Marriott is proving quite busy in Lagos these days – and Ikeja is no exception.

The 117-room Protea Select Alausa, Ikeja opened last week, just across from the Ikeja City Mall and close to the Lagos State Secretariat.  The hotel features – 75 classic rooms; 8 twin rooms; 24 deluxe rooms; 8 suites; conference & boardrooms; a restaurant, and a swimming pool.

There are two more hotels in Marriott’s pipeline for Ikeja.  The African Pride Avalon Hotel & Spa with 158 rooms is scheduled to open in 2016.  It is being developed by Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria for an estimated US$57 million.  Work has been underway on the site for a few years now, but there have been delays (the previously scheduled opening year was 2013), as is normal in this part of the world.

And just this past Wednesday, August 27th, the developers of the Marriott Ikeja, Sifax Group, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at the project site.  The 251-room hotel will offer the standard facilities expected of a full service branded hotel, as well as five food & beverage outlets, a large ballroom and conferencing facilities.  G1 Architecture are handling the architecture and interior design of the project.  The hotel is expected to be completed and open in 2018.

Hotels in the Ikeja area serve the demand requiring proximity to the airport, such as air crews and transient guests.  Also the location there of the Lagos State Government administration, as well as industrial estates and other businesses ensure a substantial level of commercial activity to sustain a thriving hotel market.  Ikeja is essentially a distinct hotel market, separate from the VI, Ikoyi and Lekki markets.  The supply of international standard hotels in Ikeja is currently limited, and this has continued to attract investment attention for the area, as is evident in all the ongoing development activity.