NAIROBI, Kenya– The Best Western Plus Meridian Hotel, a well-known hospitality property in Nairobi, has been listed for sale at Sh1.29 billion, according to real estate firm Knight Frank.
Located on the outskirts of the Central Business District, the hotel has for decades been seen as a major player in the city’s hospitality sector.
First established as the Meridian Hotel, the six-floor property features 119 guest rooms, a rooftop pool, spa and wellness facilities, gym, conference halls, restaurants, a lounge, bar, and coffee shop.
The sale adds to a series of high-profile hotels that have either exited the Kenyan market or shut operations in recent years due to a mix of challenges. In August 2020, the InterContinental Hotel Nairobi closed its doors, while Hilton Nairobi, after more than five decades of service, followed in December 2022.
Kenya Hotel Keepers Association Chairman Mike Macharia, however, dismissed suggestions that the sector is in distress, insisting that the closures have been driven by ownership choices rather than a collapse of the market.
“The industry is doing okay, and we have seen more hotels opening up in Kenya in the last year alone, which speaks to a robust sectoral growth,” he said.
“For the hotels that are shifting and shutting, maybe the ownership has felt a need to remodel or simply exit the Kenyan market for their personal reasons. This, however, does not reflect on the broader sector outlook. It could be that maybe business want good for them.”
Government data shows that the hospitality sector expanded by just 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025, a steep drop compared to the 38.1 percent growth recorded in the same quarter of 2024.
Hotel bed-night occupancy improved to 10.2 million in 2024 from 8.6 million in 2023, but the occupancy rate still lingers below 30 percent.
Meanwhile, Nairobi has seen the addition of more than 2,000 new hotel rooms over the past year and a half, intensifying competition and eroding returns.
The resulting pressures have already contributed to the closure of established names such as Hilton and InterContinental.
Even so, tourism and hospitality continue to play a crucial role in Kenya’s economy.
International visitor numbers are on the rise, domestic tourism is firming up, and investors remain drawn to specialised segments such as lifestyle hotels, luxury resorts and eco-lodges.
Industry experts, however, warn that excess supply in some classes of hotels, alongside increasing operating costs, means that prospective buyers must adopt innovative and efficient business models to stay afloat.
