HILTON HOTEL:

HILTON HOTEL, AN ELEGANT HOTEL IN THE CITY

PHOTO: A side view of Hilton Hotel at the heart of the Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.

By Maritim Kipngetich

Hilton Hotel, a 17-storeyed cylindrical with broad base building situated at the heart of the Kenya’s capital city_ Nairobi _ is  a magnificent building designed exclusively to host people from all spheres of life. When one stands anywhere in the city, one must locate the position of the Hotel since its architectural design is unique. It is a landmark which has not only beautifies the city, but it has also augmented the city’s status. It is one of those ornamental buildings which have made Nairobians feel like they are living in Copenhagen, Demark_ the smartest and peaceful city in the world.

It is a dream of everyone passing near the Hotel that one day one will be among the bigwigs who spend most of their time inside there. It may look expensive in the outside, but there is a place for everyone inside; whether a working class or a hustler.

Yesterday night was a red letter day in my life. It all started at around 8:30pm when a friend of mine Benjamin Obegi (an experienced journalist at the Standard Newspaper), who is also my colleague in my place of work and my mentor, invited me to grace an occasion where journalists who have been writing developmental stories were being awarded. Lucky enough, the occasion was staged at the Hilton Hotel, a Hotel I have been admiring a lot and wishing that one day I may get a chance to just be inside for a tour.

PHOTO: An inside view (ground floor) at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

I was waiting for 9pm news as I normally do, when I received a phone call from him that he needed me urgently to be with him as he waited to be awarded. I dashed to my room in campus and dress smartly for the occasion, picked my national identity card and headed to the Hotel which is 20 minutes walk from the campus.

It is a rare case for me to be in the city center when it is passed 8pm not unless it is an urgent matter.  On approaching the hotel, I checked my phone and I found a missed call from Benjamin. I called him back to ask which gate I would use to enter the hotel since there are several entrances. There is one gate opposite International House which I normally see and think that it must be the main entrance; little did I know that there are other big entrances where there is thorough security check. He told me to use the gate, main entrance, which faces National Archives of Kenya building along Moi Avenue.

I hesitated a bit. I thought the security guards I found near the entrance were the one checking visitors before they enter the hotel. I later realized that those guys only deal with those who drive in and not those who go there by foot like me. So I passed them and followed a guy who was heading inside.

PHOTO: Swimming pool situated at the top of the building, Hilton Hotel.

 He was the first one to be checked at the entrance. Security guards in this building wear dark piece of suit common to people of a higher class. So the guard checked the guy I followed. I was lucky, I had dressed well. My black well-fitting leather jacket, white shirt, black douser, shining black shoes and of course my spectacles gave me decent look: a look common to be people of a higher class. “Welcome and enjoy your time here, sir,” the guard told me. I felt elated and I moved elegantly, a move that portrays my social status_ ”rich”.

From the door step and most probably all parts of the building is covered with a woolen glittering carpet. The occasion was held on the first floor. Before I climbed the stairs to first floor, I became scared since I never saw anyone climbing up the stairs but all of them were descending.  So I thought there was another stairs I could use to ascend. Finally, I decided to risk by using that, only to realize when I was upstairs that that was the only stairs to be used.  At this floor there are several hotel rooms. So I had elusive moment in identifying which room should I enter. Doors to different rooms in this building are like those which I watched in an Indian movie_ Players. I had never seen such doors in my life. I don’t think even Kenyan presidential residence, State House, has such doors.

I consulted commissionaire who was standing beside me to assist me in identifying the room where journalists were being awarded. He opened the door and let me in.

Inside, there are several people seated at round tables. The lights in this building are as unique as the building itself. The ladies inside, who are your common faces in your television screens, were as beautiful as the Banjunis of Lamu or Indian ladies. The shining lights made them look awesome.

 I stood at the door like a lost sheep and phoned my friend. Fortunately, he was seated near the door and he beckoned me to where he was. Besides him is a trophy it had been awarded to him! A trophy I normally see in the malls along Moi Avenue and Kimathi Street and wondering how costly it is. I had an exclusive opportunity to hold it and see what was written in it. The trophy carried the name of my friend_ Benjamin Obegi, Standard Print.

PHOTO: A side view of Hilton Hotel during the night.

I felt out of place. I was with respectable guys in the society, members of the fourth estate_ journalists. The journalists inside this hotel room were not ordinary journalists, but award winning journalists. Journalists, who have traversed this country writing stories about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), were being honoured by Kenya Media Network on Population and Development.

Unfortunately, I found the occasion at its tail end. I only witnessed one NTV female reporter being awarded.

After serving me a drink, my friend Benjamin Obegi had a word for me.

“I called you to come here and witnessed this, so that you strive to write an award winning story in future,” he said to me.

We left the building at 9:40pm. I was extremely happy and I thanked my friend for his invitation before we part ways near Nation Centre. We promised to see one another the next day in the office and bade one another good night.

END