Bondo hotels fully booked ahead of Fidel Odinga’s burial

Mourners signs condolence book Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s son Fidel at their Bondo home Thursday. [PHOTO: TITUS MUNALA/STANDARD]

SIAYA COUNTY: An accommodation shortage has hit Bondo town as hundreds of mourners troop to the town ahead of Fidel Odinga’s burial Saturday.

A spot check by The Standard revealed that most hotels were fully booked, forcing mourners to seek accommodation in Kisumu and Siaya.

As at Thursday, Sura View Hotel, which has 24 rooms, was fully booked and the situation was the same at Kings Club Hotel with 50 rooms and Pride Hotel with 53 rooms.

In some hotels, the management said they had allowed clients to share rooms but still pay full accommodation charges.

Some hotels have also hiked prices following the high demand. Pride Hotel Director Anne Oduor said they were still receiving inquiries over availability of rooms. “We have had several people being turned down and we believe the influx could be due to the big number of mourners expected in the area,” she said.

At Green Court Hotel there were few spaces and most of them had been ‘verbally’ booked. Hotel Manager Peter Otieno said most bookings were for today and tomorrow with most people checking out on Sunday morning.