Cresta Marakalenelo, the country’s largest hotel chain, has finally completed its luxurious Mahalapye hotel which is expected to boost tourism along the railway line.
The 64 bed-roomed hotel has two presidential suites, and four deluxe suites together with the 58 standard rooms. It has a restaurant, cocktail bar, gymnasium, 24 hours secured parking and free Wi-Fi.
In addition to that, Cresta Mahalapye has four conference rooms and a board room.
The construction and full operation of the hotel has been hailed as a significant project that will complement Botswana’s employment creation and economic diversification efforts.
The hotel is located along the country’s busiest road, the A1, which is used by many motorists and those on cross boarder transits. The hotel opens at a time of the new progressive developments of both Mahalapye and Palapye, as well as the opening of Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).
Cresta Mahalapye Sales Manager, Boitumelo Khama, said they are ready to compete with the local and international market on a bigger scale and attract a whole new type of tourists to Mahalapye. She added that their target market is local companies, individuals, corporate and government clientele.
“Our objective is to provide guest satisfaction while increasing employee morale and develop the coaching skills of managers and supervisors,” she said, pointing out that when research was made, it showed that there is a huge demand for a fully serviced hotel. She added that workshops and functions were taken to different areas because there were no available facilities.
“This was an opportunity for us to have Cresta Mahalapye.”
“While we promote and welcome new tourism developments, we also equally promote and welcome reinvestments to maintain standards to allow our industry to remain globally competitive and stay on top of the game,” she stated.
Khama pointed out that the object of the business is to deliver excellent and efficient service, to be the best 3-star hotel as well as to create a memorable hospitality experience.
“We regard the hotel to be a stopover for traffic flowing from South-to-North and from North-to-South, so the guests will be more people coming to Mahalapye. We have significantly contributed to marking and marketing Mahalapye,” she said. “Our understanding of growth is not limited to the number of rooms under the Cresta portfolio but also the number of strategic business units and ancillary services to make the guest’s stay longer and comfortable.
Khama also observed that Mahalapye is a developing village as more investments are coming into the area. She added that shopping malls are being built, which is a sign that demand will increase in the near future.
