Ambassadeur Hotel is one of the popular landmarks in Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
It is located next to Kencom Buildings, adjacent to the Kenya Bus Service (KBS) bus stop, and next to the National Archives
The Ambassadeur Hotel was founded in 1961 by former Kirinyaga Central MP John Ngata Kariuki and Gurcharan Singh Vohra.
In 2004, the iconic hotel was acquired by businessman Samuel Maina, who remains its owner today.
However, details of the transaction, including the amount of money he paid to acquire the hotel, are not publicly available.
The late Maina was the owner of the firm Ambassadeur Investments Kenya Limited, which controls the Ambassadeur Hotel and other businesses.
Other Businesses He Owned
Besides the Hotel, he owned other businesses in Nairobi and Murang’a, including shops, flats, and the Oil Libya Petrol Station in Spring Valley, Nairobi.
Maina also owned a house and shop in Mlango Kubwa, a stall in Kibera market and a bungalow in Buruburu Estate.
He was also the owner of Bilmas Hotel in Nairobi CBD and a building in Murang’a Gikoe Shopping Center.
Additionally, an undisclosed number of godowns in Athi River are also listed in his company.
Maina’s entered into a legal dispute over their inherited multi-billion-shilling real estate empire, centered around Ambassadeur Hotel.
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Fight Over Ambassadeur Hotel
In January 2017, four brothers: Francis Chege, Joseph Macharia, James Kihara, and Dedan Muthaiga, filed a lawsuit against their siblings John Kaguma, Stanley Kariuki, and Charles Kanyunga.
In the petition, the four accused their brothers of taking exclusive control of the family businesses and excluding them from profits.
They alleged that the defendants appointed Paragon Property Consultants to collect rent without their consent.
The four stated that this decision led to a 2012 court order appointing Lloyd Masika to manage the nine family businesses until the dispute is resolved.
According to the ruling, all rental income is to be deposited into a joint bank account overseen by representatives of both sides and Lloyd Masika.
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Lending of the Hotel Ground Floor
The Petitioners also challenged the decision by Lloyd Masika to lease the ground floors of the Ambassadeur Hotel space to Mobitel Express in November 2016.
Kaguma and Kanyunga opposed this decision, stating that the space should have been leased to Jaydis Investments Limited.
However, the accused brothers argued that the four are not listed among the shareholders of Ambassadeur Investments Kenya Limited and thus have no right to interfere in its operations.
The court appointed Joseph Mutava to pick from a list of proposed asset managers after the brothers had failed to agree on a firm to run Ambassadeur Investments.
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