Mombasa County gets it's first five star hotel

Celebrations as Pride Inn Paradise Hotel gets five star ratings. [File, Standard]

Pomp and celebrations yesterday marked the official unveilling of Mombasa County's only five star beach hotel - Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort Convention Centre and Spa.

Led by Managing Director, Pride Inn Hotels, Mr Hasnain Noorani ,hotel staff and guests joined in an elaborate ceremony outside the hotel's lawns to celebrate the victorious achievement.

Noorani said that as investors in the hospitality industry, they have been encouraged by the stewardship of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary, Mr Najib Balala.

''We wish to salute the entire national and county governments for enabling business thrive by ensuring that there are support infrastructures in place like security ,road networks and telecommunication to mention a few,'' Noorani said.

Pride Inn Paradise Hotel now joins four other hotels at the Kenyan Coast that have received five star ratings.

These include  Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa, Leopard Beach Hotel, Swahili Beach Hotel ( all in Diani Kwale County) and the Medina Palms in Watamu , Kilifi County.

Classification of hotels, restaurant and lodges is a mandatory exercise carried out by the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA).

Chief guest at the event , Mr Fawz Rashid who is also the County Executive Committee member in charge of Tourism and Trade  lauded the management of Pride Inn Hotel for striving to give the best.

'' We applaud the management of  this particular resort in  developing the facility which today boasts of 240 rooms  for accomodation ,a 2500 conference seating capacity and a unique safari themed  aqua park for kids  entertainement,'' Rashid said.

Within a short time of its existance , the resort has  been able to successfully host many international  conferences, key among them the Skal Congress in 2018.

''The opening of  this hotel three years ago brought in 100 jobs to the local Mombasa  community . We remain upbeat that with the latest star rankings , there will be more opportunities  for qualified personnel to get employed,'' Rashid said.

He added that as a department within the county government, they are keen to ensure that they work on strengthening the competitiveness of Mombasa as a popular tourist destination for both leisure and business.