Two new hotels open in Addis Ababa

Elilly, Belle Vue join the hospitality sector

By Aderajew Asfaw  

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Elilly International Hotel a new five-star hotel officially joined the hospitality industry on Saturday, November 23, 2013. The hotel that cost more than 700 million birr has 154 rooms that include sa penthouse and two presidential suites.

The twin building luxury hotel also has a swimming pool, spa, gymnasium, night club and restaurants, including one where the ‘sun never sets’ and is owned by the construction magnate Gemshu Beyene who also owns Gemshu Beyene Construction Plc (GEBCON).

Another athlete also joined the hospitality sector with the opening of the Belle Vue International Hotel in Addis Ababa on Saturday November 16.

Owned by Maryam Yusuf Jemal, two-time world champion and Olympic champion, and her husband Yewondwossen Disso, the newly opened hotel represents an investment of over 200 million birr.

The owners received about 1000 sqm plot of land and started the construction six years ago. Yewondwossen attributed the delay in construction to a lack of manpower and lack of cooperation from a few governmental institutions. The built up area of the hotel is 855 sqm. “We were supposed to open five months ago,” said Yewondwossen, “but we were unable to get access to electric power,” he said.

The hotel, located around Megenagna on the way to Yeka Mountain, has 35 rooms with free WiFi internet access and electronic safe box.

The hotel also features a restaurant with international cuisine, an exclusive wine bar, spa facility and a conference room that accommodates 150 people. The hotel will soon have a gym.

Belle Vue International currently employs 143 people, increasing to 200 when it goes fully operational.

According to Yewondwossen, the hotel has an expansion project worth close to 700 million birr on a 7000 sqm plot of land. The expansion project comprises 380 rooms, 3 meeting rooms, five restaurants, five cinemas, 12 shops, one mall and 200 parking spaces. Meanwhile, they are awaiting the Addis Ababa City Administration’s sanction to use the plot next to the hotel. “It has been three years and I hope we get it soon and begin construction,” Yewondwossen told Capital.

Yewondwossen, who is also the Head Coach of the Bahrain Athletics Federation, said that he and his wife wanted to contribute to the growing hospitality sector of the country. “There’s a change in the tourism industry. You see a lot of people constructing hotels,” he said. “However, the sector has yet to improve.”

Currently, there are 600 hotels in the country with more than 20,000 beds, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) sources.

The Ethiopian tourism industry is dramatically growing, with the annual number of visitors having reached more than 560,000.
Tourists’ average length of stay has also reached 7 days while the average spending also went up to USD 158 per day.

Source: CapitalEthiopia.com