The We Hotel and Suites, a luxury hotel located in Westlands Nairobi formerly known as Westend is set for auction as reported by Business Daily on Thursday, February 20.
According to the publication, the hotel is associated with media entrepreneur Purish Shah. He is the vice-chairman of urban station East FM which is linked to Radio Africa.
The We Hotel and Suites is set to be auctioned over a reported Ksh 240 million debt owed to the Bank of India. In a notice that was published in dailies on Wednesday, February 19, the auctioneer, Dalali Traders welcomed potential buyers to attend the event on Thursday, February 20 to be held at the hotel's premises.
“Under instructions received from the charges advocate, we shall sell by public auction the under mentioned property on Thursday 20 February at our offices along Kijabe Street next to Universal Church starting at 10:30 am,” the auction notice read in part.
It is located along Stima Road off Lower Kabete in Westlands and is built on 0.212 acres.
We Hotel and Suits rests in a seven-storey building with the basement housing the parking lot. It comprises seventeen parking spaces, a conference centre, laundry area, staff dining room and stores. The hotel boasts 42 rooms, 14 serviced apartments, a spa, a gym, a conference room and a restaurant on its seventh floor.
“A deposit of 25 per cent of the sale price must be paid in cash or banker’s cheque at the fall of the hammer and balance paid within the 90 days to the charges,” the auctioneer's stated in the notice.
We Hotel and Suits adds to the list of several other hospitality facilities that have been crippled by ever-ascending debt. The publication cited the government's directive for all its employees to hold meetings in government institutions as a contributor to the fall of the businesses.
In January 2020 alone, close to five luxury hotels were put up for auction. Nairobi tycoon Wahome Muotia's Nairobi Upper Hill Hotel, former Cabinet Minister Gideon Ndambuki's Roof Garden Hotel and late Defence Minister Njenga Karume's Jacaranda Hotel all fell under the hammer.
Adding to the list of prominent people whose property is on the brink of auction, Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju on February 12 lost a bid to stop the recovery of a Ksh1.5 billion debt he owes the East African Development Bank (EADB).
Tuju had moved to the High Court seeking to block the auction of properties which he used to access a multi-million dollar loan for the construction of luxury apartments in Nairobi's leafy Karen suburb.
EADB had sought to enforce a ruling by a London court that found the Cabinet Secretary to have defaulted on the loan, including principal and interest.
The loan was expected to facilitate construction of twelve two-storey bungalows on a forested 20-acre piece of land known as Entim Sidai.
It was also to see a 94-year-old bungalow owned by Scottish missionary Albert Patterson, currently operating as an upmarket restaurant, acquired. Construction on the Ksh1.2 billion project, however, fell behind schedule.
