Lonrho Plc has announced that Africa’s first easyHotel.com branded hotel is scheduled to open by the end of the year at the historic former Stuttafords Department Store building in Johannesburg’s Central Business District (“CBD”) in South Africa.
The hotel would be opened under terms of its exclusive franchise agreement with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup.
The easyHotel.com Rissik Street is the first hotel under the exclusive 20 year master franchise agreement (MFA) that Lonrho enjoys with easyHotel. easyHotel and Lonrho are committed to establishing an easyHotel network across Africa.
According to David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of Lonrho, “This new hotel project between Sir Stelios and Lonrho starts the roll-out of easyHotels.com throughout Africa. easyHotel.com Rissik Street (a Lonrho Hotel) will be the first of many hotels designed to give Africans and visitors to Africa a first world hotel experience at a budget price starting from as low as US$29 per room per night. ”
“There is a large gap in the market for a quality budget hotel and the easyHotel.com room offering is ideally suited to fill this much needed gap across the continent” he added.
The MFA provides Lonrho exclusive rights to the easyHotel brand in Africa and sets out an agreed opening schedule for fifty properties by 2016.
Chairman of easyGroup Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said “easyHotel is all about simple comfort and great value . So I’m delighted to bring our first African hotel to Johannesburg. The city has a wealth of attractions and events of interest to both leisure and business visitors.”
The development might be the first of many as Sir Haji Ioannou retorts “I’m looking forward to working closely with David Lenigas and his team as we begin bringing quality, value-for-money services to Africa.”
Lonrho Budget Hotels’ corporate objective of operating hotels in Africa’s high demand, high growth destinations is demonstrated by the opening of easyHotel in Johannesburg. it will be the first trans-continental hotel brand in Africa specifically designed to be accessible to many, not a select few.
Image via http://www.nationsonline.org
