Five-star luxury by the lagoon
Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, a five star establishment owned by Anchorage Leisure, an arm of the Honeywell Group conglomerate, recently opened for business.
On Thursday, May 19, the management of the hotel located along Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos, took the media on a facility tour of the striking edifice which overlooks the lagoon towards Ikoyi.
At the end of the tour, Oba Otudeko, Chair of Honeywell Group and owner of the Radisson Blu, addressed a media gathering alongside Kurt Ritter, CEO, The Rezidor Hotel Group, Peter Tichy, GM, and Moyo Ogunseinde, one of the architects behind the hotel's stunning designs.
"We are here propelled by a dream which is to impact society. This achievement is consistent with the real estate part of our conglomerate. It's our desire to continue to work with the government of Nigeria to drive development locally," said Otudeko.
"We believe in rewarding those who work with us and the partnership between us and the Rezidor Group is just beginning. Nigeria is ready for investment, to welcome friends to invest in tourism here," he added.
In his speech, Ritter revealed that, "the Honeywell Group has chosen us from many competitors to manage this hotel." He added that, "As a European Company it is unique that our main focus in the last four/five years is Africa."
The Rezidor Group
The Rezidor Hotel Group, which started off in 1994 in Europe and the Middle East, has expanded from 18 hotels to about 400 outlets in over 60 countries of the world. The group also boasts brands such as Hotel Missoni and Park Inn.
"Our strategy is that we would like to be in capital cities and go into the resort market," Ritter said. He stated some of the challenges of the brand in conquering the African market as cultural differences, legal framework, lack of experienced professionals, and local banks typically unwilling to offer long term loans, among others.
He, however, noted that not all the challenges are negative. "Africa is one of Rezidor's most important regions for future business development," he said.
Responding to a question about the delay in the opening of the hotel, Otudeko said that, "I like to believe that all stakeholders have learnt lessons from the delay. The government has learned that with the private sector's entrepreneurial drive, development can be faster."
Unique design
Ogunseinde, who designed the luxurious hotel, revealed that, "the aim was to come up with a unique design different from any other thing that exists in Lagos and the location lent itself to those qualities."
"We worked with an interior decorator who designed other Radisson Blu Hotels. We also incorporated the Nigerian culture into the design, as can be seen from the artworks and paintings displayed," she added.
They also took the liberty of including two special rooms for the disabled in the 170 room arrangement and even the standard rooms are handicap-friendly. "We look forward to increasing the ratio of disabled rooms to abled rooms," Ogunseinde said.
The features
The Rezidor Group will be managing the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel for Anchorage Leisure, a company substantially owned by the Honeywell Group.
Location is a plus for the hotel as it is situated along the Lagos Lagoon in addition to being located in the nerve centre of the city. The Radisson Blu is a business hotel with 170 guest rooms including 8 luxurious suites; 120 rooms have been completed.
One of the main attractions is the outdoor break out space/terrace overlooking the Lagos lagoon. The terrace sits over 200 people and is a nice spot for sunbathing.
The hotel also has a boat club called ‘The Anchorage Boat Club' and the jetty is also part of the club, which is strictly members only. Members can take a ride in speedboats from the jetty to explore the areas around the lagoon.
The Radisson Blu also boasts of a gym with an in-house trainer, two boardrooms, six multifunctional meeting and event venues, voyage restaurant, surface bar and grill overlooking the lagoon, business lounge, the view bar, outdoor swimming pool, spa treatment, and steam rooms.