KCB VENTURE 1 final

akes a splash
KCB Bank’s Sh5 billion loan to hotel
developer is tranforming Upper Hill as
the face of Kenya’s financial District
Hotels are all about the experience
guests carry home and not the silver
fork and knife laid out on the table, and
certainly not the brick and mortar that
make up the superstructure.
Mr. Jens Brandin, Radisson Blu’s Upper
Hill General Manager knows this just too
well; guests come for a reason other than
food and a bed. They are looking for an
experience.
He says it and does it with an African
ring as though he were echoing the words
masterfully written by celebrated novelist
Chinua Achebe in his classic ‘Things Fall
Apart’.
The towering Jens Brandin marched
into what is perhaps Nairobi’s most
modern hotel reception with the gait and
confidence of a maestro in front of an
accomplished orchestra on a busy August
mid-morning.
He was effortlessly fitting into four
roles all in under the three hours the KCB
Bank media crew was in the hotel; the
weight on his shoulders of hosting three
Heads of State and a Prime Minister, time
for our media crew, chaperoning a highpowered
diplomatic team on a tour of the
hotel to finding the time to keep up with
his maintenance staff. He gave not the
slightest indication that on his shoulders
was the burden of hosting the Heads of
State and numerous VIP delegations;
that actually the hotel was running at full
capacity.
“When you have a full hotel, the work
happens before. This is actually the fun
part,” he said.
As you enter the hotel lobby, you are
met by Nairobi’s roomiest hotel reception,
with its understated but elegant African
theme in the lobby and throughout the
open spaces.
To the right hand is a corridor leading
down to an array of shops, where the
high-end tourists or business clientele
indulge in a spot of retail therapy
between business, a work-out in the gym,
pampering sessions in the spa or a minisafari
to the Nairobi National Park to the
south, a 20-minute drive away.
The lobby with its comfy sets of sofas
eases out to the Chop House where you
can start a meal with grilled vegetables
and cured meats served on planchas
(hot metal plates), and then enjoy the
show as one of the hotel’s skilled servers
carve barbequed meat at your table while
watching the rest of an authentic African
meal being prepared in the open kitchen.
Alternatively, you can branch out to the
Larder restaurant and order a plate of an
international favorite, or try something
distinctly Kenyan. The Larder is open all
day with its alluring aesthetics enveloped
in warm lighting and charming ambiance
offering a top-end menu from slow-roasted
local meats to traditional fish stew.
Or further out on the southern
verandah at the Al Fresco Pool Bar & Grill
where guests can dine at the poolside with
a glass of wine while relishing a menu
designed by nutritionists to blend healthy
options with local cuisine, while enjoying
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