At 80, Lagos Airport Hotel rolls out drums, plans facelift

The management of Lagos Airport Hotel has rolled out drums in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the guesthouse, with plans to upgrade the hotel to a worldclass facility.

To make it a worthwhile event, the hotel has lined up various activities to herald the eight decades of hospitality services, which kicked off yesterday, October 21, 2022, with a Jumat service at the Lagos State Secretariat Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja and retiring to the poolside for entertainment.

Today, the Hotel staff and the public will enjoy free medical services. To round off the day’s activities, there will also be a novelty football match between Eko Hotel and Suites and the Lagos Airport Hotel on the Hotel’s football pitch in the evening, followed by entertainment at the poolside.

Tomorrow, October 23, 2022, a thanksgiving service will be held at the Archbishop Vinning Memorial Cathedral Church, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, and on the evening of the same day, there will be light entertainment at the Hotel’s poolside.

The grand finale will come up on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, with an anniversary lecture titled, Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality as Agents of Economic Growth in the South West Region, to be delivered by the President, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Taiwo Owokalade, at the Oranmiyan Hall by 11 a.m, with six governors of the owner states in attendance.

A subsidiary of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, Lagos Airport Hotel, owned by the six South-West states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo, is the oldest hotel in Nigeria that has sustained its services since it was established in 1942. The Hotel started business as an owner-managed hotel with five rooms in 1942, under the name Grand Hotel Lagos. It was renamed Ikeja Arms Inn in 1956, under the ownership of a Briton, Joseph Harold. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Odu’a Investment Company Limited through the indigenisation Decree of 1976.

The hotel is centrally located in the heart of Ikeja with 277 rooms, comprising Monarchial, Presidential, and Executive Suites, Deluxe, Luxury, and Classic rooms equipped with modern-day hotel facilities. It has several Halls with capacities ranging from 10 – 1500 for conferences, banqueting, meetings, workshops, parties, syndicate meetings, a Marquée, and others.

Since its inception, the hotel has weathered the storm and remains standing despite all odds. Despite all economic and environmental odds, the Hotel is still flourishing and constantly reinventing, and has continued to offer special and standard hospitality services to all and sundry.

Looking beyond the 80th anniversary, the hotel management said some forms of a facelift and aggressive promotion to compete healthily with some of the best hotels in the world should be expected.

On what has sustained the hotel for eight decades, the Chairperson, Board of Directors, Lagos Airport Hotel, Princess Olufunnke Olugboji, said: “The owner states have appointed crops of technocrats with vast experiences in business management to the Board of Odu’a.

They have been committed to ensuring the turn-around of the fortune of the conglomerate through sustainable returns to stakeholders by enhancing the legacy for future generations.

“The Lagos Airport Hotel is continually making guests’ satisfaction its priority. As management, we are ever willing to upgrade the hotel’s facilities, improve service delivery and make sure that repeat patronage from our valued guests is guaranteed, while we work assiduously to increase the Hotel’s market share. Also, Odu’a Investment Company Limited is working hard to put the Hotel on the international pedestrian to partner with investors and international brands alongside the hotels within the group.

“We are lucky because we have had solid management starting from the owners of the hotel through the Odu’a Investment Company Limited. There have been efficient supervision and management successes that have helped us to stand on our feet.

Having technocrats representing each state has made the hotel succeed. No state government compensate anyone with a position in the hotel, they pick the best and send them to Odu’a who will then make the final decision.

“Right now, this hotel is going up to international standard to attract more patronage and now we are open to international and local investors to partner with us. We might have to do some reconstruction and we will do whatever it will take to get to the level we need to reach.”

Speaking on the achievements, she said: “Our greatest achievement is that we have not recorded any adverse event. In a place that is as big as this, with the number of staff we have and the guests, it’s an achievement. We have not had any emergencies; we have not had any issues to call on the police or ambulance. We were able to sustain the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have not had cause to worry over patronage because we have several times overbooked,” she said.