Protea, Emin Pasha land luxury hotel awards

Protea Hotel Kampala

What you need to know:

World Luxury Hotel Awards. They recognise the best hotels as judged by business travellers who have been guests

Protea Hotel Kampala has been recognised as the Best Luxury Hotel in Uganda during the recently concluded World Luxury Hotel Awards held at Camps Bay, South Africa.

Emin Pasha, was recognised in the category of Luxury Boutique Hotel, was the only other Ugandan hotel to make the list of over 5,000 hotels spread out in over 50 categories.

This is Protea’s fifth award in the same category at the annual event, which is regarded as the business travel industry’s benchmark for excellence.

Located in the serene locale of upper Kololo, the hotel was largely recommended for its unrivalled 4Bs: Bed, Bathroom, Breakfast and Broadband which are vital to any traveller.

The voting guests recognised it as a four-star luxury facility with 59 luxurious rooms and 11 elegant suites, according to the awards website.
The hotel’s restaurant and bar, business centre, 24-hour reception, 24-hour room service and a fully air-conditioned gym got mentions too.

The Best Luxury Hotel award is given to the overall winner of the national category and it is one of the most coveted awards fought for among hundreds of hotels in their respective countries.

The awards provide luxury hotels and spas with recognition for their world-class excellence and service to guests and, accordingly, voting is mainly done by tourists.

The managing director Protea Hotels Uganda, Stuart Cook, said he is delighted with the consistence of the hotel’s high standards and was proud of the fifth accolade.

“Becoming great can be easier than staying great,” he said. “For us, teamwork and dedicated, passionate service have remained the keystones of guest relations at Protea Hotel Kampala. No matter how luxurious and beautiful your surroundings are, if the service is wanting, the entire stay is affected.”

Protea Hotels Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue, Mr Danny Bryer, said Uganda has a thriving local economy and showed excellent GDP growth prospects and he was glad Protea has contributed towards both.

“The future of hospitality growth is in Africa and we intend to be at the forefront of that development curve,” he said.

Protea is the largest hotel company in Africa with over 126 owned and managed properties in 10 African countries.

In Uganda the company manages three properties, including the Kampala Protea Hotel; the Entebbe Protea Hotel, which is adjacent to Entebbe International Airport and the Mbale Protea Hotel, located at the foothills of Mountain Elgon. A fourth property, the Hoima Protea Hotel is currently under development in Hoima.

Emin Pasha hotel Uganda

As tourism continues to shine as the top foreign exchange earner for Uganda, the hotel industry too has been growing alongside it to sustain the accommodation demands.

A survey by W Hospitality Group – based on the number of signed contracts by international and regional brands – also indicates that Uganda is the leading investment destination in East Africa for global hotel chains today. The Uganda hospitality industry is expected to create an extra 9,000 jobs this year.

“The industry is growing but we still need to do more in regard to promoting Uganda and to giving visitors more reasons than ever to come and enjoy our country, the Pearl of Africa,” said the Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association (UHOA) chairperson Susan Muhwezi.

“The good news though is that UHOA, along with the Uganda Tourism Board are at the forefront of this drive.”

Uganda currently has close to 6,400 rooms, up from 1,700 seven years ago. But with the steady increase in visitor numbers and the imminent oil production, the room capacity of Uganda is expected to grow by 40 per cent in the next 10 years or so.