In June 2011, the Nigerian hotel market welcomed a new entrant into its burgeoning offerings. That month witnessed the berthing of Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, in Victoria Island, Lagos; a 170room hotel.
Since the opening of the aptly flagship hotel about eight years ago, the Radisson Hotel Group is expanding fast, growing more hotels with many in the pipeline across the country today.
At present, Nigeria hosts three of the key brands of Radisson Hotel Group; Radisson Blu, Radisson and Park Inn By Radisson with presence in Lagos and Abeokuta and also looks to adding three other exciting brands in its Nigerian portfolio in 3-5 years in places like Abuja and Port Harcourt, Kano among others.
Some of the brands expected to berth in the country include; Radisson Collection, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson.
Lagos, which is the flagship city, hosts most of the Radisson Group Hotel outlets in Nigeria, with Abeokuta, a secondary city, exciting guests with Park Inn By Radisson.
However, the berthing of the brand in Nigeria has been a boost to the quality and quantity of hospitality offerings and the workforce, which are now in line with global best practice.
But the group is not resting on its oars. There have been continued efforts at repositioning and refreshing the brands to further excite, retain and grow guests across Nigeria.
Recently, all the hotels in the group’s operation in Nigeria engaged the travel media in a breakfast meeting to unveil developments across the hotels in the country.
Read also: Radisson Blu remains Africa’s fastest growing hotel brand
Kevin Kamau, district director, Nigeria, Radisson Hotel Group and general manager, Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos, Victoria Island, Lagos, led the team of hospitality experts including; Jaco Prinsloo, cluster general manager, Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja and Radisson Hotel Ikeja and Rita Opiah, general manager, Park Inn by Radisson Serviced Apartments, Victoria Island, Lagos, at the interactive session.
At the breakfast, which held at Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos, Victoria Island, Lagos, all the managers expressed how ready they were at pushing the brand further in Nigeria, and in line with the ‘Yes I Can’ attitude of the brand. The commitment to push the brand is complemented by the ongoing renovations and upgrades across the hotels in order to refresh the brand.
For Kamau, who is supervising a growing brand in Nigeria, it was not easy pushing the brand initially, but with the sustained quality assurance and improvement, personalized services, world-class facility offerings, strict maintenance culture, among others, the brand has performed beyond guests’ expectations and is wooing unprecedented patronage despite competition.
But the most important factors for the rapid growth of the brand in Nigeria, according to Kamau, are the confidence the Nigerian owners and investors have reposed in the brand and believe in the competency of the managers of the brand here to deliver on their jobs.
Going specific, Kamau said Radisson Blu Hotel Anchorage is upgrading its facilities in phases, starting with the room offering. At present, the Premium Room category is being upgraded with new look and feel. The walls now have contemporary and Scandinavian designs instead of the old tiles.
The bathroom amenities are upgraded as well to offer guests more relaxing options while in the bathroom, while more room facility offerings are added.
Also, the lounge is being upgraded to offer more excitement and access to all guests in the room categories on same floor where it is located.
For Jaco Prinsloo, cluster general manager, Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja and Radisson Hotel Ikeja, it is all good on his side as the hotels are also having facility upgrade with some mock-up rooms to show how the entire room offerings will look like after the upgrades. But he is delighted that guests are having fun across the two brands in Ikeja due to the worldclass facilities and service offerings. He insisted that Radisson Blu Ikeja offers the best of spa experience in Lagos at the Amani Spa, which has the first floatation chamber in Lagos.
As well, the hotels offer the best of facilities for corporate engagements, private outings and personalized experience.
Rita Opiah, general manager, Park Inn by Radisson Serviced Apartments, Victoria Island, Lagos, is excited with the upgrade in her hotel. Already, the restaurant is wearing new look, as well as, the menu offering.
The lounge is also touched, while quality amenities are getting into the right places in the hotel. She insisted that quality speaks for itself at Park In By Radisson and guests can always attest to that.
The upgrades, according to her, are necessary as the 57-room hotel changes from boutique style to service apartment for long staying guests.
The group has also relaunched its loyalty programmes, offering guests benefits and value for money across its global outlets.
Concluding, Kamua, said Radisson Hotel Group is impacting the Nigerian economy positively with 12,000 employees across its hotels in Nigeria, and has also engaged in corporate social responsibilities such as the support for cancer awareness. In line with that, the hotel dedicated a room to supporting cancer awareness and whatever revenue generated from the room is donated to the cause.
