The end might have come sooner than expected for Jim Ovia, chairman and founder of Zenith Bank’s ambition to play big in the hospitality industry. F
Primed to be located beside the Civic Centre, also owned by Ovia, on the Ozumba Mbadiwe waterfront Victoria Island, Lagos, the proposed five-star hotel, he said, would comprise 150 star rooms with a 2014 launch date already set.
Unfortunately, Taiwo Afolabi, the shipping magnate behind SIFAX Group regarded as one of Africa’s fastest growing multinational corporations with diversity in Maritime, Aviation, Haulage & Logistics, Oil & Gas, also got approval to site one in G.R.A, Ikeja, Lagos.
Unlike Ovia’s which seem to be dead and buried, Afolabi’s 250-room Marriott Hotel financed by Fidelity bank, has now been completed. Afolabi beat Ovia to it. The beautiful hotel was opened on Wednesday May 19th amidst pomp and pageantry.
The hotel was delivered after six years of spadework in a partnership with SIFAX Group and the renowned global hotel brand Marriott International.
The 250-bed, five-star hotel built on 11 floors, has modern facilities, including exclusive flight crew lounge, VIP lounges, 1,000 – capacity ballroom, executive meeting rooms, 400- capacity car park, 206 standard rooms, 44 suites; including three presidential suites, well equipped gym, continental restaurants and other facilities.
