On 1st August, in a colourful ceremony attended by among others, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Najib Balala, Defense secretary Raychelle Omamo and Sports secretary Amina Mohamed dusitD2 hotel flung its doors open and welcomed the public to its refurbished jaw-dropping premise.
Mr. Balala who spoke at the event said the award-winning five-star luxury hotel will not struggle to woo clients back.
“Nobody will kill the spirit of Kenyans and foreigners from coming to dusitD2,” he said before adding “the government is firmly in charge.”
Kenyans rallied behind dusitD2 Hotel and took to social media to praise the hotel management for standing tall in the face of terrorism.
At a ceremony on Wednesday ahead of the hotel reopening, an orchestra played and motorcycle outriders accompanied runners led by 800 metre world record holder David Rudisha who carried the hotel’s flag from the airport.
The flag had been flown in six countries to honour hotel staff who died in the gun and suicide bomber attack that involved at least five attackers.
“The raising of the dusitD2 flag marks the end of the journey that began when the dusitD2 Nairobi flag was hoisted at six dusitD2 properties including Bangkok, Bhutan, China, Dubai and has finally come back home,” Michael Metaxas, dusitD2 general manager, said at the event.
To honor the fallen victims of the deadly 15th of January terror attack, Angeliqua Rivera who works at the dusit D2 created a signature cocktail dubbed ‘Fallen heros’ for her submission for the World Class Bartender of the Year competition, 2019.
She made a killing and was crowed Bartender of the year, at the Diageo Kenya World Class Competition.
Angeliqua will now represent Kenya in the international competition that will take place in Glasgow Scotland in September 2019.
“It has been tough for us having gone through what we went through but through hard work, determination and the support of my colleagues I was able to pull through this competition” said Angeliqua
“I would encourage the youth especially girls not to shy away from bartending; it is a real career and reliable source of income, I would be willing to mentor any girl who wants to take up the art of bartending”
DusitD2 Nairobi Hotel is located on 14 Riverside, off Riverside Drive in Westlands, 4 Kilometers from Kenyatta International Conference Centre and 12 Kilometers from Nairobi National Park.
