The iconic White Rhino Hotel in Nyeri has been put up for auction. The hotel, which is 111 years old, is being sold by Garam Investments.
It sits on a three-acre parcel that had outstanding land rates arrears of Sh. 1.2 million as of July 2021. According to Garama Investments, the leasehold property, for a term of 50 years effective September 1, 2008, has annual revisable ground rent of Sh. 146,400.
“Bidders will be expected to produce a bidding deposit of Sh. 10 million by way of cash or bankers cheque before being allowed to bid,” Garam announced in an advertisement.
The hotel is located 0.9 mi from the Baden-Powell Museum in Nyeri.
n 1910, three Europeans – Berkely Cole, Lord Cranworth and Sandy Herd – founded the White Rhino Hotel in what was then, British East Africa. According to various historical accounts, the establishment was named after a rhino, which was shot at the site during one of the numerous game-hunts conducted by the white settlers.
The White Rhino Hotel was well-known across the region as the first segregated exclusive pub for whites and local Africans were kept off with the threat of attacks by guard dogs, which would pounce on them if spotted in the vicinity.
In 1965 after independence, the hotel was sold off to an Asian businessman. It had only 27 rooms – most of which were not self-contained – at the time.
The hotel offered mainly single rooms and lodging facilities and a bar and restaurant for guests. The bar section was then converted into a seminar hall and the hotel began to allow in the first African patrons.
Five years after in 1970, the hotel was sold again. It was at this point that the “whites-only” sign, which had been put at the entrance, was removed, ushering in a new era for the hotel. The White Rhino Hotel was gazetted as a National Heritage site on 9th March, 2001
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The auction comes hot on the heels of the another blow the local hospitality industry, with the revelation that the iconic Hilton Hotel is also closing its business this year.
