The Seventeen Apartment-Hotel: Fully Furnished and Serviced Luxury Apartments in Kampala

Interview with Alykhan Allibhai, Director of Operations at The Seventeen Apartment-Hotel

What is your assessment of the apartment hotel sector in Uganda? What are the latest trends?

The apartment hotel sector is quite new. Starting in 2008, we actually had to do a write up on what an apartment hotel was. In this day and age, unfortunately, many people do not know what an apartment hotel is. It is a hotel, but in an apartment format. We rent two and three-bedroom apartments on a monthly, yearly, and if apartments are free, a nightly basis. People can take advantage of the space but for the same price that they would be paying for a conventional hotel room.

Is the sector competitive?

It is extremely competitive. In the last five years, we have had a lot of competition and we have had to really be on our toes. We achieved independence in Uganda in 1962, but we have seen real growth only in the last ten years. A lot of new concepts have come in such as branded hotel chains and apartment hotels which would never have been thought of ten years ago.

What makes you stand out from the competition?

Ever since we started, we have wanted to achieve filling the gap that Uganda has not been able to do yet. When we came here ten years ago, no one had heard of an apartment hotel.

We offer more bang for your buck. Normally, a hotel room in this market will range anywhere from 125 to 175. We can give a client a two-bedroom apartment for 125 and you can fit a maximum of four people. In a conventional hotel room, you would only be able to fit a maximum of two people. We are very popular with families, for example, from the diaspora who come into Uganda and need a place to stay but do not want to stay in a conventional hotel room. People in the expat community who work in international organizations such as embassies and NGOs want more space, they have their families with them. For parents with two or three kids, it would be very beneficial for them to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel.

Why should a client choose The Seventeen Apartment-Hotel?

There are many reasons. The first is our location. We are on the most prestigious road in Uganda called Kololo Hill Lane in Kampala. This road has been very prestigious since the 1950s and 1960s. My father at that time, being a natural Ugandan, used to dream of owning a property on that road for that reason. We also have an amazing view. Uganda is known for its seven hills, although there are many more now. We also offer service. We live in the apartments in the complex and also manage the property. When a client comes in and wants good service, we are there to do it ourselves. We are hands on. We do not have a management company doing it for us. They can come directly to us.

What amenities do you offer?

We offer daily cleaning. A caretaker will come in once a day for a few hours to clean the apartment, do your dishes, and anything else. We have a nice infinity pool that looks out on the view. We have a full-fledged gym. We have a café/restaurant that has international food that caters to everyone.

What is your international reach?

We reach the international market through search engines, for example, Expedia which is the face of many more companies such as Hotels.com. But our number one so far is Booking.com. We reach people from around the world. Our main clientele is from England, the US, North America, Europe, and especially our local East African community – Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda. Clients can also visit our website.

Are you looking for investors?

There is a lot of room for investment. Although we gained independence in the 60s, we have had a lot of growth in the last ten years that has attracted a lot of international investors who are bringing their international ideas to Uganda and marketing to all the expats and the local community here. As for projects, we are concentrating on the apartment hotel for now, but will hopefully be starting more projects soon.

What are your CSR activities?

Our CSR activities are centered around our staff. Our staff are the number one priority for us after our visitors and clients. We try to take care of our staff and their families as much as possible. In terms of CSR outside of the business, we try to assist our community. We do a lot of CSR with them that we do not advertise about.

What are some of your current projects?

This year, the most important thing for us is that we will start to renovate the apartment hotel. It is about nine years old now. Ten years ago, the designs were very different. We have been so innovative that we are not falling behind, but we can always do better. When we do these renovations, we will take ourselves to the next decade. This will hopefully start in the next few months.

What are some of your success stories?

One of our success stories is my father. My father is originally from Uganda. He left in 1972 when the Idi Amin regime threw out the Asians here. He never had any hatred towards his own country. My parents lived mostly in the US and Canada but always had a dream of coming back. My father was very young in the 50s and always wanted to have something here in Uganda one day. Immediately after I graduated university, we came back here to Uganda and fulfilled that dream of his. That is a major milestone for our family.

Project yourself two to three years’ time, the medium term. What do you want to achieve?

Ever since we started, we have wanted to achieve filling the gap that Uganda has not been able to do yet. When we came here ten years ago, no one had heard of an apartment hotel. When we first came to the market, we used a lot of glass and white paint and people thought we were crazy. Many people in Uganda want to do projects that require no maintenance or things that will stay in top condition for a very long time. However, being in Uganda, on the equator, we have very harsh rainy seasons. For us, the reason that we are always on the property and hands on is because we need to maintain our property. That is the number one thing we said we would do. We need to be there offering international standards and service to our clients as well as maintaining our property to the highest standard. Next, we want to fill another niche in the market. The next project will cater to people who are on more of a budget. There is a lot of opportunity in that market.

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