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Long-distance runner Haile Gebreselassie is putting
up a five-star hotel in the seat of the Southern
Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional (SNNPR)
State, 276km south of Addis Abeba with an outlay of
200 million Br.
Haile Gebresellassie obtained the investment license
for the construction of the hotel three days after
he broke the world record in the Berlin Marathon
with a time of two hours five minutes and 65 seconds
on September 30, 2007.
The hotel’s construction commenced on February 1
this year, being implemented by Haile and Alem
International plc, which has finalized the first
four stories that marked the first phase of the
project.
The total area of the compound for the hotel lies on
35,000sqm of land, out of which the five thousand
square metres of land were a gift from the city’s
municipality; the remaining plot of land is leased
from the city municipality at a cost of 2.1 million
Br.
The design of the hotel was made by four engineers
from Kenya at a cost of 500,000 Br.
The hotel will have 150 rooms, each 61 square metres,
in addition to the service facilities located the
basement.
Among the facilities included in the basement will
be a restaurant that can accommodate 350-400 people
at a time, bar service, dressing rooms, a steam bath
and sauna and a gymnasium.
It will also have a 1400sqm auditorium that could
lodge five hundred people at a time. At present,
about two hundred fifty people are involved in the
project.
Haile’s Agent Mengistu Sasamo told Fortune
that the second phase of the project would include
construction of eight fancy villas for VIPs, concert
hall, public recreation centre, a golf course and a
horse track. More land is expected from the
municipality for these facilities.
When the hotel is finished, the city would have the
chance to get international standards by drawing
more tourists to the city. The hotel will provide
boat service to carry from 100 to 120 tourists and
their luggage across the lake.
When the hotel is completed it will create job
opportunity for 260 people, according to Mengistu.
Athlete Haile has so far invested in Bahir Dar,
Addis Abeba and Assela. Lately, a film has been
released by Cable News Network (CNN) regarding the
life history of the athlete and his investment
activities.
The hotel is expected to be completed by January,
2009 .
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