels boast of 4,300 hotels in six continents. The group has been operating for more than 90 years in 94 countries.
The Hilton Garden Inn offers various rooms ranging from standard king, twin rooms, and suites to interconnected rooms. Unlike other hotels locally, Harrington said clients have an option of choosing a room, payments, booking, check in and out done through the Hilton Honors mobile app.
“All rooms are fitted with Africa’s very first digital key, Hilton’s mobile enabled room key technology that allows guests to simply and securely unlock their room door using their smartphone,” he said.
The hotel also has a 24-hour business centre, four meeting rooms fitted with A/V equipment, three boardrooms, fitness centre as well as the outdoor pool.
The hotel also has a guest reward programme that lets guests earn both hotel stay and airline miles for the same stay at nearly 5,000 hotels globally.