It is quite unconventional that a breakup led to the birth of multi-billion Sarova Stanley- which is rated amongst the best 5 Star hotels in Nairobi.
Consisting of 212 elegant rooms and suites, the hotel is ideal for its proximity to the several attractions and crucial establishments within the Central Business District (CBD) and its environs.
The history of this 5-star hotel, however, involves a fallout in the 1900s between two lovers; Mayence Bent and William Stanley Bent.
Mayence, at the time, made and sold women’s hats for a living while William was a railway worker, farmer and agent of The East African Standard.
One of Sarova Stanley’s Hotels in Kenya.
William had a 42-acre shamba in Kiambu County- at the time known as Fort Smith and also worked in partnership with Mayence’s employer, Tommy Wood. The businessman had opened Victoria Hotel whereby William supplied produce to the hotel from his farm.
However, a bitter fallout between the two lovebirds in 1905 led to Mayence opening a rival hotel in a bid to edge Victoria hotel out of competition.
Reports indicated that the hotel was not aptly named after her husband but after the explorer, Henry Morton Stanley.
A defiant move for Mayence, she found fortune after philanthropist Abraham Block, the great-grandfather of Kenyan Olympic swimmers Jason and David Dunford, supplied her with enough equipment for her hotel.
At a time that seemed that Stanley hotel was to run Victoria hotel out of business, and a huge fire razed down the hotel. Unbowed by the move, Mayence relocated to Moi Avenue.
“Mayence with her fierce determination, moved her guests to a temporary location until finally, she set up new premises for The Stanley Hotel.
“In the early days the veranda on the second floor offered a spectacular view, where on a clear day, guests could see the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance,” the profile from Sarova Hotel’s official website, read in part.
Mayence, who had divorced William, later sold the hotel to a businessman, Dan Noble. She later married a wealthy tycoon, Fred Tate- whom they built a 60-room hotel in 1913.
The hotel was named, The New Stanley Hotel, after a court battle ensued with Noble over the legal use of the name. After Tate passed away in 1937, Mayence sold the New Stanley Hotel to Abraham Block.
Sarova Stanley now consists of various hotels, Safari camps and beach resorts spread across the country.
A file image of Nairobi’s Sarova Stanley Hotel.
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