The Kampala Serena Hotel is a hotel in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, the capital and largest city of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. The hotel is rated 5-stars by the Uganda Tourism Board.

Location

The hotel is on Kintu Road on Nakasero Hill, in the centre of Kampala. The hotel is nestled among of lawns and gardens. The hotel is adjacent to the

Kampala Sheraton Hotel The Sheraton Kampala Hotel is a hotel in Kampala, the capital of Uganda and its largest city. It is one of the three Five star hotels in Kampala, as rated by the Uganda Tourism Board in June 2015. Location The hotel sits on the southwestern slope ...

and the Imperial Royale Hotel. It is in the

Kampala Central Division Kampala Central Division is one of the five divisions that make up Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The city's five divisions are: (a) Kampala Central Division (b) Kawempe Division (c) Lubaga Division (d) Makindye Division and (e) Nakawa Division. ...

, one of the five administrative divisions of the city. The coordinates of the Kampala Serena Hotel are 0°19'08.0"N, 32°35'11.0"E (Latitude:0.318889; Longitude:32.586400).

Overview

The hotel opened on 31 July 2006, after eighteen months of renovations and refurbishment at a cost of US$30.5 million. The hotel is part of the

Serena Hotels Serena Hotels is a hospitality company which operates up-scale hotels and resorts in East Africa, Southern Africa and South Asia. Serena comprises a collection of 36 luxury resorts, safari lodges, and hotels, which are located in East Africa (K ...

Group. It has 152 rooms, including thirteen suites, one of which is a presidential suite. During the

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2007 The 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 20th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Kampala, Uganda, between 23 November and 25 November 2007, and was hosted by President Yoweri Museven ...

in Kampala, the hotel hosted Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom for four nights. The hotel has its own helipad for easy transport between the hotel and

Entebbe International Airport Entebbe International Airport is the only international airport in Uganda. It is located about southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately by road south-west of the central business distr ...

. Adjacent to the hotel is the Kampala Serena International Conference Center with a seating capacity of 1,500 and multilingual translation facilities of up to nine languages simultaneously. In 2016, the hotel is expected to undergo expansion, with the addition of 32 bedrooms, and the improvement of food, beverage, and meeting facilities.

History

International Conference Center at Serena Hotel

International Conference Center at Serena Hotel was constructed in 1975 in order to host 13th Summit of the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

(OAU). The hexagonal building was completed by Energoprojekt holding from Non-Aligned

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. The venue was subsequently used by

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

regime for president's personal activities and according to some sources for torture of Amin's opponents and enemies.

Ownership

The Kampala Serena Hotel is owned by a consortium that includes three corporate entities; (a) Tourism Promotion Services, a division of the

Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA is a Swiss for-profit entity and international development finance institution which invests in countries of East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. I ...

, (b) the Uganda National Social Security Fund, (c) Proparco, a French property investment company. The table below summarizes the shareholding in the business.

Renovations

In March 2016, the hotel began renovations that will "create 36 new residential rooms, a new state-of-the-art suite, partial refurbishment and alterations of the meeting rooms and create more executive lounges and meeting rooms". The US$8 million expansion is partly funded by PROPARCO of France and is expected to last 12 months.

References

External links

The Kampala Serena Hotel Homepage

* ttp://www.worldtravelawards.com/award-ugandas-leading-hotel-2015 Uganda's Leading Hotel 2015 {{coord, 00, 19, 08, N, 32, 35, 11, E, display=title Hotels in Kampala Kampala Central Division Hotel buildings completed in 1975 Hotels established in 2006