By Okorie Uguru
The Group General Manager of the Continental Hotels group, Mr. Karl Hala has said the group aims to turn the Continental Hotels into top-end leisure facilities that would compete favourably with other top hotels at leading destinations all over the world. This, he said, would make Nigerians who travel out of the country to enjoy such facilities in other destinations to remain in the country.
Hala said this while speaking to some journalists in Abuja after a facility tour of the Continental Hotel, Abuja, (formerly Sheraton Abuja Hotel and Towers.)
The hotel which is currently undergoing major renovation in phases after acquisition by NIPCO PLC through its subsidiary, 22 Hospitality Ltd in 2023, hopes to offer guests a new experience in hospitality when completed. Hala said further: “We have spoken about the hotel before, and what you see is an acquisition, and we’re here for the long term. We’re here to improve the hospitality industry and to show by example. Of course, you want to bring back the legacy of the former hotel.
“Here in the hotel, you can come, convene, have your gatherings, meetings, and we are here to deliver. So from the major part you have 14 hectares land, you have three towers, atrium towers where each of them has about 200 rooms. You have almost two and a half thousand square metres of convention in the Ladi Kwali Hall where we will turn into a conference centre.
Hala also spoke about the renovation currently on in the hotel: “We converted the two casinos into meeting rooms and there was an Elephant’s Bar before it was converted. We’re going further in the tower too where there were the gallery of shops and the Papillon Restaurant.
“Papillon Restaurant is being converted into the breakfast place meaning all the terraces outside and everything will be available for a full food and beverage delight and all the shops opposite will be turned into conference rooms as well. So that’s just from here we’re coming back to the conversion of the towers into the new unit redesigned guest rooms.”
Speaking about the new trendy look of the Abuja Continental Hotel, he said: “Basically if you want to create something, you don’t have to meet in Oslo and elsewhere or go for a weekend in Dubai. Abuja is the spot. That’s where you go. That’s trendy. That’s cool. So, with the transformation of the new guest rooms in tower three, which we will also convert into Abuja Continental Hotel and Suites, the hotel will be on a different level.
“You’ve seen the second entrance we’re building, it is monumental. We started it. Everybody can see what we are promising and we’re actually delivering the new facades outside with the orange colour to make the hotel stand out.