John Musau – general manager, Tamarind Hotel

Harriet James @harriet86jim

How has this Covid-19 period been for your hotel? 

Before the Covid 19 pandemic, our hotels received both corporate and international guests on equal basis.

Now we are only left with the 50 per cent corporate guests who still do not feel it’s safe to be out and travel and this has slowed down business though we are currently picking up.

The pandemic has taught us that we need to relook into our models to stay afloat. 

What are some of the safety measures you’ve placed in the hotel? 

When you get in the hotel, you wash your hands and sanitize, and your temperature is taken.

We also sanitize guest’s luggage and we have a point at the reception where one can sanitize their phone.

Rooms are sprayed as soon as the guests check out and we have gotten rid of magazines to eliminate the use of paper.

Our restaurants have scannable menus and the mode of payment is cashless.

Complying with the requirements, I must say that it has been expensive. 

You are offering staycations, what inspires such packages?

People have been in their homes for long, so they want to unwind in a different location. 

Also we have not been having tourists so we’ve come up with packages for locals to have a holiday here as it’s safer than going out of town.

Being here is just like being in Mombasa as one can do swimming in our heated pool.

During staycations a lot of people are still working, so we have a great internet connectivity and work stations.

We have a restaurant, but if you are bored with the food here, you can just head over to the Carnivore. 

We can organise a game drive for you at the Nairobi National Park, which is barely three kilometres away from this place. 

Which is your favourite destination?

My all-time favourite destination is the Masaai Mara. When I want to take a real break, I go there to a place with no TVs, no air conditioning, no telephone extensions and sometimes no phone network or very poor network. 

What do you love about your job?

 I love interacting with so many different people. I like being part of client satisfaction journey and making them happy.  I also like mentoring and training staff.