Abuja will see the official opening of a new luxury 59-room hotel in early March.  The Envoy Hotel is located on Diplomatic Drive, Abuja, in proximity to many embassies and diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy.  It will be operated by Mantis, a South African-based hotel group with 95 properties in several locations on all seven continents.

The hotel had its soft opening on the 5th of February, 2018, and will be officially opened on the 5th of March, 2018.  The Envoy is owned by Hometel Developers, who engaged Mantis Collection in a management agreement.   The hotel’s branding is themed along the concept of the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that was for centuries central to cultural interaction through the regions of Eurasia connecting the East and West, and later Africa.  Hometel noted that it chose Mantis because of the group’s ethos of operating a portfolio of hotel properties with individual and unique brand identities.

• 50 Luxury Suites, 4 Diplomatic Suites, 4 VIP Suites, and Presidential Suite
• Larai Restaurant, serving contemporary fusion cuisine by renowned South African Chef Jannie Mellis
• Vandos Bar & Lounge
• Zanzi (pool) Bar
• The Embassy Room
• Olympic-sized Swimming Pool
• 24-hour Pro-fit Gym’
• Underground Parking
• Business Center
• Meeting Room

The hotel will be positioned to cater to business and leisure guests, with technologically-savvy business facilities and various entertainment options.  The property also claims to have achieved a Level 2 PLUS Global Lighthouse Certification in Security, and is the first hotel in Nigeria to achieve this.

Hometel Developers are a Lagos-based real estate development firm, with a number of other hospitality projects in Nigeria.  Other projects listed on the company’s website include a 110-room Accor-branded hotel project in Abuja, the rebranding of the Kwara Hotel Ilorin, and a dual-branded Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson project in Ikeja, amongst others.

In addition to the Envoy Hotel, Mantis also operates other hotels in Nigeria.  These include the 50-room L’eola Hotel by Mantis (the former Protea Leadway), Maryland, and the L’eola Suites Abuja, located on the 5th floor of Leadway House in Abuja’s CBD.  Both hotels are owned by Leadway Assurance Company, a Nigerian insurance and financial services provider.  The group also briefly managed The George Hotel, Ikoyi.  Mantis Collection also have other projects in the pipeline for Nigeria, including, the 47-room Art Hotel Lagos, and the 82-room Providence by Mantis, Lagos, which is scheduled to open in May 2018.  Mantis also operate the high-end Villa Monticello boutique hotel in Accra, Ghana.