Sarova Hotels & Resorts

Sarova Hotels & Resorts is Kenya's largest independently-owned hotel chain, operating a collection of eight distinctive properties across prime leisure, safari, and urban destinations. The group was founded in 1972 by the late Gurcharan Singh Vohra (G.S. Vohra), a lawyer educated at the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn in London (who ran the Nairobi law firm Vohra and Gitau), in partnership with former Kirinyaga Central MP John Ngata Kariuki. The name "Sarova" is derived from the first names of the founders' wives: SA (Swaran Vohra), RO (Rose Kariuki), and VA (Varsha Vohra). The group's first acquisition was the Ambassadeur Hotel on Moi Avenue, Nairobi, in 1974, followed by the 22-acre Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa (1976) and the historic Stanley Hotel (built 1902 by English businesswoman Mayence Bent, the first luxury hotel in Nairobi) from the Block family in 1978. The group later undertook a USD 20 million renovation of the Stanley Hotel in 1998 and restored its original name. Gurcharan Vohra died in 2013 aged 78, with the chairmanship passing to John Ngata Kariuki. Jimi Kariuki serves as Group Managing Director. The portfolio comprises Sarova Stanley and Sarova Panafric in Nairobi, Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa, Sarova Mara Game Camp in the Maasai Mara, Sarova Woodlands in Nakuru, Sarova Imperial in Kisumu, Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge in Lake Nakuru, and Sarova Shaba Game Lodge in Samburu. The group also operates "Kitchens of Sarova", Kenya's leading outdoor catering and banqueting production house. Notable historical guests at Sarova Stanley include Ernest Hemingway, Princess Elizabeth (on her 1952 Kenya visit), Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Sean Connery, and numerous heads of state including Jomo Kenyatta, Kwame Nkrumah, Milton Obote, and Julius Nyerere.