Apartments threaten hotels in Dar, Nairobi

BAK

JF-Expert Member
Feb 11, 2007
124,792
287,994
By Correspondent
21st February 2010

Apartment.jpg

An apartment

From Mlimani City village to Mbezi Beach Suburb, Mikocheni to Masaki, the emerging construction of furnished apartments is driving the posh hotels crazy as customers chose to stay in apartments—where they consider reasonable in terms of price, security and privacy.

And so does Nairobi where fancy hotels are feeling the pinch of the growing furnished apartment business buoyed mainly by the growing middle and first class executives as well as business executives.

In Nairobi, modern furnished apartments are the in thing in the multi-billion residential real estate sub-sector. Private developers are fast embracing the constructions, which earn them more monthly returns compared to rental units.

The modern apartments do not only target upmarket areas like Westlands, Riverside Drive, Kileleshwa but a number of them are coming up in middle income areas too, such as along Mombasa Road.

However according to property markets experts, in comparison, Dar es Salaam apartments are still more expensive than in Nairobi where rents are reasonable.

Experts in real estate say the furnished apartments, though expensive at the beginning, are more profitable in the long run.

In Nairobi, a home in an upmarket neighbourhood that would ordinarily rent at $769 per month, for example, fetches $1,500 over the same period, if furnished.

But in Dar es Salaam, the same home would cost $1,200 per month, while if fully furnished it costs about $2,500 for the same period.

The concept of furnished apartments is not only catching on in the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam cities in East Africa but other major towns including Mombasa, Kisumu, Arusha and Mwanza are also setting up low cost furnishing.

The new developments are set to create a showdown in the hospitality industry, as they compete with hotels over clients.

While it costs between $100 and $400 per day to stay in hotels in Dar es Salaam or Nairobi depending on the status of the hotel—an amount that translate into about $700 or $2800 per week.

This amount is what most furnished apartments are charging per month, a situation that create stiff competition to the well established hotels which also have highest cost of operations compared to the apartments.

The growing clientele for the furnished apartments give a number of reasons for their shift from five-star hotels.

Take the case of Natasha Kimani who spent the December holidays with her family at a furnished apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi.

"There is the feeling of family in staying in an apartment where I still prepare meals the way I do in our home in Nyali, Mombasa," Kimani says.

"The apartments are a good break from hotels where the service may be good but with no privacy since meals are served in a common dinning area," Kimani says.

She says playgrounds in the apartments are good for children who make new friends with peers from other families on holiday. "A furnished apartment is just like your own home…it is only different in that you leave the furniture behind for the next guest," Kimani says.

Henry Swan, an Australian tourist says that the low cost has made him book a furnished apartment.

"A tour firm I called from Australia gave me the option of the apartment in Westlands and I resolved to give it a try…No regrets yet," Swan says. He argues that he would otherwise have hired three hotel rooms for his family.

He says tourists and expatriates who want to stay for shorter periods and do not want the hustles of rental units opt for furnished apartments.

"The expatriates do not want the hustles of shopping for furniture that will give them a headache to dispose off after their short stay of say six months," Agili says.

Tysons Limited Marketing Assistant Dan Arum says their clients prefer occupying the apartments for what he terms community living.

"Furnished apartments concept is borrowed from the West where families book them on vacations to maintain their unity," Arum says.

Arum says tourists book the furnished apartments two to three months in advance before high season.

"Some of the apartments are serviced meaning the occupants have helpers who cook and wash for them during their stay," Arum says.
Brooks Estate Agents Limited partner Edwin Tubei says the increasing cost of land has also encouraged private developers to buy old property, pull them down for apartments. More of the high-rise buildings are coming up along Lower Kabete Road where Garden Apartments and Nuriana Park are under construction.

Other such developments in Nairobi are along Brookside Grove, Muguga Green, Chiromo Road, Ring Road Westlands, Matundu Lane, School Lane and Brookside Drive.

According to Tubei, investors must go an extra mile to furnish their apartments to convince clients to part with the high charges.

Additional reporting by Harold Ayodo in Nairobi
 
Apartment.jpg

An apartment

From Mlimani City village to Mbezi Beach Suburb, Mikocheni to Masaki, the emerging construction of furnished apartments is driving the posh hotels crazy as customers chose to stay in apartments-where they consider reasonable in terms of price, security and privacy.

...Saaafi sana!

Recently nami nimeanza hako katabia ka kufikia kwenye apartments badala ya Hotels.

Protea, Seacliff Village, walikuwa waanzilishi na bado wanatesa na apartments zao ila bei zao mnh...

LAMADA APARTMENTS pale ilala ipo suitable kwa wafanyabiashara, na wenye kipato cha kati, rates zao zina stand almost 60,000/= kwa siku... si mbaya ila tatizo la management ya Kitanzania WAMESHINDWA KU MANAGE wizi wa mara kwa mara unaotokea pale (Vyumbani kwa wateja).

Kwa wale wasafiri wa mara kwa mara ughaibuni i.e ki group cha watu wanne na zaidi, hebu jaribuni kufikia kwenye Apartments muone raha yake. Ni sawa na kuwa nyumbani 'away from' Nyumbani.
Bahati mbaya, unahitajika uwe unakodi kuanzia siku tatu na kuendelea...

Utumwa wa kukaa hotelini sasa basi, ...very boring eti 11am Housekeepers wanakugongea/wanakuamsha ili wakusafishie chumba, au unalazimika ukoge, ujipodoe, na kutinga kiwalo cha maana ili kwenda kupata mlo Restaurant,... Kina sisi Jumapili/ Holidays means long sleep!
 
haya wenye hela zao

:D Pape, ungejua hata watumishi wengi wa serikali badala ya kupangiwa Hotels siku hizi hupangiwa hizi apartments na familia zao kabla ya kupewa nyumba...
 
mmhhhh, for sure apartments in DAR are more costly, unles you wanna stay in the locallly furnitured aparts, where you find only local chairs and not too much modernized as those you can find in the city center or along the coast. Owners should look at all classes, this life wasnt mainly ment for rich people, leave a door for poor to enjoy the worthy and think they are in hevean for short period of time once in their life time.
 
mmhhhh, for sure apartments in DAR are more costly, unles you wanna stay in the locallly furnitured aparts, where you find only local chairs and not too much modernized as those you can find in the city center or along the coast. Owners should look at all classes, this life wasnt mainly ment for rich people, leave a door for poor to enjoy the worthy and think they are in hevean for short period of time once in their life time.

Mkuu, kuna mwarabu mmoja maarufu sana Dar kwenye hii biashara ya apartments. Apartments zake ni first class na bei ya "studio" ni kama USD 800 kwa mwezi. Ni nzuri mno. Ambapo ungekuwa Hotelini yenye chumba cha hadhi hiyo ungelipa si chini ya USD 3000 kwa mwezi. Makampuni mengi ya kigeni hasa ya ujenzi sasa hivi ndo wanaweka watu wao huko na si Hotelini tena.
 
Mkuu, kuna mwarabu mmoja maarufu sana Dar kwenye hii biashara ya apartments. Apartments zake ni first class na bei ya "studio" ni kama USD 800 kwa mwezi. Ni nzuri mno. Ambapo ungekuwa Hotelini yenye chumba cha hadhi hiyo ungelipa si chini ya USD 3000 kwa mwezi. Makampuni mengi ya kigeni hasa ya ujenzi sasa hivi ndo wanaweka watu wao huko na si Hotelini tena.

...Zinaitwaje mkuu, na location ni wapi? nitumie contacts hata kwenye pm.
 
Yap nafikiri sasa hii itasaidia hata bei za hotel kushuka maana haina maana ukae sehemu unalipa dola 220 kwa siku while there is anaother place which costs you only 1200 USD per month. Safi sana naomba zijengwe nyinig izi apartment
 
From Mlimani City village to Mbezi Beach Suburb, Mikocheni to Masaki, the emerging construction of furnished apartments is driving the posh hotels crazy as customers chose to stay in apartments—where they consider reasonable in terms of price, security and privacy.

And so does Nairobi where fancy hotels are feeling the pinch of the growing furnished apartment business buoyed mainly by the growing middle and first class executives as well as business executives.

In Nairobi, modern furnished apartments are the in thing in the multi-billion residential real estate sub-sector. Private developers are fast embracing the constructions, which earn them more monthly returns compared to rental units.

The modern apartments do not only target upmarket areas like Westlands, Riverside Drive, Kileleshwa but a number of them are coming up in middle income areas too, such as along Mombasa Road.

However according to property markets experts, in comparison, Dar es Salaam apartments are still more expensive than in Nairobi where rents are reasonable.

Experts in real estate say the furnished apartments, though expensive at the beginning, are more profitable in the long run.

In Nairobi, a home in an upmarket neighbourhood that would ordinarily rent at $769 per month, for example, fetches $1,500 over the same period, if furnished.

But in Dar es Salaam, the same home would cost $1,200 per month, while if fully furnished it costs about $2,500 for the same period.

The concept of furnished apartments is not only catching on in the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam cities in East Africa but other major towns including Mombasa, Kisumu, Arusha and Mwanza are also setting up low cost furnishing.

The new developments are set to create a showdown in the hospitality industry, as they compete with hotels over clients.

While it costs between $100 and $400 per day to stay in hotels in Dar es Salaam or Nairobi depending on the status of the hotel—an amount that translate into about $700 or $2800 per week.

This amount is what most furnished apartments are charging per month, a situation that create stiff competition to the well established hotels which also have highest cost of operations compared to the apartments.

The growing clientele for the furnished apartments give a number of reasons for their shift from five-star hotels.

Take the case of Natasha Kimani who spent the December holidays with her family at a furnished apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi.

"There is the feeling of family in staying in an apartment where I still prepare meals the way I do in our home in Nyali, Mombasa," Kimani says.

"The apartments are a good break from hotels where the service may be good but with no privacy since meals are served in a common dinning area," Kimani says.

She says playgrounds in the apartments are good for children who make new friends with peers from other families on holiday. "A furnished apartment is just like your own home…it is only different in that you leave the furniture behind for the next guest," Kimani says.

Henry Swan, an Australian tourist says that the low cost has made him book a furnished apartment.

"A tour firm I called from Australia gave me the option of the apartment in Westlands and I resolved to give it a try…No regrets yet," Swan says. He argues that he would otherwise have hired three hotel rooms for his family.

He says tourists and expatriates who want to stay for shorter periods and do not want the hustles of rental units opt for furnished apartments.

"The expatriates do not want the hustles of shopping for furniture that will give them a headache to dispose off after their short stay of say six months," Agili says.

Tysons Limited Marketing Assistant Dan Arum says their clients prefer occupying the apartments for what he terms community living.

"Furnished apartments concept is borrowed from the West where families book them on vacations to maintain their unity," Arum says.

Arum says tourists book the furnished apartments two to three months in advance before high season.

"Some of the apartments are serviced meaning the occupants have helpers who cook and wash for them during their stay," Arum says.

Brooks Estate Agents Limited partner Edwin Tubei says the increasing cost of land has also encouraged private developers to buy old property, pull them down for apartments. More of the high-rise buildings are coming up along Lower Kabete Road where Garden Apartments and Nuriana Park are under construction.

Other such developments in Nairobi are along Brookside Grove, Muguga Green, Chiromo Road, Ring Road Westlands, Matundu Lane, School Lane and Brookside Drive.

According to Tubei, investors must go an extra mile to furnish their apartments to convince clients to part with the high charges.

Additional reporting by Harold Ayodo in Nairobi

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
 
No wonder nyumba/viwanja masaki vinauzwa 1.5mil
MI nailaumu Serikali kwa kukosa vision. Kama ingekuwa constantly inapima makazi mapya na kueka miundombinu fresh, kusingekuwa na hizi outrageous prices kwa vitu kama ardhi wakti Tz haina uhaba wa ardhi.
 
Mkuu kwa picha, taarifa na contacts zao gonga HAPA. Kisha gonga kwenye "contact us", "Property listing" na "property for rent" kwa habari zaidi.

Ahsante sana Mkuu kwa kuweka hii link hapa.
 
No wonder nyumba/viwanja masaki vinauzwa 1.5mil

Mkuu Concord nadhani umesahau kuweka hii alama "$" maana kwa bei ya madafu hiyo ingekuwa ni bei ya kutupa...just thinking aloud :)
 
I didnt know that price of hotels or apartments in Dar are higher than in Nairobi, may because i had never slept in a hotel or apartment while im in Dar apart from my house in Dar. its only when i travel to Nairobi when i sleep into a hotel.

I think the reason behind is our banks interests which are quite higher. therefore the retuns to pay back to banks becomes a problem to many investors, rising a rent becomes the only alternative.

Just thinking loudly

Architect Bon
 
Ahsante sana Mkuu kwa kuweka hii link hapa.

Asante mkuu. Nilikutana na mfanyakazi wao mmoja (wa Huyu Mwarabu wa hizi aparments) analalamikia Wachina. Anasema apartment inayokaliwa na Wachina wakiondoka inabidi wabadilishe karibu kila kitu. Zikiwemo furniture na vyombo vya jikoni mpaka vyoo. Vyoo huwa vimeota ukurutu, majiko (cookers) unakuta yamegandiana uchafu na magodoro huyachakaa haraka mno sijui kwanini. Walikuwa na mpango kuwatoza Wachina bei kubwa zaidi kufidia hizo gharama. Kwa ujumla Wachina ni wachafu sana.
 
4 Reactions
Reply
Back
Top Bottom